Parenting Practices and Aggressive Behavior in Chinese Children

Objective. We examined relations between parental warmth, guidance, and power assertion and child aggressive behavior in Chinese children. Design. A sample of children (N = 68), at 4 years of age, and their parents in P. R. China, participated in the study. Observational data concerning parenting and child compliance were obtained from home visits. Aggressive behavior was assessed in the context of peer interactions in the laboratory. Results. Maternal warmth and guidance were negatively associated with aggression. Parental power assertion was positively associated with aggression. The relations between parenting practices and aggressive behavior might be moderated by the child's characteristics: Whereas maternal warmth was negatively related to aggression mainly for compliant children, paternal positive parenting was negatively related to aggression for noncompliant and defiant children. Finally, maternal power assertion and paternal power assertion interacted with each other in predicting child aggression. Conclusions. The study provided valuable information about functional "meanings" of major parenting dimensions in Chinese culture.