The Impact of Mothers’ Perceived Unsupportive Intergenerational Co-Parenting on Children’s Social Competence: Evidence from China

Abstract

This study examined whether parenting styles mediated the relationship between unsupportive intergenerational co-parenting and children’s social competence, and whether the first stage of the mediating process, as well as the direct association between unsupportive intergenerational co-parenting and children’s social competence, was moderated by maternal psychological flexibility. The theoretical model was tested using data collected from 412 mothers of children aged 3–6 years at four kindergartens in Shanghai, China. The results showed that: (1) unsupportive intergenerational co-parenting was negatively associated with children’s social competence through decreased maternal authoritative parenting and increased authoritarian parenting and (2) the first stage of the mediation mechanism was moderated by maternal psychological flexibility. Specifically, unsupportive intergenerational co-parenting was significantly associated with authoritative and authoritarian parenting for mothers with low and high psychological flexibility, respectively, and the magnitude of the association was higher for mothers with low psychological flexibility. These findings extend the understanding of how and when unsupportive intergenerational co-parenting impacts children’s social competence.

Social competence of single‐parent children with child abuse in China: Mediation model of resilience

“…Chinese families strongly emphasize the importance of filial piety, which requires children to obey and honour their parents (Whyte, 2022). Also, Chinese parents stress the importance of children's safety, and children are required to keep their distance from strangers, which limits their socialization (Xu et al, 2022). In addition, due to the family planning policy in Mainland China, which limits the number of children families can have, many children do not have siblings (Yang et al, 2019).…”

“…Chinese families strongly emphasize the importance of filial piety, which requires children to obey and honour their parents (Whyte, 2022). Also, Chinese parents stress the importance of children's safety, and children are required to keep their distance from strangers, which limits their socialization (Xu et al, 2022).…”