Adolescents\u2019 Behaviors as Moderators for the Link between Parental Self-Efficacy and Parenting Practices

Terese Glatz,Christy M Buchanan,Allison Cotter

doi:10.1007/s10826-016-0623-2

Terese Glatz, Christy M Buchanan + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-016-0623-2

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Abstract

Based on theory that parents with higher levels of self-efficacy (PSE) should find it easier to parent effectively in the face of challenging child behaviors than should parents with lower levels of PSE, this study examines the link between PSE and parenting using children’s behaviors as potential moderators. Participants were 130 parents who had an older adolescent (Mage = 17.58) in addition to the target adolescent (Mage = 11.79), and both adolescents’ externalizing behaviors were used as moderators for the link between PSE and parenting of the target adolescent. Path analysis in Mplus showed that higher PSE was linked to more promotive parenting but only among parents who had an older adolescent with lower levels of externalizing behaviors. Among parents of adolescents with higher levels of externalizing behaviors, whose promotive parenting was significantly lower than other parents overall, PSE did not predict promotive parenting. The link between PSE and parenting did not differ depending on the target adolescents’ behavior. Findings suggest that the link between parents’ beliefs and parenting depends on the broader family context. More specifically, how PSE is linked to parenting practices depends at least partly on the experiences that parents bring from parenting an older adolescent to their interactions with a later-born adolescent. From a clinical perspective, parents might need guidance in how to think about their earlier parenting experiences when parenting a younger adolescent.

Highlights

Parental self-efficacy (PSE) describes parents’ beliefs about being able to influence their child in a way that fosters his or her positive development and adjustment (Bandura 1977, 1997)
Concerning the main study variables, two out of three were significant predictors of promotive parenting: Higher levels of PSE and less externalizing behavior in the target adolescent were significantly related to more promotive parenting practices toward the target adolescent
We examined adolescents’ externalizing behavior as a moderator of the link between PSE and

Summary

Introduction

Parental self-efficacy (PSE) describes parents’ beliefs about being able to influence their child in a way that fosters his or her positive development and adjustment (Bandura 1977, 1997). PSE should be more important for the level of positive parenting when a child exhibits higher levels of difficult behaviors than when the child exhibits less difficult behavior Another potential moderator for the link between PSE and parenting practices is parents’ experiences with other children that they have previously parented. Parents often have more positive interactions with a child who expresses lower levels of externalizing behaviors compared to a sibling who exhibits more externalizing behaviors (Lam et al 2012; Meunier et al 2012), demonstrating that parents might use different parenting practices with two children who express different behaviors In such situations, the level of PSE might become more influential for parenting practices, with a younger child, given that parents with less experience might feel more uncertainty when handling these different child behaviors. The majority (72 %) of parents were married to the target adolescents’ other biological parent

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