Poster #59 - Understanding Adult-initiated Parenting Behaviors in Chinese American Families: a Confirmatory Factor Analysis

• In Event: Poster Session 07

Abstract

Parental socialization and cultural contexts are crucial factors for the early development of children’s self-regulation, a skill predicting their academic achievement, socio-emotional well-being, and long-term health outcomes (McClelland et al., 2015). Previous research in Caucasian-Individualistic societies has demonstrated that harsh and overcontrolled mothering was negatively related to children’s regulatory skills. However, the effects of maternal control were found to be inconsistent for children from Asian-Collectivistic societies (Lee at al., 2018). One possible explanation involves limitations in measurement. Operational definitions of maternal control – mother-initiated behaviors that are dominant, intrusive, and coercive – are often vague. Limited research has tried to separate maternal control from another mother-initiated behaviors, maternal structure - behaviors that involve enforcement, discipline, and guidance to facilitate children’s competence. The current study examined the fit of a theoretically-driven confirmatory factor-analysis model for maternal practices in Chinese American mothers, aiming to explore the construct validity of a modified questionnaire for three types of maternal behaviors: maternal structure, maternal control, and autonomy support. This study also investigated if these maternal behaviors are associated with mothers’ socioeconomic backgrounds and cultural values.

Data were collected from 105 mothers (Mage=33.80 years, SD=6.42) who self-identified as Chinese American and reported to have one child between 4 to 8 years old (Mage=5.89 years, SD=1.16, Nmale=49). 93.82% of the mothers had a college degree or higher, and 64.95% of them were first-generation Chinese Americans. Mothers completed a 40min online survey including measures of family socioeconomic status, collectivistic values, familism, and maternal practices. Specifically, maternal practices were measured by items taken from four dimensions (structure versus chaos, autonomy versus coercion) of the Parents as Social Context Questionnaire and three dimensions (parent as teacher, controlling and autonomy support) of the Parent Attitude Scale.

In the preliminary analysis, a three-factor model of maternal behaviors was first identified and examined for model fit (X2 (402) = 927.67; p < .001; RMSEA = .128, 90% CI = .117–.139; CFI = .605; TLI = .572; SRMR = .108). The standardized factor loadings for maternal structure and maternal control ranged from .30 to .77 and .36 to .69, respectively. Although the three-factor model did not show an excellent model fit, it fitted the data better than the alternative two-factor model that combined maternal structure and control (X2 (404) = 992.131; p < .001; RMSEA = .135, 90% CI = .124–.146; CFI = .558; TLI = .524; SRMR = .113). Additionally, mothers’ reported collectivistic values were positively associated with maternal structure (z=3.47, p<.01) and autonomy support (z=4.04, p<.001), but were negatively predicting maternal control (z=--3.53, p<.001). Higher family income was also linked to more controlling behaviors (z=2.24, p=.03) and less autonomy support (z=-2.59, p=.01).

These findings confirm that a three-factor structure would better characterize maternal practices in Chinese American mothers. Maternal structure and maternal control also showed differentiated associations with mothers’ cultural values and family SES. Combined, our findings provide evidence for a clearer conceptualization of mother-initiated behaviors and highlight the importance of examining maternal structure and maternal control as separate constructs. The study has the potential to contribute to a more nuanced understanding of parenting within cultural contexts and move beyond stereo-typed and/or deficit-oriented perspectives of certain parenting practices.

Authors

• Keye Xu, University of California - Los Angeles
  Presenting Author

• Jennie K Grammer, University of Virginia - Charlottesville