Longitudinal relations among child temperament, parenting, and acculturation in predicting Korean American children's externalizing problems.

OBJECTIVE

This study examined the transactional associations among maternal warmth, child temperamental inhibitory control, child externalizing behaviors, and maternal American acculturation in Korean immigrant families with young children across three time points, each 6 months apart.

METHOD

Korean immigrant mothers (Mage = 35.93 years, SD = 3.68) and their preschool-aged children (Mage = 4.30 years, SD = 0.98) in the U.S. participated (n = 199 at Wave 1, n = 138 at Wave 2, and n = 105 at Wave 3). Mothers reported on their family demographics, maternal warmth, maternal American acculturation, and children's temperamental inhibitory control. Teachers reported on children's externalizing problems.

RESULTS

Moderate to strong stabilities within each construct across time and within-time covariations among the constructs were revealed. Transactional relations between parent and child were not found. However, Wave 1 maternal American acculturation significantly influenced their level of Wave 2 maternal warmth. Wave 2 maternal warmth predicted increases in Wave 3 child temperamental inhibitory control. Maternal warmth at Wave 2 statistically mediated the association between Wave 1 maternal acculturation and Wave 3 child inhibitory control.

CONCLUSION

Our findings highlight the importance of examining the complex mechanisms driving the associations among child, parenting, and cultural factors in promoting positive child characteristics and parenting practices. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).