Sylvia Kwok Lai Yuk Ching
City University of Hong Kong, China
Title: A longitudinal study on the relationship between parental aggressive discipline and pre- schooler anxiety in China
Biography
Biography: Sylvia Kwok Lai Yuk Ching
Abstract
Using a longitudinal design, this study aims to investigate the rate of parental aggressive discipline (corporal punishment andrnpsychological aggression) and its prospective linkage to preschoolers’ anxiety symptoms in a Chinese context and examinernwhether preschoolers’ two positive psychological attributes (altruism and forgiveness) have direct and moderating effects in thern relationship between parental aggressive discipline and preschoolers’ anxiety symptoms. Adopting stratified random sampling,rnself-administered questionnaires were completed by 368 parents (mean age=35.8 years) with children studying in nurseries (mean age=3.97 years) in four geographic districts in Hong Kong, China, in January and December of 2014 respectively. Child anxiety symptoms (Time 2) were predicted by the parents’ use of psychological aggression (Time 1), child altruism (Time 1)rnand child forgiveness (Time 1) but not by the parents’ use of corporal punishment (Time 1). Moreover, the predictive effect ofrnparental psychological aggression on child anxiety symptoms was moderated by child altruism (Time 1). The study has severalrnsignificant contributions. First, the predictive effect of parental aggressive discipline on preschooler anxiety is supported.rnSecond, altruism and forgiveness are relatively stable psychological attributes possessed by preschoolers, which negativelyrnpredict preschoolers’ anxiety symptoms. Third, it is evidenced that preschoolers’ altruism moderate the prospective relationrnbetween parental psychological aggression and preschoolers’ anxiety symptoms, implying that positive psychological attributes can protect children against family adversities. A dual-focus approach to early prevention and intervention of child anxiety isrnproposed to reduce aggressive discipline of parents as well as to enhance altruism and forgiveness in children. Parent trainingrnprograms could be provided to teach parents positive discipline strategies. Home-based or school-based interventions could berndesigned for preschool children to foster and enhance their altruism and forgiveness so as to decrease anxiety.