Parental Parenting Behabiour And Children's Effortful Control On Children's Social Competence:A Follow-up Study From 4 Years To 7 Years

Social competence refers to the ability to perform appropriate behaviors and to get interpersonal successes in social settings.Social competence plays a important role in individual's social adjustment,and it can predict children' peer relationships,academic achievement,school adjustment in current and future,so and it be so far as to interpersonal relationships and occupational successes in the future.Many researchers and educational practitioners have paid more attentions to the negative sides of children's social adjustment.As the positive sides of social adjustment,social competence haven't aroused widespread concern of researchers.Based on the perspective of positive psychology,this study explore the mechanism of individual factors and family factors on children's social competence,and attempt to provide practical suggestions for promoting the development of children's social competence.As a core trait of individual temperament self-regulation system,effortful control has been considered as a protective factor of social adjustment.From the preschool age to primary school age is the crucial period for the development of children's social competence.It has came to be a valuable question that how parental parenting and effortful control work together to shape social competence in this crucial stage.Previous studies have focused on the main effects of parental parenting and effortful control,however the main effects can't explain the complexity of psychological phenomena.Reciprocal influence model,Developmental Contextualism provide a new perspective to consider the interaction mechanism of parenting and effortful control.This study used a questionnaire survey based on a three years follow-up study which included 302 four-years children.The present research explored the complex mechanism of parental parenting and effortful control on children's social competence from preschool age to primary school age.The results are as follows:(1)From preschool age to primary school age,mother reported encouraging independence,encouraging achievements,encouraging social,caring protection,refusal punishment and acceptance have a moderate degree of relative stability,father reported encouraging independence,encouraging achievements,encouraging social and caring protection have a moderate degree of relative stability.Children's social competence also have a moderate degree of relative stability.(2)From preschool age to primary school age,mother reported parenting behavior,such as encouraging social,encouraging independence and acceptance are positively associated with children's social competence.However,refusal and punishment are negative associated with children's social competence,and social competence in turn did not predicted the maternal parenting.There is no significant mutual predicted relationship between paternal parenting behavior and children's social competence.(3)From preschool age to primary school age,effortful control is positively associated with children's social competence,however social competence did not predicted the children's effortful control conversely.(4)There is a interaction effect between effortful control and maternal acceptance on children's social competence.Effortful control is positively related to children's social competence in the high level of maternal acceptance condition,and effortful control has no relevance to children's social competence in the low level of maternal acceptance condition.(5)From preschool age to primary school age,effortful control has an indirect effects on children's social competence through maternal parenting.Specifically,children who exhibit high level of effortful control will be inspired mother to employ more encouraging independence,encouraging social and acceptance,and these parenting behavior promote children's social competence.children who exhibit high level of effortful control will be inhibited mother to employ less refusal and punishment,so it can promote the children's social competence..These above mediated relations are be as same for four years old children and seven years old children.(6)Paternal parenting did not mediated the relation between effortful control and social competence.