Unique Influence of Mothers and Fathers on Their Children's Antisocial Behavior

Abstract

The social development model (Catalano & Hawkins, 1996) was adapted to examine the unique influence of mothers and fathers on their children's antisocial behavior. Analyses examined 325 families with sixth‐grade children. Structural equation modeling was used to assess unique influences of constructs specific to mothers or fathers. Multiple‐group comparisons were conducted to identify differences in the relationships between constructs for daughters versus sons. Results suggested that, although the relationships were often similar for both parents and for both daughters and sons, mothers and fathers uniquely influenced their child's antisocial behavior depending on the child's gender. Overall, cross‐gender influence appeared to be particularly important for fathers’ control of their daughters’ antisocial behavior. Implications for the prevention of antisocial behavior are discussed.

Family Influences on Adolescent Delinquent Behaviors: Applying the Social Development Model to A Chinese Sample

“…Consistent with western studies (e.g., Kosterman et al 2004;Lonczak et al 2000), the hypothesized direct association between parental rewards and delinquent behaviors was not significant whereas the mediation path through parental attachment was supported. Parental rewards for children's conventional behaviors, as one expression of positive parent-adolescent interaction, seemed to promote emotional bonding between parents and adolescents, which was associated with a reduced number of delinquent behaviors directly (for boys) or indirectly through the mediation of adolescent deviant beliefs (for girls).…”

“…These results generally confirmed the often reported finding in western and Chinese literature that high parental attachment (e.g., Greenberg 1999;Locke and Newcomb 2004) and deviant beliefs Ngai and Cheung 2005) are associated with fewer adolescent adjustment problems. Gender differences in the mediation effect of adolescent deviant beliefs, however, were in contrast to results in western studies (Laundra et al 2002;Kosterman et al 2004). In an SDM study of serious delinquency, Laundra et al (2002) found that the relationship of parent-adolescent attachment to adolescent conventional beliefs was significant for boys but not for girls, and that attachment directly predicted delinquency for girls only.…”

“…According to the SDM, external constraints such as family monitoring affect adolescent behavior through the mediation of parents' rewarding behaviors O'Donnell et al 1995). Note that the SDM emphasizes the role of adolescent perceptions of both opportunities for involvement in conventional activities as well as rewards received for desirable behaviors Numerous studies have demonstrated that parental monitoring is related to less delinquent behavior in both western (e.g., Kosterman et al 2004;Sampson and Laub 1993) and Chinese youth (e.g., Chen et al 2000). In Chinese culture, parental monitoring may be of particular importance to determining adolescents' behaviors (Ngai and Cheung 2000).…”

The Role of Self-Regulation in Academic and Behavioral Paths to a High School Diploma

“…Children living in families characterized by high levels of conflict, poor parental management and monitoring, and weak bonds among families members have been shown to be at increased risk for engaging in antisocial behavior and substance use (Deng and Roosa 2007; Kosterman et al 2004). The SDM hypothesizes that family social development processes are most salient during childhood and may lose some of this salience as children develop stronger bonds with peers and schools throughout adolescence.…”

"She's My Baby": How Recently Incarcerated Fathers Experience Their Relationship with Their Daughters

“…Flouri and Buchanan (2003) discovered that father involvement with adolescent girls protected against psychological distress when they reached adulthood. Other findings suggest that paternal influence decreases antisocial behavior (Kosterman, Haggerty, Spoth, & Redmond, 2004) and sexual risk taking (Peterson, 2007;Stein, Milburn, Zane, & Rotheram-Borus, 2009) in daughters. Closeness and affirmation of fathers reduced internalization of problems in girls (Mitchell, Booth, & King, 2009), as well as enhanced women's comfort with their sexuality as adults (Scheffler & Naus, 1999).…”