Suchergebnisse

Familial and nonfamilial relations play prominent roles in fostering youths' prosocial tendencies. The present study examined the direct and indirect relations among family conflict, parental and peer acceptance, deviant peer affiliation, and prosocial tendencies. Participants included 306 (53.8% female, Mage = 15.50, SD = .42; range = 14–18) U.S. Latino/a adolescents and their parents (87.9% mothers). The majority of adolescents were born in the United States (N = 206, 68.0%; average time in United States = 10 years) and identified as a Mexican heritage group member (N = 248, 81.0%). Findings differed by nativity as parental acceptance predicted prosocial tendencies for U.S. Latinos/as born outside the United States and peers were significant predictors of prosocial tendencies for U.S.‐born Latino/as.

AbstractThe article provides a brief review of theory and research on the roles of guilt, shame, and sympathy in predicting moral behaviors. Two models are presented and contrasted. The guilt‐based model proposes that guilt and shame jointly predict prosocial and aggressive behaviors. In contrast, the sympathy‐based model suggests that perspective taking and sympathy are linked to such behaviors. In both models, prosocial moral reasoning is proposed as a possible mediator in these relations. Results from a study of college students suggest support for both models. Moreover, there is evidence that prosocial moral reasoning mediates the relations between these moral emotions and moral behaviors. The implications for the need to incorporate moral emotions and cognitions into existing models of morality are discussed and emphasized.

AbstractThe present study examined the associations between family conflict during toddlerhood and children's prosocial and aggressive behaviors approximately 9 years later, as well as whether maternal supportiveness and children's self‐regulation mediate those associations. Family conflict has been identified as a risk factor for children's well‐being and behavioral problems. However, these studies often are confined to conflict during childhood, and few studies have considered the long‐term effects of conflict in toddlerhood on outcomes in late childhood. Participants were 2,215 mothers and their children (49.3% female) from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project. Families were followed from 15 months to fifth grade. Findings demonstrated direct effects of family conflict on children's aggressive behaviors and indirect effects (via maternal supportiveness) of family conflict on youth's prosocial behaviors. The present study highlights the possible long term, deleterious effects of family conflict on parenting, children's self‐regulatory skills, and social behaviors.

AbstractEthnoracially diverse families living in poverty are vulnerable to stress, discrimination, and adversities that can be 'toxic' to parenting and to a wide range of psychosocial and academic outcomes in youth. Thus, there is high need to identify malleable protective and promotive factors that may lead to improved developmental trajectories and outcomes for at‐risk youth and families. In this study of 2,233 low‐income families with ethnoracially diverse children (49.5% girls; 42.5% European Americans, 38.4% African Americans, and 19.1% U.S. Latino/as), we tested a model positing that child‐rearing beliefs at 24 months and parenting practices at 36 months are precursors to the development of children's self‐regulation at pre‐kindergarten, with self‐regulation as a mediating mechanism between parenting in toddlerhood and psychosocial and academic functioning at fifth grade. Results confirm that child‐rearing beliefs are precursors to parenting practices, and both parenting practices and self‐regulation are mediating mechanisms by which child‐rearing beliefs are linked to youths' psychosocial and academic outcomes. The results have implications for early parent education and parenting interventions, including public health approaches that have the potential for positive impacts on vulnerable children, youth, and families.

AbstractThe goal of the current study was to examine two competing models focusing on the roles of empathy‐related traits in the relation between economic stress and prosocial behaviors. First, we examined the mediating roles of perspective taking and empathic concern in the association between economic stress and adolescents' prosocial behaviors. Second, we examined the moderating role of perspective taking in the association between economic stress and empathic concern, as well as the links between empathic concern and prosocial behaviors. Participants consisted of 307 (46.2% girls; M age = 15.05) U.S. Latino adolescents (77.5% U.S. Mexicans) and their primary caregivers (87.9% mothers). Primary caregivers reported on family‐level economic stress, and adolescents reported on their own perspective taking, empathic concern, and their tendency to engage in six forms of prosocial behaviors. Results demonstrated support for the moderating role of perspective taking on the link between economic stress and empathic concern, which in turn, was associated with multiple forms of helping behaviors. Economic stress was also directly associated with selfless and selfish helping behaviors. The discussion focuses on the multiple roles of empathic traits in understanding the links between economic stress and prosocial outcomes in U.S. Latino youth.

This study examined method and frequency of sibling communication among Mexican American college students (N = 186) and associations between relationship quality and sibling communication. Findings revealed that siblings were most likely to communicate face‐to‐face and by text and least likely to communicate using video chat and e‐mail. Further, sisters were more likely than brothers to call and text one another, and sisters communicated more frequently than older brother–younger sister dyads. Familism moderated the relation between sibling intimacy and frequency of communication, showing a stronger positive association for those with low (compared to high) familism values. Our findings reveal that values central to the importance of family and orientations to Mexican culture are protective for maintaining sibling communication when siblings report negativity in their relationships. Results highlight the need to consider sibling structural characteristics and the cultural context when studying relationship dynamics among Mexican American college students and their siblings.

AbstractThe present study was designed to examine the longitudinal relations between parenting daily hassles and young children's later prosocial and aggressive behaviors, as well as the mediating role of parenting practices in a non‐Western society. The final sample was 159 middle class Turkish school age children (45.3% girls, Mage= 84.69 months, 76.9% from public school, 23.1% from private school in Bolu, Ankara, and İstanbul) and their mothers. Overall, we found longitudinal evidence that parenting daily hassles, warmth, and physical punishment were significantly and differentially associated with children's prosocial and aggressive behaviors 3 years later. The present findings extend our understanding of the interplay of parenting and stress in predicting children's prosocial and aggressive development in a non‐Western culture.

AbstractThe goals of this study were to examine (1) stability of maternal directiveness during interactions with their children from toddlerhood to late middle childhood, (2) direct and mediated relations between mothers' directiveness when children were two years old, mothers' respect for autonomy and children's positivity and negativity toward their mothers when children were in late middle childhood, and (3) differences in these paths by ethnoracial group. Participants included 876 European‐American, 789 African‐American, and 411 Mexican‐American mothers and their children from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project. Maternal respect for autonomy at Time 2 partially mediated an association between Time 1 directiveness and observed child positivity toward mothers at Time 2. There was also a direct inverse link between Time 1 maternal directiveness and children's observed positivity toward mothers at Time 2. Relations were similar across ethnoracial groups and for boys and girls. The discussion focuses on heterotypic stability in directive parenting and its implications for children's feelings toward their mothers.