Parental Differential Treatment of Siblings and Fairness Perception: Moderating Role of Personality

The detrimental effects of parental differential treatment have been shown in previous research, but fewer researchers have pointed out that differential treatment does not always lead to negative outcomes. Thus, the present study examines the role of temperament similarity on the association between parenting similarity and positive family relationship qualities over 1 year in 145 adolescent sibling dyads (Mfirst−born = 14.97 and SD = 1.68 years; Msecond−born = 12.20 and SD = 1.92 years). Latent moderator structure models (LMS) showed that a higher level of parenting similarity was related to more positive family relationships when siblings were more similar in their temperaments; however, a lower level of parenting similarity was related to more positive relationship qualities with family members 1 year later in the context of less sibling temperament similarity.

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Testing the Strain Theory of Suicide – The Moderating Role of Social Support

Crisis ◽

10.1027/0227-5910/a000604 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 41 (2) ◽

pp. 82-88 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Bob Lew ◽

Ksenia Chistopolskaya ◽

Yanzheng Liu ◽

Mansor Abu Talib ◽

Olga Mitina ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Support ◽

Suicidal Behavior ◽

Online Survey ◽

Perceived Social Support ◽

Strain Theory ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Psychological Strains ◽

Moderating Role

Abstract. Background: According to the strain theory of suicide, strains, resulting from conﬂicting and competing pressures in an individual's life, are hypothesized to precede suicide. But social support is an important factor that can mitigate strains and lessen their input in suicidal behavior. Aims: This study was designed to assess the moderating role of social support in the relation between strain and suicidality. Methods: A sample of 1,051 employees were recruited in Beijing, the capital of China, through an online survey. Moderation analysis was performed using SPSS PROCESS Macro. Social support was measured with the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and strains were assessed with the Psychological Strains Scale. Results: Psychological strains are a good predictor of suicidality, and social support, a basic need for each human being, moderates and decreases the effects of psychological strains on suicidality. Limitations: The cross-sectional survey limited the extent to which conclusions about causal relationships can be drawn. Furthermore, the results may not be generalized to the whole of China because of its diversity. Conclusion: Social support has a tendency to mitigate the effects of psychological strains on suicidality.

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Trait and State Components of Perceived Parental Differential Treatment in Middle Adulthood

Journal of Individual Differences ◽

10.1027/1614-0001/a000024 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 31 (3) ◽

pp. 158-165 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Thomas Boll ◽

Tom Michels ◽

Dieter Ferring ◽

Sigrun-Heide Filipp

Keyword(s):

Structural Equation ◽

Differential Treatment ◽

Three Dimensions ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Middle Adulthood ◽

Parental Differential Treatment ◽

Trait Theory ◽

Trait Variance ◽

Parental Recognition ◽

Middle Aged Adults

Despite its importance for basic and applied psychology, only a few longitudinal studies have examined whether parental differential treatment (PDT) is a persistent or a transient phenomenon, these studies being confined to childhood or adolescence. Based on latent state-trait theory, the present study identified the amount of variance in three dimensions of perceived PDT in middle adulthood attributable to stable interindividual differences (trait variance) and to intraindividual changes (state variance). At two occasions of measurement (2 years apart), 709 middle-aged adults rated how often they and a sibling currently received parental recognition, nurture, and demand to assume filial responsibility. Tests of latent state-trait models for these three dimensions of PDT by structural equation modeling revealed that trait variance represented the largest proportion of the systematic variance in all observed indicators of perceived maternal and paternal differential treatment. Yet there was a considerable increase in state variance for the dimension of differential parental demand for assuming responsibility. Results are discussed with respect to the conditions accounting for the high overall stability of actual and/or perceived PDT in adulthood, and different approaches for determining their role are proposed.

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