Journal article
Children's representations of parents account for multifinality in outcomes of parental control: Evidence from two studies
Development and psychopathology, Vol.38(1), pp.393-404
02/2026
DOI: 10.1017/S0954579425100321
PMCID: PMC12332769
PMID: 40598795
Appears in UI Libraries Support Open Access
Abstract
Effects of variations in parents' control styles, especially the amount of power assertion they deploy, have long been a central question in socialization research. Although severe, harsh control is unanimously considered harmful, research on effects of far more common low-to-moderate power assertion is inconsistent. Drawing from attachment and social cognition traditions, we examined whether children's representations of parents (Internal Working Models, IWMs) moderated associations between parental power assertion and children's socialization (violating or embracing rules and values, responsiveness to parents). In two studies of community families (Family Study, FS,
= 102, and Children and Parents Study, CAPS,
= 200), employing observations and reports, we assessed parental power assertion at age 4.5, children's IWMs at ages 8 in FS and 4.5 in CAPS, and socialization outcomes at ages 10 and 12 in FS and 4.5 in CAPS. In FS, children's IWMs of the parent moderated effects of parental power assertion on socialization outcomes in mother- and father-child dyads (
s = 0.47, 0.41, respectively): Power assertion had detrimental effects only for children with negative IWMs of their parents. In CAPS, findings were replicated for mother-child dyads (
= 0.24). We highlight origins of multifinality in socialization sequelae of parental control.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Children's representations of parents account for multifinality in outcomes of parental control: Evidence from two studies
- Creators
- Haley M Herbert - University of IowaJuyoung Kim - University of IowaGrazyna Kochanska - University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Development and psychopathology, Vol.38(1), pp.393-404
- DOI
- 10.1017/S0954579425100321
- PMID
- 40598795
- PMCID
- PMC12332769
- NLM abbreviation
- Dev Psychopathol
- ISSN
- 0954-5794
- eISSN
- 1469-2198
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press
- Grant note
- National Institute of Mental Health: R01 MH63096, K02 MH01446 National Institute of Child Health and Human Development: R01 HD069171, R01 HD091047, R01 HD110427 National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health: UL1TR002537
This work was funded by the grants from National Institute of Mental Health (R01 MH63096, K02 MH01446) and National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01 HD069171, R01 HD091047, and R01 HD110427) to Grazyna Kochanska, and additionally supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health (UL1TR002537).
- Language
- English
- Electronic publication date
- 07/02/2025
- Date published
- 02/2026
- Academic Unit
- Psychological and Brain Sciences
- Record Identifier
- 9984843741802771
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