AUTHOR=Lin Xunyi , Zhang Yifan , Liao Yutong , Xie Wanlin 

TITLE=Socioeconomic status and problem behaviors in young Chinese children: A moderated mediation model of parenting styles and only children

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=14

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1029408

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1029408

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Introduction</title><p>This study tested a moderated mediation model of child number (CN) and parenting styles (PS) in the relationships between family socioeconomic status (SES) and young children’s problem behaviors (PB).</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>A sample of 1,101 children (M<sub>age</sub> = 4.90 years, <italic>SD</italic> = 1.07) and their parents participated in this study. Parents reported on PS, SES, and children’s PB.</p></sec><sec><title>Results and Discussion</title><p>The results show SES was positively related to authoritative parenting and negatively related to authoritarian parenting; problem behaviors were negatively related to authoritative parenting and positively related to authoritarian parenting; authoritative parenting and authoritarian parenting mediated the relationship between SES and PB; and singleton moderated the relationship between SES and PB. The combination of only children and low levels of SES could lead to high PB levels, while the combination of non-only children and high levels of SES could lead to high PB levels. At the same SES, only children had higher PB levels than non-only children.</p></sec>