Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Feb 26, 2024; 12(6): 1084-1093
Published online Feb 26, 2024. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v12.i6.1084
Association of preschool children behavior and emotional problems with the parenting behavior of both parents
Su-Mei Wang, Shuang-Qin Yan, Fang-Fang Xie, Zhi-Ling Cai, Guo-Peng Gao, Ting-Ting Weng, Fang-Biao Tao
Su-Mei Wang, Shuang-Qin Yan, Fang-Fang Xie, Zhi-Ling Cai, Guo-Peng Gao, Ting-Ting Weng, Department of Child Health, Ma’anshan Maternal and Child Health Center, Ma’anshan 243011, Anhui Province, China
Fang-Biao Tao, Department of Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230032, Anhui Province, China
Author contributions: Wang SM, Yan SQ, Gao GP and Tao FB contributed to the conceptualization; Weng TT contributed to the data curation, formal analysis, and investigation; Yan SQ, Cai ZL and Tao FB contributed to the funding acquisition; Wang SM contributed to the methodology and writing-original draft; Yan SQ contributed to the project administration and supervision; Yan SQ, Xie FF, Cai ZL and Tao FB contributed to the resources; Tao FB contributed to the software; Wang SM and Yan SQ contributed to the validation; Cai ZL contributed to the visualization; Wang SM, Yan SQ and Gao GP contributed to the writing-review & editing.
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81330068.
Institutional review board statement: The study was approved by Institutional Review Board of Ma’anshan Maternal and Child Health Center.
Informed consent statement: All the study subjects provided informed consent.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Shuang-Qin Yan, MM, Chief Doctor, Department of Child Health, Ma’anshan Maternal and Child Health Center, No. 446 Jiashan Road, Ma’anshan 243011, Anhui Province, China. shuangqinyan@163.com
Received: September 22, 2023
Peer-review started: September 22, 2023
First decision: December 22, 2023
Revised: December 29, 2023
Accepted: January 25, 2024
Article in press: January 25, 2024
Published online: February 26, 2024
Processing time: 151 Days and 5.7 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Parental actions are vital in molding children's mental and behavioral growth, essential for early detection and prevention of mental health problems, minimizing childhood psychological trauma.

Research motivation

To investigate the relationship between parenting behaviors and behavioral and emotional issues in preschool children. Targeted health education should be carried out to encourage the active participation of fathers to ensure the healthy physical and mental development of children.

Research objectives

Between October 2017 and May 2018, a survey in seven Ma’anshan kindergartens used random sampling. Parents of all preschoolers completed Anhui Medical University's health questionnaire, yielding 2253 valid responses (92.83%) from 75 classes, including 1200 boys and 1053 girls, with prior parental consent.

Research methods

From October 2017 to May 2018, in Ma’anshan City, parents in 7 kindergartens completed the "Health Development Survey of Preschool Children," including the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and Parental Behavior Inventory to assess children's behavior, emotions, and parenting impacts, analyzed using binomial logistic regression.

Research results

Greater parental support reduces children's conduct issues, hyperactivity, total difficulties, and prosocial behavior problems. Maternal support particularly lessens children's emotional symptoms and peer issues. Conversely, parental hostility increases these problems (all P < 0.05). Paternal behavior impacts children's behavior and emotions similarly to maternal behavior (P > 0.05), as shown by odds ratio comparisons.

Research conclusions

Our research indicates a link between parenting styles and preschoolers' behavioral and emotional issues. Generally, increased parental support or involvement leads to fewer such problems in children, while greater hostility or control from parents results in more issues. Additionally, fathers' influence on children's behavior and emotions is equally significant as that of mothers.

Research perspectives

This research perspectives of this article focus on understanding the influence of parenting behaviors on preschool children’s emotional and behavioral development. It emphasizes the significance of both supportive and coercive parenting styles, examining how each uniquely impacts a child’s psychological well-being. The study also brings attention to the equally important roles of both fathers and mothers in shaping their children’s behavior and emotions. By conducting a detailed analysis through questionnaires in multiple kindergartens, the research provides insights into how different parenting approaches can foster or hinder a child’s emotional and behavioral health, underlining the necessity for balanced and supportive parenting in early childhood development.