Intensive parenting is becoming a prevalent parenting style in China.Parents invest tremendous time,energy,and money in childrearing,whereas the effectiveness of intensive parenting in helping children obtain developm...Intensive parenting is becoming a prevalent parenting style in China.Parents invest tremendous time,energy,and money in childrearing,whereas the effectiveness of intensive parenting in helping children obtain developmental advantages remains controversial.Using the questionnaire survey,the present study investigates 388 mothers of preschoolers in Shanghai and Jinan,Shandong province,to explore the associations between the intensiveness of mothering,maternal psychological well-being,and preschoolers’emotional and behavioral competence.Four distinct patterns of the intensiveness of mothering are identified using latent profile analysis:high-endorsement&high-practice,medium-endorsement&medium-practice,low-endorsement&lowpractice,and selective-endorsement-and-practice.Maternal psychological well-being suppresses the relationship between the intensiveness of mothering and preschoolers’emotional and behavioral competence.The intensiveness of mothering is positively related to preschoolers’emotional and behavioral competence after excluding the indirect effect of maternal psychological well-being.In addition,mothers from profiles showing higher levels of the intensiveness of mothering have worse psychological wellbeing,and their preschoolers have lower levels of social-emotional development.The two pathways counteract each other,resulting in a non-significant overall relationship between the intensiveness of mothering and preschoolers’emotional and behavioral competence.The present study suggests that mothers may adjust their attitudes and practices toward intensive parenting,actively mediate their psychological well-being,and create a supportive environment for children’s social-emotional development.Families,preschools,and society as a whole are recommended to establish collaborative mechanisms to support mothers’childrearing and reduce their parenting stress.展开更多
基金funded by the Shanghai Planning Office of Educational Science Research Program in 2022“The Ideal and Reality of Organized Extracurricular Activities:Parents’Rationales for Enrolling Children in Activities and Children’s Experiences in the Activities”(No.A2022004).
文摘Intensive parenting is becoming a prevalent parenting style in China.Parents invest tremendous time,energy,and money in childrearing,whereas the effectiveness of intensive parenting in helping children obtain developmental advantages remains controversial.Using the questionnaire survey,the present study investigates 388 mothers of preschoolers in Shanghai and Jinan,Shandong province,to explore the associations between the intensiveness of mothering,maternal psychological well-being,and preschoolers’emotional and behavioral competence.Four distinct patterns of the intensiveness of mothering are identified using latent profile analysis:high-endorsement&high-practice,medium-endorsement&medium-practice,low-endorsement&lowpractice,and selective-endorsement-and-practice.Maternal psychological well-being suppresses the relationship between the intensiveness of mothering and preschoolers’emotional and behavioral competence.The intensiveness of mothering is positively related to preschoolers’emotional and behavioral competence after excluding the indirect effect of maternal psychological well-being.In addition,mothers from profiles showing higher levels of the intensiveness of mothering have worse psychological wellbeing,and their preschoolers have lower levels of social-emotional development.The two pathways counteract each other,resulting in a non-significant overall relationship between the intensiveness of mothering and preschoolers’emotional and behavioral competence.The present study suggests that mothers may adjust their attitudes and practices toward intensive parenting,actively mediate their psychological well-being,and create a supportive environment for children’s social-emotional development.Families,preschools,and society as a whole are recommended to establish collaborative mechanisms to support mothers’childrearing and reduce their parenting stress.
