Parenting in Bangladesh: A Review of the Literature from 2006 to 2018

This study was a point of departure for future research on the need for a coherent understanding and knowledge of parenting in Bangladesh. This article presents the findings from an integrative research review on parenting in Bangladesh. A comprehensive search conducted in PubMed, Science Direct, and PsychINFO using the keywords “parenting”, “childcare”, “motherhood”, “fatherhood”, “mothering”, “fathering”, each paired with “Bangladesh” yielded 246 articles. Twenty papers published between 2006 and 2018 were selected for thematic analysis based on pre-set criteria. In most studies, the term mother was used interchangeably with parent, with mothers regarded as the primary caregiver. Parenting in the Bangladeshi context was found to be conceptualized primarily in terms of attitudes, disciplinary practices, feeding, parent–child interaction, and psychosocial stimulation. Parenting components aimed at moral development and attachment building in children were underrepresented. The data revealed largely inconsistent and uncoordinated discussions of parental practices, demonstrating the lack of a holistic approach in the literature in Bangladesh. Research on parenting in Bangladesh favors gendered assumptions of females as the primary caregiver. Based on their findings, the authors recommend qualitative studies to better reflect and conceptualize the concept of parenting in Bangladesh.

Family Duties and Job Flexibility: Tradeoffs for Chinese Urban, Educated Mothers with Toddlers

Drawing on survey and interview data from mothers of 14-month infants in Nanjing, China, we explore women’s job trajectories as they juggle work and family responsibilities. Four profiles that emerge among our sample of 371 mothers (high stability, rapid cyclers, high-paid wage-growth, and intermittent) reflected not only their work career trajectories but also their different strategies of managing work-family balance. High-stability mothers were more likely than the other three groups to work in state-owned enterprises and experience a negative work climate. They illustrate how China’s changing economy shape work preferences of mothers who value interest and self-fulfillment, but pursue stability to accommodate their childrearing responsibilities.

The Influence of Father Involvement on Their Children’s Self-Esteem in the Arab World

To understand the role of Arab fathers in raising their children, which remains understudied, this study analyzed different forms of father involvement during childhood and their relationship with children’s self-esteem during adult life. Drawing on a larger study on father involvement, data were collected from 2,170 respondents across ten countries in the Arab world, consisting of questionnaires about their relationships with their fathers and life history interviews focusing on father involvement. Regression analyses indicated a statistically significant positive relationship between nurturing father involvement, socioeconomic status (SES), and self-esteem, while psychological control showed a statistically significant negative association with self-esteem. Further analysis, differentiating between Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and non-GCC countries, revealed that SES has a stronger relationship with self-esteem in non-GCC countries than in the resource-rich GCC countries.

Parenting Practices and Emerging Adult Well-Being in the United States and China

Parenting practices that promote or inhibit autonomy in their emerging adult child can impact the well-being of emerging adults. This study explored a variety of parenting practices and how these practices impact emerging adult well-being across two cultures. Associations between parental support, involvement, helicopter parenting, and psychological control and emerging adults’ well-being were compared between two samples of participants ages 18-25: American ( n = 643) and Chinese ( n = 514). Results indicate that parental support can promote well-being among emerging adults, but autonomy-limiting practices of psychological control and helicopter parenting seem to be unfavorable for emerging adults regardless of culture. Differences in reported mean levels of the four parenting practices were observed across the two culturally specific samples; however, the strength of associations between practices and emerging adult well-being was not statistically different.

The Changing Patterns and Determinants of Stay-at-Home Motherhood in Urban China, 1982 to 2015

This paper documents trends in and examines determinants of stay-at-home motherhood in urban China from 1982 to 2015. China once had the world’s leading female labor force participation rate. Since the economic reforms starting from the early 1980s, however, some mothers have been withdrawing from the labor force due to diminished state support, a rise in intensive parenting, and heightened work-family conflicts. Based on data from the 1982, 1990, and 2000 Chinese censuses, the 2005 mini-census, and the 2006–2015 Chinese General Social Survey, we find mothers’ non-employment increased for every educational group and grew at a much faster rate among mothers than it did among fathers, particularly those with small children. Moreover, the negative relationships between mothers’ education and non-employment, and between mothers’ family income and non-employment weakened overtime. This possibly due to women with more established resources can better “afford” the single-earner arrangement and also more emphasize the importance of intensive parenting, than their less resourced counterparts. These findings signal the resurgence of a gendered division of labor in urban China.

Does Marital Satisfaction Matter for Dyadic Associations Between Multimorbidity and Subjective Health Among Korean Married Couples in Middle and Later Life?1

The present study aims to investigate how marital satisfaction moderates the dyadic associations between multimorbidity and subjective health. Data were extracted from the Korea Longitudinal Study of Aging in 2016 and 2018. The sample was Korean married couples in middle and later life ( N = 780 couples with low marital satisfaction, N = 1,193 couples with high marital satisfaction). The independent variable was multimorbidity, measured by the number of chronic diseases per person. The dependent variables were subjective life expectancy and self-rated health to represent subjective health. Marital satisfaction was a binary moderator, dividing the sample into low and high marital satisfaction groups. We applied the Actor Partner Interdependency Model to examine actor and partner associations simultaneously and used multigroup analysis to test the moderating effects of marital satisfaction. The results showed that husbands’ multimorbidity was negatively associated with wives’ self-rated health among couples in both the low and high marital satisfaction groups. In couples with high marital satisfaction, wives’ multimorbidity was negatively associated with husbands’ self-rated health, but this was not true for couples with low marital satisfaction. Regarding actor effects, multimorbidity was associated with self-rated health in both marital satisfaction groups. The actor effect of multimorbidity on the subjective life expectancy was significant only among women with low marital satisfaction. These findings suggest that there are universal and gendered associations between multimorbidity and subjective health in couple relationships.

Are Neighbors and Neighborhoods Still Important? Examining the Impact of Neighbors and Neighborhood Environments on Mothers’ Parenting Stress

The contemporary neighborhood literature discusses the complex relationships among neighborhood environments, social support, and parenting. Grounded in the Person-Process-Context-Time (PPCT) model, we examined how different sources of social support interact with Korean mothers’ perception of disorder in their neighborhoods, and if social support increases or decreases their parenting stress in rural and metropolitan areas. Using STATA 14.0, we conducted multiple regression modeling including tests for interaction effects. Our sample (from the 8th Wave PSKC) included 1,300 mothers of seven-year-old children who were transitioning to first grade. The results showed that for metropolitan mothers, support from neighbors was important. Interestingly, receiving social support from friends/colleagues could increase or reduce their parenting stress depending on the type of residential neighborhood. Both rural and metropolitan mothers who reported negative impressions of their neighborhood environment experienced more parenting stress. However, these relationships disappeared when controlling for the interactions between mothers’ perception of disorder in their neighborhood and social support. These findings suggest that the social support that mothers receive from neighbors, and friends/colleagues, in general, play an important role in relieving parenting stress when raising first graders. However, living in disorganized, unsafe, or stressful neighborhood environments may restrict mothers’ parenting choices due to anxiety and limited outdoor space, resulting in increased parenting stress. Therefore, careful consideration of neighborhood characteristics is required to develop community-based parenting support services as part of family-friendly policies to effectively reduce the burden of parenting school-aged children in Korea.

An Analysis of Latent Profiles of Father-Child Interaction: Classification Predictors and Differences in Children’s Socio-Emotional Development

The purpose of this study was to (1) classify subgroups of father-child interaction based on the type of interaction activity (routine, learning, and play interaction), (2) examine the effects of socio-demographic factors, father’s psycho-emotional factors, and maternal factors on the different types of father-child interaction groups, and (3) analyze differences in socio-emotional development of first graders in elementary school according to the type of father-child interaction. Analysis of 1,469 families (mothers, fathers, and children) was conducted using latent profile analysis (research question 1), complex sample multinomial logistic regression (RQ 2), and complex sample general linear modeling (RQ 3). Samples originated from the eighth wave (2015) of the Panel Study on Korean Children (PSKC). The main results were as follows. First, three distinct latent groups of father-child interaction based on the quantitative level of daily interaction were found: high-interaction (HI, 7.85%), medium-interaction (MI, 51.73%), and low-interaction (LI, 40.42%). Second, factors such as father’s happiness, positive evaluation of work-family balance, and mother-child interaction level were significant correlates for the classification of father-child interaction. Third, first graders in the HI group showed the highest levels of self-esteem in comparison to the other two groups and reported a higher level of subjective happiness in comparison to the LI group. These results bring to attention the importance of father-child interaction affecting the outcomes of children’s socio-emotional development.

Developmental Trajectories of Negative Peer Play in Preschool: Predictors and Outcomes1

This study aims to identify age-related trajectories of preschoolers’ negative peer play, their predictors, and school-related outcomes. The participants were 1,547 children in the Panel Study on Korean Children and their teachers and parents. Using latent class growth analysis, we identified negative peer play trajectories of children between 4 and 6 years old. Analyses of variances were conducted to investigate whether children’s school readiness at 6 years old differed between the trajectories. Finally, multinomial logistic regressions were conducted to explore how teacher-child interactions influenced membership in the trajectories. Three developmental trajectories of play disruption were found: “Low” (64.3%), “Constant-higher” (34.3%), and “U-curve” (1.4%). In the case of play disconnection, four trajectories were found: “Low-increase” (57.6%), “Moderate-decrease” (26.5%), “Sharp-increase” (10.1%), and “High-decrease” (5.8%). The trajectories of play disruption were related to social and emotional development and approach to learning. The trajectories of play disconnection were related to all aspects of school readiness including social and emotional development, approach to learning, communication, and cognitive development. Teacher-child interactions that encourage children’s prosocial behaviors and positive peer interactions predicted likely membership in “Low-increase” play disconnection development. Also, teachers’ affectionate and sensitive qualities during the interaction with children predicted a “Low” trajectory of play disruption. Together, the results emphasized the protective power of positive teacher-child interactions in the development of preschool negative peer play. Based on the findings, policy implications are discussed with regard to teacher education.

Children’s Negative Emotionality, Mothers’ Depression, and Parental Warmth in Predicting Children’s School Readiness in Low-Income Korean Families: The Role of Fathers’ Positive Involvement

This study examined how the longitudinal associations among children’s negative emotionality, mothers’ depressive symptoms, parental warmth, and children’s school readiness and whether the associations vary as a function of fathers’ positive involvement in low-income South Korean families. Participants were 399 families including mothers (Mage = 32.54 years at Time 1), fathers (Mage = 35.23 years at Time 1), and children (Mage = 38.92 months at Time 1; 50.5% boys) in the Panel Study on Korean Children. Results revealed that children’s negative emotionality was indirectly associated with their school readiness three years later, through its association with mothers’ depressive symptoms and warmth. Mothers’ warmth mediated the association between mothers’ depressive symptoms and children’s school readiness, and fathers’ warmth mediated the association between fathers’ positive involvement and children’s school readiness. Our findings revealed the family processes underlying children’s school readiness development in low-income Korean family contexts. Our findings also provide information useful for efforts to detect family risks and to establish family policies to promote low-income children’s school readiness.