Considering children’s characteristics in Chinese American mothers’ attributions, well-being, and parenting practices

Abstract

This study assessed whether: (a) the relation between mothers' attributions of parenting failures to uncontrollable causes (i.e., parenting skills, task difficulty) and parenting practices (i.e., warm parenting, psychologically controlling parenting) was explained by mothers' psychological well-being, and (b) children's difficult behaviors moderated the relation between mothers' attributions and psychological well-being. Data were collected from 270 Chinese American mothers (Mage = 37.8 years old) with young children (Mage = 4.6 years old, 50 % boys). Results revealed that mothers' attributions of caregiving failures to uncontrollable causes were associated with poorer psychological well-being, which in turn, was related to less warm parenting and more psychologically controlling parenting. Moreover, the indirect effects were significant only when children displayed low or moderate levels of difficult behaviors. Our findings can inform the design of culturally sensitive interventions to promote positive child-rearing beliefs and strategies in Chinese American families.