Parenting Style and Child Outcomes in Chinese and Immigrant Chinese Families-Current Findings and Cross-Cultural Considerations in Conceptualization and Research

Abstract

Parenting style is an important familial variable in the study of child development. Unlike research on white populations, results on how parenting style affects child outcomes are less conclusive in Chinese and Chinese immigrant families. This is largely due to problems associated with applying western typologies, such as Baumrind's prototypes, in research on Chinese families. Studies that use an orthogonal approach, in which different parenting dimensions are examined, yield more interpretable data. This article examines current research on the associations between the two key parenting dimensions of warmth and control on child outcomes in Chinese and Chinese immigrant families. Warmth is associated with positive child outcomes. However, the effect of parental control on child psychosocial outcomes is unclear. Qualitative differences in Chinese parenting call for more research that focuses on conceptualizing and operationalizing dimensions of Chinese parenting that are both culturally specific and culturally sensitive.