Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Relations among Parenting, Child Behavioral Regulation and Early Competencies: A Study on Chinese Preschoolers

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Child and Family Studies Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

As an important aspect of self-regulation, behavioral regulation contributes to young children’s academic and social-emotional outcomes. In this study, we examined the relations between young Chinese children’s behavioral regulation and their mathematics competence, language skills, and behavior problems. We further explored the role of both maternal and paternal parenting in these relations. We tested two competing frameworks. We examined whether behavioral regulation would mediate the relations between parenting and aforementioned child outcomes. We also tested whether parenting would moderate the relations between children’s behavioral regulation and their outcomes. A total of 109 Chinese children approximately at three years of age living in Hong Kong participated in the study with their parents. Children’s behavioral regulation, number competence, receptive vocabulary, and phonological awareness were tested individually using direct assessments. Parents reported their own parenting and their children’s internalizing and externalizing problems. The results showed that paternal supportive parenting moderated the relation between children’s behavioral regulation and their number competence, as well as the relation between behavioral regulation and externalizing problems. The findings add to the literature by demonstrating the importance of behavioral regulation for early learning and social-emotional outcomes of young Chinese children. The findings also suggest the crucial role of fathers in helping children utilize their behavioral regulation skills to acquire early mathematics skills and reduce behavior problems.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Achenbach, T., & Rescorla, L. (2000). Manual for the ASEBA preschoool forms & profiles. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, Research Centre for Children, Youth, & Families.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernier, A., Carlson, S. M., Deschênes, M., & Matte-Gagné, C. (2012). Social factors in the development of early executive functioning: A closer look at the caregiving environment. Developmental Science, 15(1), 12–24.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bernier, A., Carlson, S. M., & Whipple, N. (2010). From external regulation to self-regulation: Early parenting precursors of young children’s executive functioning. Child Development, 81(1), 326–339.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Best, J. R., Miller, P. H., & Jones, L. L. (2009). Executive functions after age 5: Changes and correlates. Developmental Review, 29(3), 180–200.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Bierman, K. L., Nix, R. L., Greenberg, M. T., Blair, C., & Domitrovich, C. E. (2008). Executive functions and school readiness intervention: Impact, moderation, and mediation in the Head Start REDI program. Development and Psychopathology, 20(3), 821–843.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Block, J. H. (1981). The child-rearing practices report (CRPR): A set of Q items for the description of parental socialization attitudes and values. Berkeley, CA: University of California, Institute of Human Development.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cabrera, N., Fitzgerald, H. E., Bradley, R. H., & Roggman, L. (2007). Modeling the dynamics of paternal influences on children over the life course. Applied Development Science, 11(4), 185–189.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cabrera, N. J., Shannon, J. D., & Tamis-LeMonda, C. (2007). Fathers’ influence on their children’s cognitive and emotional development: From toddlers to pre-K. Applied Development Science, 11(4), 208–213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Calkins, S. D. & Bell, M. A. E. (Eds) (2010). Child development at the intersection of emotion and cognition. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Census and Statistics Department. (2014). Population and household statistics analysed by district council district 2013. Hong Kong: Government Logistics Department.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen, X., Chang, L., He, Y., & Liu, H. (2005). The peer group as a context: Moderating effects on relations between maternal parenting and social and school adjustment in Chinese children. Child Development, 76(2), 417–434. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2005.00854.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cheung, P. S. P., Lee, K. Y. S., & Lee, L. W. T. (1997). The development of the Cantonese receptive vocabulary test for children aged 2–6 in Hong Kong. European Journal of Disorders of Communication, 32(1), 127–138.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chung, K. K. H. (2015). Behavioural self-regulation and its contribution to reading among Chinese poor readers. Asia Pacific Journal of Developmental Differences, 2(1), 5–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cummings, E. M., Goeke-Morey, M. C., & Raymond, J. (2004). Fathers in family context: Effects of marital quality and marital conflict. In M. E. Lamb (Ed.), The role of the father in child development (pp. 196–221). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Darling, N., & Steinberg, L. (1993). Parenting style as context: An integrative model. Psychological Bulletin, 113(3), 487–496.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Domitrovich, C. E., Cortes, R. C., & Greenberg, M. T. (2007). Improving young children’s social and emotional competence: A randomized trial of the preschool “PATHS” curriculum. The Journal of Primary Prevention, 28(2), 67–91.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Duncan, G. J., Dowsett, C. J., Claessens, A., Magnuson, K., Huston, A. C., Klebanov, P., & Sexton, H. (2007). School readiness and later achievement. Developmental Psychology, 43(6), 1428–1446.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Elden, R. D., Edward, E. P., & Leonard, K. E. (2007). A conceptual model for the development of externalizing behavior problem among kindergarten children of alcoholic families role of parenting and children’s self regulation. Journal of Developmental Psychology, 43(5), 1187–1201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hu, B. Y., Fan, X., Li, K., Ieong, L., & Sao, S. (2015). Why is group teaching so important to Chinese children’s development? Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 40(1), 4–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang, Q., Zhang, X., Liu, Y., Yang, W., & Song, Z. (2017). The contribution of parent–child numeracy activities to young Chinese children’s mathematical ability. British Journal of Educational Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12152.

  • Jordan, N. C., & Levine, S. C. (2009). Socioeconomic variation, number competence, and mathematics learning difficulties in young children. Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews, 15(1), 60–68.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jordan, N. C., Kaplan, D., Ramineni, C., & Locuniak, M. N. (2009). Early mathematics matters: Kindergarten number competence and later mathematics outcomes. Developmental Psychology, 45(3), 850–867.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Karreman, A., van Tuijl, C., van Aken, M. A., & Deković, M. (2009). Predicting young children’s externalizing problems: Interactions among effortful control, parenting, and child gender. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 55(2), 111–134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kochanska, G., Murray, K. T., & Harlan, E. T. (2000). Effortful control in early childhood: Continuity and change, antecedents, and implications for social development. Developmental Psychology, 36(2), 220–232.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lan, X., Legare, C. H., Ponitz, C. C., Li, S., & Morrison, F. J. (2011). Investigating the links between the subcomponents of executive function and academic achievement: A cross-cultural analysis of Chinese and American preschoolers. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 108(3), 677–692.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Learning Disabilities Association of Alberta. (2009). Reading readiness screening tool. Edmonton, AB: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Li, X., & Lamb, M. E. (2015). Fathering in Chinese culture: Traditions and transitions. In J. L. Roopnarine & J. L. Roopnarine (Eds.), Fathers across cultures: The importance, roles, and diverse practices of dads (pp. 273–306). Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger/ABC-CLIO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liang, Z., Zhang, G., Deng, H., Song, Y., & Zheng, W. (2013). A multilevel analysis of the developmental trajectory of preschoolers’ effortful control and prediction by parental parenting style. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 45(5), 556–567.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu, J., Cheng, H., & Leung, P. L. (2011). The application of the preschool child behavior checklist and the caregiver-teacher report form to Mainland Chinese children: Syndrome structure, gender differences, country effects, and inter-informant agreement. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 39(2), 251–264. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-010-9452-8.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Lucassen, N., Kok, R., Bakermans‐Kranenburg, M. J., Van Ijzendoorn, M. H., Jaddoe, V. W., Hofman, A., & Tiemeier, H. (2015). Executive functions in early childhood: The role of maternal and paternal parenting practices. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 33(4), 489–505.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McClelland, M. M., Cameron, C. E., Connor, C. M., Farris, C. L., Jewkes, A. M., & Morrison, F. J. (2007). Links between behavioral regulation and preschoolers’ literacy, vocabulary, and mathematics skills. Developmental Psychology, 43(4), 947–959.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McClelland, M. M., Cameron, C. E., Duncan, R., Bowles, R. P., Acock, A. C., Miao, A., & Pratt, M. E. (2014). Predictors of early growth in academic achievement: the head-toes-knees-shoulders task. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 599.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • McClelland, M. M., Cameron, C. E., Wanless, S. B., & Murray, A. (2007). Executive function, self-regulation, and social-emotional competence: Links to school readiness. In O. N. Saracho & B. Spodek (Eds.), Contemporary perspectives on research in social learning in early childhood education (pp. 83–107). Charlotte, NC: Information Age.

    Google Scholar 

  • McClelland, M. M., Morrison, F. J., & Holmes, D. L. (2000). Children at risk for early academic problems: The role of learning-related social skills. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 15(3), 307–329.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McDowell, D. J., & Parke, R. D. (2009). Parental correlates of children’s peer relations: An empirical test of a tripartite model. Developmental Psychology, 45(1), 224–235.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mistry, R. S., Biesanz, J. C., Taylor, L. C., Burchinal, M., & Cox, M. J. (2004). Family income and its relation to preschool children’s adjustment for families in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care. Developmental Psychology, 40(5), 727–745.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Morris, A. S., Silk, J. S., Steinberg, L., Sessa, F. M., Avenevoli, S., & Essex, M. J. (2002). Temperamental vulnerability and negative parenting as interacting predictors of child adjustment. Journal of Marriage and Family, 64(2), 461–471.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muhtadie, L., Zhou, Q., Eisenberg, N., & Wang, Y. (2013). Predicting internalizing problems in Chinese children: The unique and interactive effects of parenting and child temperament. Development and Psychopathology, 25(3), 653–667. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579413000084.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Ponitz, C. C., McClelland, M. M., Matthews, J. S., & Morrison, F. J. (2009). A structured observation of behavioral regulation and its contributions to kindergarten outcomes. Developmental Psychology, 45(3), 605–619. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0015365.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Raver, C. (2003). Young children’s emotional development and school readiness. Social Policy Report, 16(3), 3–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Riggs, N. R., Blair, C. B., & Greenberg, M. T. (2003). Concurrent and 2-year longitudinal relations between executive function and the behavior of 1st and 2nd grade children. Child Neuropsychology, 9(4), 267–276.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schmitt, S. A., McClelland, M. M., Tominey, S. L., & Acock, A. C. (2015). Strengthening school readiness for head start children: Evaluation of a self-regulation intervention. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 30, 20–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sektnan, M., McClelland, M. M., Acock, A., & Morrison, F. J. (2010). Relations between early family risk, children’s behavioral regulation, and academic achievement. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 25(4), 464–479.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Semple, R. J., Lee, J., Rosa, D., & Miller, L. F. (2010). A randomized trial of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for children: Promoting mindful attention to enhance social-emotional resiliency in children. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 19(2), 218–229.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sobel, M. E. (1982). Asymptotic intervals for indirect effects in structural equations models. In S. Leinhart (Ed.), Sociological methodology (pp. 290–312). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spinrad, T. L., Eisenberg, N., Gaertner, B., Popp, T., Smith, C. L., Kupfer, A., & Hofer, C. (2007). Relations of maternal socialization and toddlers’ effortful control to children’s adjustment and social competence. Developmental Psychology, 43(5), 1170–1186.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Tamis-LeMonda, C. S., Shannon, J. D., Cabrera, N. J., & Lamb, M. E. (2004). Fathers and mothers at play with their 2- and 3-year-olds: Contributions to language and cognitive development. Child Development, 75(6), 1806–1820.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Towe-Goodman, N. R., Willoughby, M., Blair, C., Gustafsson, H. C., Mills-Koonce, W. R., & Cox, M. J. (2014). Fathers’ sensitive parenting and the development of early executive functioning. Journal of Family Psychology, 28(6), 867–876.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Valiente, C., Lemery-Chalfant, K., & Reiser, M. (2007). Pathways to problem behaviors: Chaotic homes, parent and child effortful control, and parenting. Social Development, 16(2), 249–267.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wanless, S. B., McClelland, M. M., Acock, A. C., Ponitz, C. C., Son, S., Lan, X., & Li, S. (2011). Measuring behavioral regulation in four societies. Psychological Assessment, 23(2), 364–378. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021768.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, X. (2016). Linking language, visual-spatial, and executive function skills to number competence in very young Chinese children. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 36(3), 178–189.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, X., & Lin, D. (2015). Pathways to arithmetic: The role of visual-spatial and language skills in written arithmetic, arithmetic word problems, and nonsymbolic arithmetic. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 41, 188–197.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou, Q., Chen, S. H., & Main, A. (2012). Commonalities and differences in the research on children’s effortful control and executive function: a call for an integrated model of self-regulation. Child Development Perspectives, 6(2), 112–121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author Contributions

L. R. conducted most of the data analyses, wrote most of the sections in the initial draft of the manuscript, and coordinated the revision process. X. Z. carried out the big project in which the current study was part of, and wrote the initial Methods section. W. Y. conducted additional analyses in the revision process of the manuscript, and revised the Results section. Z. S. revised part of the Introduction section and provided helpful thoughts for the Discussion section in the revision process of the manuscript.

Funding

This study was supported by an ECS grant from the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong (No. 28404114) to Xiao Zhang. This article was partially prepared while Lixin Ren and Xiao Zhang were visiting scholars at Shandong Yingcai University, with support provided by a grant from the Ministry of Education (MOE) of the People’s Republic of China to Zhanmei Song (No. BHA160085).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Early Childhood Education, Faculty of Education, East China Normal University, 3663 North Zhongshan Road,, 200062, Shanghai, China

    Lixin Ren

  2. Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China

    Xiao Zhang

  3. School of Early Childhood Education, Shandong Yingcai University, 2 Yingcai Road, High-tech Industrial Development Zone,, 250104, Jinan, Shandong, China

    Wen Yang & Zhanmei Song

Authors
  1. Lixin Ren
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Xiao Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Wen Yang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Zhanmei Song
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Lixin Ren or Xiao Zhang.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. IRB approval was provided by The Education University of Hong Kong.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ren, L., Zhang, X., Yang, W. et al. Relations among Parenting, Child Behavioral Regulation and Early Competencies: A Study on Chinese Preschoolers. J Child Fam Stud 27, 639–652 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-017-0898-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-017-0898-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation