TY - JOUR PY - 2020// TI - Developmental cascades of preschoolers' effortful control, externalizing behaviors, and parental corporal punishment in China JO - Journal of interpersonal violence A1 - Li, Jingya A1 - Wang, Meifang A1 - Liu, Xianqi A1 - Zhang, Han SP - ePub EP - ePub VL - ePub IS - ePub N2 - This research examined the interrelations among children's effortful control, externalizing behaviors, and parental corporal punishment in China. Two hundred and five father-mother dyads of preschoolers (initial Mage = 3.73 years, 50% boys) completed measures of children's effortful control, externalizing behaviors, and parental corporal punishment at three time points with 1-year intervals in between. In developmental cascade models, only unidirectional direct relations between variables were found: preschoolers' effortful control negatively predicted externalizing behaviors a year later, and preschoolers' externalizing behaviors positively predicted maternal and paternal corporal punishment a year later. Moreover, although no direct relations between preschoolers' effortful control and parental corporal punishment were found, a potential indirect pathway from effortful control to paternal corporal punishment through externalizing behaviors was observed. The findings are discussed in terms of their cultural basis and highlight the importance of efforts to strengthen children's self-regulation during early childhood.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 0886-2605 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0886260520927498 ID - ref1 ER -