The Effects of Parenting Style on Emerging Adulthood Emotional Self-Regulation and Identity Development

The purpose of this research is to examine how parenting profiles, identity development, and emotional self-regulation may relate to one another in emerging adulthood utilizing a person-centered approach. The data being used for this study was from the Multi-Site University Study of Identity and Culture (MUSIC), which was collected using a cross-sectional online survey. The data consists of 3,775 students of which 61.9% were White and 69.9% were females ages 18-29. A hierarchical cluster analysis was performed for all participants using mother and father psychological control and nurturance to identify the parenting profiles. A four-cluster solution was most parsimonious and consistent after evaluating the agglomeration table and plots. Clusters were finalized using k-means cluster analysis; differences were tested through an analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Games-Howell post hoc testing. Parental Nurturance has high nurturance and low levels of psychological control from both parents. Parental Repression has high levels of psychological control and low levels of nurturance from both parents. Parental Equivocation has high levels of both parental nurturance and psychological control. Maternal Mitigation has high levels of maternal nurturance and paternal psychological control, and low levels of maternal psychological control and paternal nurturance. Parental Nurturance had the highest levels of depth and breadth of exploration, identification with commitment and commitment making, and use of reappraisal. The Maternal Mitigation profile was similar in outcomes. The Parental Equivocation and Parental Repression profiles were significantly lower on identity commitment and reappraisal and significantly higher on ruminative exploration and suppression.

Theory of Mind and Parental Nurturance as Predictors of Peer Relationships After Childhood Traumatic Brain Injury: A Test of Moderated Mediation

Objective: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) sustained in childhood is associated with poor social outcomes. This study investigated the role of theory of mind (ToM) as a mediator of the relation between TBI and peer rejection/victimization and reciprocated friendships, as well as the moderating effect of parental nurturance on those relationships. Method: Participants were children of 8–13 years old (M = 10.45, SD = 1.47), including 13 with severe TBI, 39 with complicated mild/moderate TBI, and 32 children with orthopedic injuries. Data on peer rejection/victimization and friendship were collected in school classrooms using the Extended Class Play and friendship nominations. Parents rated parental nurturance using the Child-Rearing Practices Report. Finally, ToM was measured based on children’s average performance across three tasks measuring different aspects of ToM. Results: Severe TBI was associated with poorer ToM, greater peer rejection/victimization, and fewer reciprocated friendships. ToM mediated the relation between severe TBI and peer rejection/victimization (i.e., severe TBI predicted poorer ToM, which in turn predicted greater rejection/victimization). Parental nurturance significantly moderated this relation, such that the mediating effect of ToM was significant only at low and average levels of parental nurturance, for both severe and complicated mild/moderate TBI groups. Neither the mediating effect of ToM nor the moderating effect of parental nurturance was significant for reciprocated friendships. Conclusion: High parental nurturance may mitigate the negative effects of ToM deficits on risk of peer rejection/victimization among children with TBI. Interventions designed to increase parental nurturance or ToM may promote better social outcomes among children with TBI.

The Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis

Do we humans ever, in any degree, care for others for their sakes and not simply for our own? The empathy-altruism hypothesis offers an affirmative answer to this question. It claims that empathic concern (defined as “other-oriented emotion elicited by and congruent with the perceived welfare of another in need”) produces altruistic motivation (“a motivational state with the ultimate goal of increasing the other’s welfare”). Research over the past 40 years testing this hypothesis against egoistic alternatives has provided quite strong support. Empathy-induced altruistic motivation does seem to be within the human repertoire. This empathy-induced altruism may have its biological roots in generalized parental nurturance. Practical implications of the empathy-altruism hypothesis include both benefits and liabilities—for the targets of empathy, for others, and for the person feeling empathic concern. Implications of the empathy-altruism research for the content and conduct of compassion science are suggested.

The Associations of Parenting Factors with Adolescent Body Mass Index in an Underserved Population

Background. The current study examined parental factors related to risk of adolescent obesity within the context of a family systems framework.Methods. Seventy predominantly African American, low-income caregiver-adolescent dyads participated in the study. Validated measures of parental perceived child risk for development of type 2 diabetes mellitus, parental limit setting for sedentary behavior, and parental nurturance were evaluated as predictors of adolescent body mass index.Results. In this cross-sectional study, multiple linear regression demonstrated that parents of adolescents with higher zBMI reported worrying more about their child's risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus. Parent limit setting was also a significant predictor of adolescent zBMI. Contrary to expectations, higher levels of nurturance were associated with higher adolescent zBMI. Post hoc analyses revealed a trend towards a significant interaction between nurturance and limit setting, such that high levels of both parental nurturance and limit setting were associated with lower adolescent zBMI.Conclusions. Current findings suggest the importance of authoritative parenting and monitoring of adolescent health behaviors in the treatment of obesity.

Parental Nurturance in the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample

In recent years attachment theory has matured into a wide-ranging conceptual framework with sufficient power to explain important features of individual and social variability across societies. In the research reported here, the empirical work directed by attachment theory is used to expand existing codes to measure more fully those aspects of parent-child interaction that facilitate or retard the child’s development. This article presents the coding system and scores on parental nurturance for each of the societies of the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample (SCCS). Articles (in press) will present all the evidence on parental nurturance available in the standard bibliography as well as new research examining ways that parental nurturance may be incorporated into models integrating environmental, psychological, and social processes.