Developmental Cascades of Preschoolers’ Effortful Control, Externalizing Behaviors, and Parental Corporal Punishment in China

Abstract

This research examined the interrelations among children’s effortful control, externalizing behaviors, and parental corporal punishment in China. Two hundred and five father–mother dyads of preschoolers (initial Mage = 3.73 years, 50% boys) completed measures of children’s effortful control, externalizing behaviors, and parental corporal punishment at three time points with 1-year intervals in between. In developmental cascade models, only unidirectional direct relations between variables were found: preschoolers’ effortful control negatively predicted externalizing behaviors a year later, and preschoolers’ externalizing behaviors positively predicted maternal and paternal corporal punishment a year later. Moreover, although no direct relations between preschoolers’ effortful control and parental corporal punishment were found, a potential indirect pathway from effortful control to paternal corporal punishment through externalizing behaviors was observed. The findings are discussed in terms of their cultural basis and highlight the importance of efforts to strengthen children’s self-regulation during early childhood.