The impact of children’s socioemotional development on parenting styles: the moderating effect of social withdrawal

Figures & data

Table 1. Correlations of Study Variables.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
1. Social withdrawal	1	−.31***	.28***	.22***	−.10*	−.03	−.03
2. Prosocial behaviour	−.31***	1	−.57***	−.09**	.17***	−.14***	−.07
3. Externalizing problems	.28***	−.57***	1	.13***	−.22***	.21***	.07
4. Internalizing problems	.22***	−.09**	.13***	1	−.13**	.04	.07
5. Affection	−.10**	.19***	−.16***	−.02	−1	−.01	−.04
6. Behavioural control	.01	.02	.06	−.02	.00	1	.37***
7. Psychological control	.07	.01	.02	−.02	−.06	.38***	1

***p < .001, **p < .01, *p < .05; Correlations of study variables for mothers are above and for fathers are below the diagonal.

Table 2. Means (M) and standard deviations (SD) of study variables at different measurement points.

	Time 1 (7 years)		Time 2 (8 years)		Time 3 (9 years)		Time 1, 2, 3
	M	SD	M	SD	M	SD	M	SD
Prosocial	2.20	0.53	2.21	0.53	2.15	0.51	2.19	0.52
Internalizing	1.29	0.38	1.26	0.36	1.27	0.36	1.27	0.37
Externalizing	1.47	0.45	1.46	0.47	1.45	0.47	1.46	0.46
Mothers’ Affection	4.27	0.45	4.27	0.46	4.28	0.45	4.27	0.45
Mothers’ Behavioural control	3.77	0.47	3.78	0.52	3.76	0.52	3.77	0.50
Mothers’ Psychological control	2.59	0.65	2.58	0.69	2.56	0.71	2.57	0.68
Fathers’ Affection	4.07	0.45	4.07	0.43	4.04	0.45	4.06	0.44
Fathers’ Behavioural control	3.72	0.53	3.70	0.51	3.64	0.55	3.69	0.52
Fathers’ Psychological control	2.70	0.69	2.76	0.72	2.78	0.78	2.74	0.73
Social withdrawal	0.73	0.72

Table 3. Random effects regression for children’s socioemotional development and parenting styles (standardized beta coefficients).

	Affection		Behavioural control		Psychological control
	Mothers	Fathers	Mothers	Fathers	Mothers	Fathers
Step 1: Main effects
Child gender	.08	−.08	.15	.10	.26*	.28*
Parental education	.07	.03	.02	.11	.02	−.09
Marital status	−.12	.25	.07	.27	.06	.49
Socio-economic status	.06	.23*	−.19	.04	−.27*	−.06
Social withdrawal	−.04	−.02	−.04	−.02	.04	−.08
Prosocial behaviour	.11**	.09*	−.05	.08	.03	.02
Internalizing problems	−.02	−.01	.02	−.04	.07	−.06
Externalizing problems	−.07	.00	.13*	.14*	−.01	.03
Step 2: Interaction effects added
Social withdrawal × Prosocial					.08*
Social withdrawal × Internalizing						.13***
Social withdrawal × Externalizing

***p < .001, **p < .01, *p < .05.

Figure 1. The role of children’s prosocial behaviour in relation to their mothers’ psychological control, regarding children showing relatively high level of social withdrawal (+1 SD, high) and children showing relatively low signs of social withdrawal (−1 SD, low).

Figure 2. The role of children’s internalizing problems in relation to fathers’ psychological control, regarding children showing relatively high level of social withdrawal (+1 SD, high) and children showing relatively low signs of social withdrawal (−1 SD, low).