International Journal of Behavioral Development
Volume 39, Issue 6, 2015, Pages 541-551

Maternal parenting and social, school, and psychological adjustment of migrant children in urban China (Article)

Zhao S.* , Chen X. , Wang L.
  • a Applied Psychology-Human Development Division, Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, 3700 Walnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States
  • b Applied Psychology-Human Development Division, Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, 3700 Walnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States
  • c Peking University, Beijing, China

Abstract

This study examined the relations of maternal warmth, behavioral control, and encouragement of sociability to social, school, and psychological adjustment in migrant children in China. The participants were 284 rural-to-urban migrant children (M age = 11 years, 149 boys) in migrant children's schools and their mothers. Data on parenting were collected from mothers' reports. Data on children's adjustment were collected from multiple sources including peer assessments, teacher ratings, self-reports, and school records. It was found that maternal warmth was associated with children's social and school performance, and that maternal encouragement of sociability was associated with children's psychological adjustment. Maternal behavioral control was not associated with children's adjustment. The results indicate that maternal warmth, behavioral control, and encouragement of sociability may serve different functions in different domains of adjustment among migrant Chinese children. © The Author(s) 2014.

Author Keywords

Migrant Children Adjustment Parenting

Index Keywords

urban area China teacher social psychology human Self Report controlled study Maternal Behavior Behavior Control peer pressure child behavior academic achievement migrant male female peer group Article social adaptation child parent relation Child
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84946731247&doi=10.1177%2f0165025415576815&partnerID=40&md5=5a60b621da9d11fc57574848190f4ce2
DOI: 10.1177/0165025415576815
ISSN: 01650254
Cited by: 8
Original Language: English