This Article Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 0165025409343749v1 33/6/520    most recent References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Fung, J. J. Articles by Lau, A. S. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Punitive discipline and child behavior problems in Chinese-American immigrant families: The moderating effects of indigenous child-rearing ideologies

University of California, Los Angeles, USA, joeyfung{at}ucla.edu

Anna S. Lau

University of California, Los Angeles, USA

In a sample of 107 Chinese immigrant families we examined whether cultural child-rearing beliefs moderated the association between parents’ use of punitive discipline and children’s behavioral adjustment. Immigrant parents and their children aged 7 to 17 years completed measures of parental discipline and child behavior problems. Parents also reported on indigenous Chinese child-rearing ideologies regarding shaming and training as strategies for raising competent and moral children. Results of hierarchical regression models conducted with parent-reported data indicated that the negative effects of punitive discipline on child behavior problems were not apparent when parents adhered to training and shaming ideologies. However, the buffering effects of training ideologies were more robust and consistent than shaming. The findings provide some evidence that the discipline—behavior problem link may be moderated by cultural context of caregiver psychology which shapes the meaning and implications of parental behavior.

Key Words: child behavior problems • child-rearing ideologies • culture • physical discipline • punitive discipline

This version was published on November 1, 2009

International Journal of Behavioral Development, Vol. 33, No. 6, 520-530 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0165025409343749


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?