Committed compliance and maternal parenting behaviors predict internalization of rules and externalizing behaviors in Chinese preschool children

This study investigated how parenting behaviors and child committed compliance predicted internalization of rules and externalizing behaviors throughout early childhood. Participants were 95 Chinese mother-child dyads. Maternal respect for autonomy and negative control were observed in free-plays at 14 and 25 months. Toddlers’ committed compliance was coded in a cleanup task at 25 months. At 60 months, internalization of maternal rules and experimenter rules were observed. Externalizing behaviors were reported by mothers on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Research Findings: Results showed that child committed compliance predicted higher internalization of maternal rules and lower externalizing behaviors overtime. For children with high committed compliance, respect for autonomy in toddlerhood was positively associated with internalization of maternal rules and negative control in toddlerhood was positively associated with externalizing behaviors. Conversely for children with low committed compliance, respect for autonomy was associated with lower internalization of maternal rules, whereas negative control was associated with higher internalization of experimenter rules and fewer externalizing behaviors. Practice or Policy: Findings support a goodness-of-fit model for the moderations of committed compliance on the relations between maternal behaviors and social adjustment, suggesting that interventions designed to promote Chinese children’s social adjustment may benefit from considering the fit between early parenting and child self-control.