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. 2023 Feb 3:14:1029408.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1029408. eCollection 2023.

Socioeconomic status and problem behaviors in young Chinese children: A moderated mediation model of parenting styles and only children

Xunyi Lin  1 , Yifan Zhang  1 , Yutong Liao  2 , Wanlin Xie  1
Affiliations

Socioeconomic status and problem behaviors in young Chinese children: A moderated mediation model of parenting styles and only children

Xunyi Lin et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Introduction: This study tested a moderated mediation model of child number (CN) and parenting styles (PS) in the relationships between family socioeconomic status (SES) and young children's problem behaviors (PB).

Methods: A sample of 1,101 children (Mage = 4.90 years, SD = 1.07) and their parents participated in this study. Parents reported on PS, SES, and children's PB.

Results and discussion: The results show SES was positively related to authoritative parenting and negatively related to authoritarian parenting; problem behaviors were negatively related to authoritative parenting and positively related to authoritarian parenting; authoritative parenting and authoritarian parenting mediated the relationship between SES and PB; and singleton moderated the relationship between SES and PB. The combination of only children and low levels of SES could lead to high PB levels, while the combination of non-only children and high levels of SES could lead to high PB levels. At the same SES, only children had higher PB levels than non-only children.

Keywords: SES; child number; moderated mediation; parenting styles; problem behaviors; young children.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Theoretical model. SES, socioeconomic status; PS, parenting style; PB, problem behaviors; CN, child number.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The moderated mediation model. N = 1,101. ∗p < 0.05, ∗∗p < 0.01 and ∗∗∗p < 0.001. SES, socioeconomic status; PB, problem behaviors; CN, child number.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Conditional Effects of the Focal Predictor (SES) at Values of the Moderator as only child number. N = 1,101. Mean change is displayed separately for only children and non-only children.
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