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. 2012 Jan;21(1):85-106.
doi: 10.1002/icd.764. Epub 2011 Nov 14.

The Association between Positive Parenting and Externalizing Behavior

Debra L Boeldt  1 , Soo Hyun Rhee, Lisabeth F Dilalla, Paula Y Mullineaux, R Jay Schulz-Heik, Robin P Corley, Susan E Young, John K Hewitt
Affiliations

The Association between Positive Parenting and Externalizing Behavior

Debra L Boeldt et al. Infant Child Dev. 2012 Jan.

Abstract

The present study examined the role of positive parenting on externalizing behaviors in a longitudinal, genetically informative sample. It often is assumed that positive parenting prevents behavior problems in children via an environmentally mediated process. Alternatively, the association may be due to either an evocative gene-environment correlation, in which parents react to children's genetically-influenced behavior in a positive way, or a passive gene-environment correlation, where parents passively transmit a risk environment and the genetic risk factor for the behavioral outcome to their children. The present study estimated the contribution of these processes in the association between positive parenting and children's externalizing behavior. Positive parenting was assessed via observations at ages 7, 9, 14, 24, and 36 months and externalizing behaviors were assessed through parent report at ages 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, and 12 years. The significant association between positive parenting and externalizing behavior was negative, with children of mothers who showed significantly more positive parenting during toddlerhood having lower levels of externalizing behavior in childhood; however, there was not adequate power to distinguish whether this covariation was due to genetic, shared environmental, or nonshared environmental influences.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Results of confirmatory factor analyses with separate factors for Positive Parenting and Externalizing Behavior. sense = maternal sensitivity; quality = maternal quality of instruction; warmth = maternal warmth; interact= overall rating of mother–child interaction. Results for the full sample are presented by the top numbers, results for boys are presented by the middle numbers, and results for girls are presented by the bottoms numbers. All parenting variables had significant loadings (p < .01) on the latent parenting factor, and all externalizing behavior variables had significant loadings (p < .01) on the latent externalizing behavior factor. * p<.01
Figure 2
Figure 2
Results of the full bivariate common pathway model with separate factors for Positive Parenting and Externalizing Behavior for the entire sample. sense = maternal sensitivity; quality = maternal quality of instruction; warmth = maternal warmth; interact= overall rating of mother–child interaction; A=magnitude of genetic influences; C= magnitude of shared environmental influences; E= nonshared environmental influences on positive parenting, externalizing behavior, and the covariance between positive parenting and externalizing behavior.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Results of the full bivariate common pathway model with separate factors for Positive Parenting and Externalizing Behavior for boys and girls. sense = maternal sensitivity; quality = maternal quality of instruction; warmth = maternal warmth; interact= overall rating of mother–child interaction; A=magnitude of genetic influences; C= magnitude of shared environmental influences; E= nonshared environmental influences on positive parenting, externalizing behavior, and the covariance between positive parenting and externalizing behavior. Top/left number indicates boys and bottom/right number indicates girls.
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