Mothers' Parenting Cognitions in Cultures of Origin, Acculturating Cultures, and Cultures of Destination

Abstract

Japanese and South American immigrant mothers' parenting cognitions (attributions and self-perceptions) were compared with mothers from their country of origin (Japan and Argentina, respectively) and European American mothers in the United States. Participants were 231 mothers of 20-month-old children. Generally, South American immigrant mothers' parenting cognitions more closely resembled those of mothers in the United States, whereas Japanese immigrant mothers' cognitions tended to be similar to those of Japanese mothers or intermediate between Japanese and U.S. mothers. This study provides insight into the nature of parenting cognitions generally and those of immigrant mothers specifically and therefore the parenting climate in which immigrant children are reared.

Cultural variations in mothers’ attributions: influence of child attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

“…In fact, this bias appears to be similar between Euro-Canadian and Chinese immigrant mothers. Although this is contrary to previous findings indicating that Japanese and Japanese immigrant mothers take more personal responsibility than Euro-American mothers for failures and unsuccessful parenting situations [38], and less responsibility for successful situations [39], it is consistent with findings demonstrating that Japanese individuals display a markedly attenuated self-serving attributional bias, whereas Chinese individuals display a self-serving attributional bias that is comparable to American individuals [40]. Thus, although much previous cross-cultural research has grouped individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds into broad categories (e.g., Asian Pacific Islander), these results suggest that it is important to distinguish among specific cultures as they are likely uniquely different from each other in patterns of attributions for both self and child.…”

The Importance of Parental Attributions in Families of Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity and Disruptive Behavior Disorders

“…Most research to date has been conducted with parents in Westernized countries such as the United States, Canada, Britain, and Australia. Although some recent work has suggested the importance of culture as a moderator of how child behavior, parental attributions, and parenting reactions are related (e.g., Bornstein & Cote, 2004;Chaing, Caplovitz-Barrett, & Nunez, 2000;Crystal & Stevenson, 1995), much more research is needed to explore these cultural and social influences. In the meantime, it is wise to recognize that our existing data and models are likely to be severely restricted in their cross-cultural generalizability.…”

Maternal Depression and Parenting Practices Predict Treatment Outcome in Italian Children with Disruptive Behavior Disorder

“…Furthermore, previous studies supporting the notion that inconsistent and harsh parenting practices predict future conduct problems in the child were conducted in North-American or British cultures. It is well documented that culture influences parental cognitions, evaluations of their competence and satisfaction in parenting, that in turn shape parenting practices and mediate the effectiveness of parenting (Bornstein et al 1998;Bornstein and Cote 2004;Bornstein 2013;Gunnoe and Mariner 1997); thus, it is crucial to explore this issue in different cultural contexts to generalize previous findings.…”