Paternal Acceptance Research Articles

Youths’ Perceptions of Corporal Punishment, Parental Acceptance, and Psychological Adjustment in a Turkish Metropolis

This study explored relations among corporal punishment, perceived parental acceptance, and the psychological adjustment of 427 Turkish youths between the ages of 10 to 18. Participants responded in school to the child versions of the Physical Punishment Questionnaire, Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire, Personality Assessment Questionnaire, and a demographic questionnaire. Results of multiple regression analyses showed that youths’ perceptions of both maternal and paternal acceptance made independent and significant contributions to variations in youths’ self-reported psychological adjustment. Regression analyses also showed that neither maternal nor paternal punishment by themselves made significant contributions to variations in youths’ adjustment when the influence of perceived maternal and paternal acceptance was controlled. Thus, we concluded that apparent relations between parental punishment and youths’ psychological adjustment were almost completely mediated by youths’ perceptions of parental acceptance. Neither youths’ gender nor age was associated with either perceived parental acceptance or punishment.

Relations among Perceived Intimate Partner Acceptance, Remembered Parental Acceptance, and Psychological Adjustment among Young Adults in India

The principal goal of this study was to explore the way in which remembered childhood experiences of maternal and paternal acceptance mediated or moderated the relation between perceived intimate‐partner acceptance and the psychological adjustment of 79 young adults in India. Results of simple correlations showed a positive relationship between parental (mothers' and fathers') acceptance and psychological adjustment, and similarly between intimate partner acceptance and psychological adjustment. However, results of multiple regression analyses showed that remembered maternal acceptance no longer made a significant contribution to the psychological adjustment of either men or women when the influence of paternal and partner acceptance was partialed out. Perceived partner acceptance was the strongest single predictor of psychological adjustment for men, although this relation was partially mediated by remembered paternal (but not maternal) acceptance in childhood. For women, on the other hand, both perceived partner acceptance and remembered paternal acceptance were about coequal as predictors of psychological adjustment. The influence of remembered paternal acceptance in childhood also moderated the relation between perceived partner acceptance and respondents' psychological adjustment.

Interdependencies among interparental discord and parenting practices: The role of adult vulnerability and relationship perturbations

We examined the nature and directionality of associations between interparental discord and parenting practices in a sample of 227 mothers and fathers of kindergarten children over two measurement waves spaced 1 year apart. Cross-lagged models indicated that associations between interparental discord and maternal and paternal parenting practices (i.e., acceptance, discipline) were generally negligible with one exception: interparental discord at Time 1 predicted decreases in maternal acceptance from Time 1 to Time 2. However, consistent with the family systems conceptualization of the family as an open system, prospective associations among interparental and parent-child subsystems varied significantly as a function of parental depressive symptoms, interparental relationship insecurity, and child-rearing disagreements. The moderating role of adult characteristics commonly varied across the type of adult vulnerability (e.g., depressive symptoms, interparental relationship insecurity, child-rearing disagreements), dimension of parenting practices (e.g., maternal and paternal acceptance and inconsistent discipline), and the directionality of the paths between interparental and parent-child subsystems.

Perceived Parental Acceptance and Emotional Empathy among University Students in Korea

Drawing from a sample of 725 respondents, the hypothesis was tested that the level of emotional empathy reported by university students in Korea is positively associated with the extent to which youths perceive themselves to have been accepted by their parents in childhood. The question was also explored whether variation in the level of boys' versus girls' emotional empathy was associated with differences in maternal versus paternal acceptance. Results showed that the level of daughters' (but not sons') emotional empathy varied directly with the level of perceived maternal acceptance, whereas the level of sons' (but not daughters') emotional empathy varied directly with the level of perceived paternal acceptance. Moreover, daughters (but not sons) who perceived themselves to have been rejected by their mothers (but not fathers) tended to be significantly less emotionally empathic than did daughters who perceived themselves to have been accepted by their mothers.

Gender, anxiety-depressivity and self-image among adolescents

Two groups of non- and “quasi-depressives”—the latter corresponding to high depression scorers—German adolescents were examined to determine the effect of gender and depression in predicting physical ailments, self-image and attitudes towards parents. Quasi-depressive adolescents displayed higher frequencies of physical complaints across all five subscales of the Giessen physical complaints inventory compared to the non-depressive counterparts. Females generally reported more ailments (exhaustion, gastrointestinal, circulatory, and colds) than males. In contrast to males who showed scarce difference between depressives and non-depressives, female depressives exhibited substantially higher gastrointestinal ailments than non-depressive females. Depressives emerged as displaying inferior self-images, lower paternal acceptance, and somewhat higher maternal rejection, compared to non-depressives. Female adolescents displayed lower self-image, lower paternal acceptance (but not maternal rejection/acceptance), lower mathematical competency, and higher linguistic competency, when compared to male adolescents.

Parental acceptance, postpartum depression, and maternal sensitivity: mediating and moderating processes.

Mothers (n = 92), fathers (n = 84), and their infants (60% male) participated in a longitudinal study of postpartum depression and maternal sensitivity. Mothers completed questionnaire measures of remembered parental acceptance, depressive symptoms, and infant distress to novelty and limits. Mothers and partners reported on marital aggression and avoidance. Maternal sensitivity was observed in the laboratory at 6 months. Characteristics of mothers, partners, and infants combined to predict postpartum depression and maternal sensitivity. Remembered parental rejection predicted postpartum depressive symptoms with prenatal depression controlled; self-esteem mediated this effect. Paternal acceptance buffered against postpartum depression when infants were highly reactive and when partners were aggressive. Paternal acceptance reduced the impact of postpartum depression on maternal sensitivity; having an aggressive marital partner exacerbated the effect.

Father-child separation, retrospective and current views of attachment relationship with father, and self-esteem in late adolescence.

Relationships between paternal separation in childhood and adult measures of self-esteem, paternal acceptance and independence-encouragement were investigated with 236 nonparent college students as subjects. Current relationship with father was measured by a modified version of Epstein's Mother-Father-Peer Scale. Self-esteem was measured by Coopersmith's Self-esteem Inventory. Individuals who experienced separation for all reasons from their fathers during childhood recounted less acceptance by their fathers in late adolescence but not less independence-encouragement. Individuals whose parents had divorced (whether or not they had experienced a significant separation) reported lower acceptance by their fathers in both childhood and in late adolescence, and they attained lower scores on self-esteem.

Relationships Among Paternal Involvement and Young Children's Perceived Self-Competence and Behavioral Problems

We examined the relationships of father involvement to young children's perceived self-competence and fathers' and mothers' perceptions of their children's internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems. The results indicated that mothers in families in which father involvement is high may have a more positive outlook regarding their child's behavior than do mothers in families in which father involvement is low. Fathers who were highly involved indicated their children have more behavior problems than fathers who were not highly involved. High father involvement was associated with increased children's feelings of paternal acceptance, a factor that plays a role in the development of self-concept and esteem.

Perceived Paternal and Maternal Acceptance and Rural African American and European American Youths' Psychological Adjustment

This study explores the following question: Are rural African American and European American youths' experiences of paternal and maternal acceptance equally related to their self‐reported psychological adjustment, or do youths' experiences of paternal acceptance account for an independent portion of the variance in psychological adjustment, over and above the portion of variance explained by their experiences of maternal acceptance? This study also explores possible social‐class, age, gender, and paternal‐residence differences in perceived paternal and maternal acceptance and youths' psychological adjustment. The research is based on a proportional, stratified, random sample of 281 African American and European American families in a poor, rural, biracial county of Georgia, U.S.A. Results of multiple regression analyses indicate that only perceived paternal acceptance is significantly related to European American youths' self‐reported psychological adjustment when controlling for the influence of perceived maternal acceptance. In African American families, both perceived paternal acceptance and perceived maternal acceptance are significantly related to youths' self‐reported psychological adjustment. Finally, results of analyses indicate that relationships between perceived paternal and maternal acceptance and youths' psychological adjustment within the ethnic groups are not related significantly to youths' age, gender, paternal residence, or social class.

Perceived parental acceptance and early adolescent self-competence.

Relationships between perceived parental acceptance and adolescent self-competence were examined in 214 sixth- and seventh-grade students by both adolescent and parental gender. Results indicated that for boys, paternal but not maternal, acceptance significantly predicted self-competence, while the opposite pattern was found for girls. In addition, self-worth significantly predicted maternal and paternal acceptance for both boys and girls. The consistency of these findings with current models of human development is discussed, along with their implications for research.

Perceived Paternal Acceptance, Paternal Involvement, and Youths' Psychological Adjustment in a Rural, Biracial Southern Community

This study explores whether fathers' involvement by itself is associated with youths' psychological adjustment or whether the relationship between fathers' involvement and youths' psychological adjustment is mediated by children's perceptions of fathers' acceptance-rejection. A secondary purpose is to explore ethnic and class differences in paternal involvement, perceived paternal acceptancerejection, and youths' psychological adjustment. The research is based on a proportional, stratified, random sample of 21 Black and 37 White fathers and their 63 children. Results of multiple regression analyses indicate that only perceived paternal acceptance is significantly related to Black and White children's psychological adjustment. Fathers' involvement by itself is significantly related to neither Black nor White children's psychological adjustment. Finally, results indicate that parenting and psychological adjustment are not related significantly to social class. Key Words: children's psychological adjustment, father involvement, paternal acceptance-rejection. Since the early 1980s, a substantial body of research concerned with father-child relationships has focused on fathers' involvement in child care. For example, scholars have focused on the amount of time fathers spend with their children, fathers' day-to-day supervising of their children, playing with their children, feeding their children, educating their children, and disciplining their children (Ahmeduzzaman & Roopnarine, 1992; Ishii-Kuntz, 1994; Pleck, 1983, 1997; Radin, 1981; Williams & Radin, 1993). Today many scholars argue that fathers must become actively involved in childrearing in order to ensure healthy child development (Biller, 1993; Blankenhorn, 1995; Hawkins, Christiansen, & Pond-Sargent, 1993; McBride & Darragh, 1995; Popenoe, 1996). In support of this argument, researchers have pointed to the positive influence of father involvement on the cognitive and intellectual development of White American children (Radin, 1981; Radin, Williams, & Coggins, 1993), on their academic achievement (Radin, 1981; Radin & Russell, 1983; Williams & Radin, 1993), their ability to empathize and their gender-role orientation (Radin, 1981; Radin & Sagi, 1982), their psychological adjustment (Reuter & Biller, 1973), their internal locus of control (Radin, 1981; Radin & Sagi, 1982), and their competency at problem-solving tasks (Easterbrooks & Goldberg, 1984). On the other hand, paternal noninvolvement (often defined as father absence) has been linked to psychological maladjustment, behavioral disorders, and educational problems (Biller,1981, 1993; Osherson,1986). Some of this research has been criticized because it fails to control for the influence of qualitative aspects of the father-child relationship such as parental warmth and support (Lamb, 1987,1997; Lamb & Oppenheim, 1989; Pleck, 1997). That is, caring for one's children is not necessarily the same thing as caring about them. Indeed, many scholars argue that qualitative factors such as paternal warmth, support, or nurturance are more important for children's development than factors such as the simple amount of time fathers spend in child care (Lamb, 1987, 1997; Lamb & Oppenheim, 1989; Lamb, Pleck, Charnov, & Levine, 1987; Pleck, 1997; Shulman & Collins, 1993). However, despite the fact that most researchers who investigate paternal involvement mention the importance for children's development of qualitative behaviors (Lamb et al., 1987; Radin & Goldsmith, 1985; Radin & Harold-Goldsmith, 1989; Radin & Russell, 1983; Radin et al., 1993; Williams & Radin, 1993; Williams, Radin, & Allegro, 1992), few studies have explored concurrently the direct and indirect effects on youths' functioning of fathers' involvement and fathers' warmth. Consequently, it is not known whether fathers' involvement by itself is associated with youths' psychological adjustment or whether the relationship between fathers' involvement and youths' psychological adjustment is mediated by children's perceptions of fathers' acceptance. …

Dispositional, Environmental, and Context-Specific Predictors of Children's Threat Perceptions in Everyday Stressful Situations

Threat appraisals are a key component of the coping process, yet little is known about the factors that influence children's perceptions of threat during stressful situations. The present study examined predictors of threat perceptions in response to everyday stressors among 215 fourth and fifth graders, and their parents and teachers. Children's internal resources, the family environment, and qualities of the stressful encounter were studied for their contributions to perceptions of threat. Children's ratings of maternal and paternal acceptance and maternal ratings of family expressiveness were associated with lower perceptions of threat; children's ratings of other-culpability were associated with higher perceptions of threat. Although threat perceptions were associated with coping behavior, threat perceptions did not mediate associations between family, contextual, or dispositional influences and coping. Results are discussed in terms of current stress and coping theory.

Predictors of Self-Esteem

This study examined the relative influence on children's self-esteem of academic achievement, maternal self-esteem, maternal acceptance, and children's perception of their parents' acceptance of them. Subjects were students with learning disabilities in a self-contained class (n=31), similarly diagnosed students in resource room (n=35), students in compensatory education (n=30), and nondisabled students (n=30) from Grades 3 through 6. Results showed that for the self-contained group, a child's perception of maternal and paternal acceptance plus the child's academic achievement score accounted for 58% of the variance in the child's self-esteem. None of the independent variables accounted for a significant proportion of the variance in the compensatory education and regular class groups. The self-esteem of the regular class students was significantly higher than that of the resource room students and the compensatory education students, but not significantly higher than that of the self-contained students.

Missionary Children: Correlates of Self-Esteem and Dependency

The purpose of the research was to study the correlates of self-esteem, negative attention-seeking dependency, and passive-approval-seeking dependency in missionary boarding school and nonboarding school students. Self-esteem was positively correlated with perceived approval of others, parental and houseparental acceptance, and identification with parents. Negative attention-seeking dependency for males was correlated positively with paternal psychological control, while for females negative attention-seeking dependency was negatively correlated with paternal acceptance and identification with father. For females there were significant positive correlations between passive approval-seeking dependency and the variables of father acceptance, father psychological control, and identification with mother. Consensual religious orientation was negatively correlated with self-esteem, and committed religiosity was negatively correlated with negative attention-seeking dependency. There were no significant differences between the specific groups of early, late, and nonboarders on any of the relevant variables, although, for those who boarded, there was a significant positive correlation between number of years boarding and self-esteem.

Parental correlates of drug use among young Puerto Rican adults.

A study was conducted by interview with 635 young Puerto Rican adults in Puerto Rico. Half of the sample were selected as high risk of heroin involvement, half as low risk. Parent-child relationships and parental usage of alcohol and cigarettes were related to five indices of heroin involvement. For boys, maternal acceptance was negatively associated with having ever tried heroin. Higher levels of maternal control were associated with lesser heroin use, never having tried heroin, less knowledge of heroin-related vocabulary, and fewer friends who had used heroin. Being the mother's favorite child was associated with less approval of heroin use. For boys, paternal acceptance was related to less knowledge of heroin vocabulary. Higher levels of paternal control went with less heroin use, less knowledge of heroin vocabulary, never having tried heroin, and few friends who used heroin. Paternal discipline was related to fewer friends using heroin. For girls, maternal control was associated with less knowledge of heroin vocabulary, maternal discipline with fewer friends using heroin, and being the mother's favorite child went with low heroin use, low approval for heroin use, and few friends using heroin. For girls, paternal acceptance and paternal discipline were associated with fewer friends using heroin. Maternal smoking and drinking were associated with increased usage of heroin for her son.