Longitudinal relations among child temperament, parenting, and acculturation in predicting Korean American children’s externalizing problems

Author/Creator ORCID

Date

2021

Department

Program

Citation of Original Publication

Seo, You Jung; Cheah, Charissa S. L.; Hart, Craig H.; Longitudinal relations among child temperament, parenting, and acculturation in predicting Korean American children’s externalizing problems; Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 2021; https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/cdp0000493

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©American Psychological Association, 2021. This paper is not the copy of record and may not exactly replicate the authoritative document published in the APA journal. Please do not copy or cite without author's permission. The final article is available, upon publication, at: https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/cdp0000493.

Subjects

Abstract

Objective: This study examined the transactional associations among maternal warmth, child temperamental inhibitory control, child externalizing behaviors, and maternal American acculturation in Korean immigrant families with young children across three time points, each 6 months apart. Method: Korean immigrant mothers (Mage = 35.93 years, SD = 3.68) and their preschool-aged children (Mage = 4.30 years, SD = 0.98) in the U.S. participated (n = 199 at Wave 1, n = 138 at Wave 2, and n = 105 at Wave 3). Mothers reported on their family demographics, maternal warmth, maternal American acculturation, and children’s temperamental inhibitory control. Teachers reported on children’s externalizing problems. Results: Moderate to strong stabilities within each construct across time and within-time covariations among the constructs were revealed. Transactional relations between parent and child were not found. However, Wave 1 maternal American acculturation significantly influenced their level of Wave 2 maternal warmth. Wave 2 maternal warmth predicted increases in Wave 3 child temperamental inhibitory control. Maternal warmth at Wave 2 statistically mediated the association between Wave 1 maternal acculturation and Wave 3 child inhibitory control. Conclusion: Our findings highlight the importance of examining the complex mechanisms driving the associations among child, parenting, and cultural factors in promoting positive child characteristics and parenting practices. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)