The effect of parenting pressure on children’s internalizing problem behaviors and its mechanism

Issue title: Special Section: Stress and Health: Understanding the Effects and Examining Interventions

Guest editors: Katerin Kalemaki

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Zou, Jing

Affiliations: Kunsan National University, Jeollabuk-do, Korea, E-mail: sundays9075@gmail.com

Abstract: BACKGROUND:in the process of raising children, parents will inevitably have inappropriate measures and behaviors, which will bring greater pressure on the children’s psychology and physiology. OBJECTIVE:in the field of children’s development, parenting pressure has always been one of the hotspots of worldwide scholars. In order to further understand the causes of children’s psychological problems, the effect of parenting pressure on children’s internalizing problem behaviors and its mechanism are explored. METHODS:based on previous literature, the parenting pressure and children’s internalizing related problems in China are investigated. Based on the characteristic discussion of parenting styles in China, the parenting pressure and internalizing problems of children is deeply analyzed. The sample survey is used to sample the parents of kindergarten children, and a total of 679 children’s parents are selected. RESULTS:the results show that the parents of boys have more serious parenting pressure than the parents of girls. In the process of raising children, the mother bears more pressure than the father. For the internalizing problems of children, the psychological aggression behavior of parents shows a relatively serious effect. There is a certain causal relationship between parenting pressure and parents’ strict discipline behavior. Therefore, parenting pressure is used as an intermediary variable to affect children’s internalizing behavior. Parenting pressure does not show a significant correlation with children’s internalizing problems, but indirectly affects the generation of children’s internalizing behaviors by affecting parents’ strict discipline behaviors. CONCLUSION:it enriches the investigations on parenting pressure and children’s education in China, and provides a certain theoretical basis for the development of children’s mental health.

Keywords: Parenting pressure, children’s internalizing problems, psychological aggression, parents’ strict discipline behavior

DOI: 10.3233/WOR-213508

Journal: Work, vol. 69, no. 2, pp. 675-685, 2021