Positive Youth Development: Parental Warmth, Values, and Prosocial Behavior in 11 Cultural Groups.

Laurence Steinberg,Kirby Deater‐Deckard ,Suha M Al‐Hassan ,Laura Di Giunta,Qian Long,Saengduean Yotanyamaneewong,Lei Chang,Antonio Zuffianò,Liliana Maria Uribe Tirado,Paul Oburu,Qin Liu,Jennifer E Lansford,Eriona Thartori,Liane Peña Alampay,Concetta Pastorelli,Kenneth A Dodge,Sombat Tapanya,Dario Bacchini,Sevtap Gurdal,Emma Sorbring,Ann T Skinner,Marc H Bornstein

doi:10.5195/jyd.2021.1026

Abstract

The current cross-cultural study aimed to extend research on parenting and children’s prosocial behavior by examining relations among parental warmth, values related to family obligations (i.e., children’s support to and respect for their parents, siblings, and extended family), and prosocial behavior during the transition to adolescence (from ages 9 to 12). Mothers, fathers, and their children (N = 1107 families) from 8 countries including 11 cultural groups (Colombia; Rome and Naples, Italy; Jordan; Kenya; the Philippines; Sweden; Thailand; and African Americans, European Americans, and Latin Americans in the United States) provided data over 3 years in 3 waves (Mage of child in wave 1 = 9.34 years, SD = 0.75; 50.5% female). Overall, across all 11 cultural groups, multivariate change score analysis revealed positive associations among the change rates of parental warmth, values related to family obligations, and prosocial behavior during late childhood (from age 9 to 10) and early-adolescence (from age 10 to 12). In most cultural groups, more parental warmth at ages 9 and 10 predicted steeper mean-level increases in prosocial behavior in subsequent years. The findings highlight the prominent role of positive family context, characterized by warm relationships and shared prosocial values, in fostering children’s positive development in the transition to adolescence. The practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Highlights

Prosocial behaviors, defined as voluntary actions aimed to benefit others, are important for adaptation and health throughout the life course (Caprara et al, 2000; Eisenberg & Fabes, 1998; Hoffman, 2000)
Across all 11 cultural groups, the findings of the present study revealed that changes in parental warmth, family-related values, and children’s prosocial behaviors jointly develop during late childhood and early adolescence, underlying the contribution of positive and interconnected family relationships to positive youth development
Regarding the first research question related to possible differential developmental relations in the two parenting dimensions and children’s prosocial behaviors, our results evidenced similarities across 11 cultural groups

Summary

Introduction

Prosocial behaviors, defined as voluntary actions aimed to benefit others, are important for adaptation and health throughout the life course (Caprara et al, 2000; Eisenberg & Fabes, 1998; Hoffman, 2000). Caring and character development are core components of positive youth development (PYD), and the study of prosocial behaviors lies clearly within the PYD framework (Damon, 2004). Since the introduction of influential models of PYD (Lerner et al, 2005), researchers have increased their endeavors to study the positive development of children and adolescents to identify factors that promote youth thriving and well-being. According to the PYD framework, studying strengths and assets available in home, school, and community contexts advances understanding of bidirectional relations between youth and their contexts over time, as well as how to promote positive youth development within these contexts (Lerner, 2006; Lerner et al, 2015)

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