Emma Sorbring

The association between parental warmth and control in thirteen cultural groups

The goal of the current study was to investigate potential cross-cultural differences in the covariation between two of the major dimensions of parenting behavior: control and warmth. Participants included 1,421 (51% female) 7- to 10-year-old (M = 8.29, SD = .67 years) children and their mothers and fathers representing 13 cultural groups in nine countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and North and South America. Children and parents completed questionnaires and interviews regarding mother and father control and warmth. Greater warmth was associated with more control, but this association varied widely between cultural groups.

Agreement in Mother and Father Acceptance-Rejection, Warmth, and Hostility/Rejection/ Neglect of Children Across Nine Countries

The authors assessed whether mothers’ and fathers’ self-reports of acceptance-rejection, warmth, and hostility/rejection/neglect (HRN) of their preadolescent children differ cross-nationally and relative to the gender of the parent and child in 10 communities in 9 countries, including China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States (N = 998 families). Mothers and fathers in all countries reported a high degree of acceptance and warmth, and a low degree of HRN, but countries also varied. Mothers reported greater acceptance of children than fathers in China, Italy, Sweden, and the United States, and these effects were accounted for by greater self-reported warmth in mothers than in fathers in China, Italy, the Philippines, Sweden, and Thailand and less HRN in mothers than in fathers in Sweden. Fathers reported greater warmth than mothers in Kenya. Mother and father acceptance-rejection were moderately correlated. Relative levels of mother and father acceptance and rejection appear to be country specific.

Hostile attributional bias and aggressive behavior in global context.

Significance Interpersonal conflict and violence occur within and between groups around the world. Although not proving causation, this study is significant because it suggests a key psychological mechanism in children’s chronic aggression that might be targeted for intervention: one’s attribution that a peer is acting with hostile intent. When children attribute hostile intent to peers, they are more likely to predict they would react aggressively than when they attribute benign intent. Differences in this tendency statistically account for differences in future chronic aggressive behavior problems across children, as well as differences in chronic aggressive behavior problem rates across ecological-context groups. Identifying this mechanism could lead to novel interventions, education, and policies that reduce or prevent aggressive behavior. We tested a model that children’s tendency to attribute hostile intent to others in response to provocation is a key psychological process that statistically accounts for individual differences in reactive aggressive behavior and that this mechanism contributes to global group differences in children’s chronic aggressive behavior problems. Participants were 1,299 children (mean age at year 1 = 8.3 y; 51% girls) from 12 diverse ecological-context groups in nine countries worldwide, followed across 4 y. In year 3, each child was presented with each of 10 hypothetical vignettes depicting an ambiguous provocation toward the child and was asked to attribute the likely intent of the provocateur (coded as benign or hostile) and to predict his or her own behavioral response (coded as nonaggression or reactive aggression). Mothers and children independently rated the child’s chronic aggressive behavior problems in years 2, 3, and 4. In every ecological group, in those situations in which a child attributed hostile intent to a peer, that child was more likely to report that he or she would respond with reactive aggression than in situations when that same child attributed benign intent. Across children, hostile attributional bias scores predicted higher mother- and child-rated chronic aggressive behavior problems, even controlling for prior aggression. Ecological group differences in the tendency for children to attribute hostile intent statistically accounted for a significant portion of group differences in chronic aggressive behavior problems. The findings suggest a psychological mechanism for group differences in aggressive behavior and point to potential interventions to reduce aggressive behavior.

Perceived mother and father acceptance-rejection predict four unique aspects of child adjustment across nine countries.

BACKGROUND It is generally believed that parental rejection of children leads to child maladaptation. However, the specific effects of perceived parental acceptance-rejection on diverse domains of child adjustment and development have been incompletely documented, and whether these effects hold across diverse populations and for mothers and fathers are still open questions. METHODS This study assessed childrens perceptions of mother and father acceptance-rejection in 1,247 families from China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States as antecedent predictors of later internalizing and externalizing behavior problems, school performance, prosocial behavior, and social competence. RESULTS Higher perceived parental rejection predicted increases in internalizing and externalizing behavior problems and decreases in school performance and prosocial behavior across 3 years controlling for within-wave relations, stability across waves, and parental age, education, and social desirability bias. Patterns of relations were similar across mothers and fathers and, with a few exceptions, all nine countries. CONCLUSIONS Childrens perceptions of maternal and paternal acceptance-rejection have small but nearly universal effects on multiple aspects of their adjustment and development regardless of the familys country of origin.

Adolescent girls’ and boys’ well-being in relation to online and offline sexual and romantic activity

The aims of this study were to determine links between adolescent’s well-being and their sexual and romantic activities off- and online. The study includes 245 mid-adolescents (15 years of age; 55 % girls) and 251 late-adolescents (18 years of age; 49 % girls). Of the 496 teenagers, 54 % had experiences of both online and offline sexual and romantic activities, while the remaining (46 %) had only offline experiences. Teenagers’ experiences with online sexual/romantic activities were associated with experiences of offline sexual/romantic activities. Multiple regressions showed that age (older) and risk behaviour contributed to higher engagement in offline sexual/romantic activities. In contrast, only higher risk behaviour contributed to higher engagement in online sexual/romantic activities for boys, but for girl several factors, such as age (younger), lower body esteem, higher risk- and problem behaviour contributed to higher engagement in online sexual/romantic activities. We discuss this result from a gender perspective.

Mothers’ and fathers’ insights into teenagers’ use of the internet

Previous research indicates that parents have limited insight into their teenagers’ activities and experiences on the internet. The purpose of the present study was therefore to investigate associations between mothers’ and fathers’ insight and teenagers’ experiences of the internet. A total of 538 teenagers (242 girls, 296 boys), aged between 13 and 15, and their 798 parents (491 mothers, 307 fathers) participated in the present study. Findings revealed that parental trust in sensible teenage internet use and parental active participation in teenage internet use were related to parental insight into teenage experiences on the internet. It is possible that a relationship based on trust and active engagement facilitates parental insight into teenage activities.

Teachers’ and parents’ views on the Internet and social media usage by pupils with intellectual disabilities

This article reports experiences from a Swedish study, discussing teachers’ and parents’ views on how young people with intellectual disabilities use the Internet and social media. Five semi-structured focus group interviews were conducted with teachers (n = 8) in special programmes in upper secondary schools for pupils with intellectual disabilities and parents (n = 5) of pupils in the same form of schooling, and they were analysed with thematic analysis. Teachers more strongly emphasize a pupil’s use of the Internet for interactive purposes. Parents had expectations that the Internet could be a tool for gaining more awareness of one’s own disability and a way to meet other peer group pupils. Teachers’ and parents’ perspectives on the Internet and social media usage are important since it is imperative to show how support can be provided for young people with intellectual disabilities.

Measurement invariance of discipline in different cultural contexts

The measurement invariance of mother-reported use of 18 discipline strategies was examined in samples from 13 different ethnic/cultural groups in nine countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States). Participants included approximately 100–120 mothers and their children aged seven to 10 years from each group. The results of exploratory factor analyses and multi-group categorical confirmatory factor analyses (MCCFA) indicated that a seven-factor solution was feasible across the cultural groups, as shown by marginally sufficient evidence for configural and metric invariance for the mother-reported frequency on the discipline interview. This study makes a contribution on measurement invariance to the parenting literature, and establishes the mother-report aspect of the discipline interview as an instrument for use in further cross-cultural research on discipline.

Neighborhood Danger, Parental Monitoring, Harsh Parenting, and Child Aggression in Nine Countries

Exposure to neighborhood danger during childhood has negative effects that permeate multiple dimensions of childhood. The current study examined whether mothers’, fathers’, and childrens perceptions of neighborhood danger are related to child aggression, whether parental monitoring moderates this relation, and whether harsh parenting mediates this relation. Interviews were conducted with a sample of 1,293 children (age M = 10.68, SD = .66; 51% girls) and their mothers (n = 1,282) and fathers (n = 1,075) in nine countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States). Perceptions of greater neighborhood danger were associated with more child aggression in all nine countries according to mothers’ and fathers’ reports and in five of the nine countries according to childrens reports. Parental monitoring did not moderate the relation between perception of neighborhood danger and child aggression. The mediating role of harsh parenting was inconsistent across countries and reporters. Implications for further research are discussed, and include examination of more specific aspects of parental monitoring as well as more objective measures of neighborhood danger.

Northern European adolescent attitudes toward dating violence

A focus group methodology was used to examine attitudes toward dating violence among 86 adolescents (aged 12–17) from four northern European countries (England, Sweden, Germany, and Belgium). Four superordinate themes were identified from thematic analyses: gender identities, television as the educator, perceived acceptability of dating violence, and the decision to seek help/tell someone. Although violence in relationships was generally not condoned, when violence was used by females, was unintended (despite its consequences), or was in retaliation for infidelity, violence was perceived as acceptable. Adolescents indicated that their views were stereotypical and based solely on stereotypical television portrayals of violence in relationships. Stereotypical beliefs and portrayals generate barriers for victimized males to seek help because of fear of embarrassment.