Do mothers treat children who are similar to them better? The relation between maternal-adolescent neuroticism congruence and a punitive parenting style.

Parenting style is the relatively stable behaviors parents display during the childrearing process. It is an important factor in children's socialization and the mother-child relationship. The present study aimed to test the relationship between maternal-adolescent neuroticism congruence and a punitive parenting style. A total of 882 Chinese adolescents and their mothers participated in this study. The results showed that maternal-adolescent high-neuroticism congruence was associated with a more punitive parenting style than low-neuroticism congruence. The more incongruent the maternal-adolescent neuroticism was, the less punitive the parenting style. There were moderating effects of adolescent gender on maternal-adolescent neuroticism congruence/incongruence and punitive parenting style. These findings provide a new perspective for exploring the relationship between parent-child interaction and parenting styles.