Maternal Childrearing Values: Mediating the Link Between Neighborhood Risk and Mother-Adolescent Relationship Quality Kathleen Boykin McElhaney, Ph.D. Davidson College/University of Virginia INTRODUCTION Parents living in high-risk, low-income neighborhoods often have approaches to child rearing that are in contrast with traditional, middle-class parenting behavior (for reviews see Bornstein & Bradley, 2003; Hoff Ginsberg & Tardif, 1995; Magnuson & Duncan, 2002). It is often proposed that parents in high-risk settings behave in a harsher, more authoritarian fashion towards their children because they maintain parenting values that emphasize obedience and conformity (Kohn, 1963; 1977; 1979; Luster, Rhoades, & Haas, 1989; Schaefer & Edgerton, 1985). However, there is little evidence actually linking parenting values to corresponding parenting behaviors (Luster,Rhoades & Hass, 1989; Miller, 1988). The studies that do exist have rarely examined parents of adolescents, and are typically limited by an exclusive reliance on self-reported parenting. Thus, the current study utilized a sample of 177 young adolescents (83 males, 94 females; average age = 13 years) and their mothers to examine the links between mothers’ parenting values and both self-reported and observed parenting behaviors. It was proposed that mothers’ parenting values – in particular, her valuing of conformity – would mediate the link between neighborhood risk and parenting behavior. RESULTS: EVIDENCE OF MEDIATION Established mediation using the following 3 steps (Baron & Kenny, 1986). STEP 1: Neighborhood risk was significantly positively associated with mothers’ valuing of conformity (r=.28***). STEP 2: Neighborhood risk was significantly associated with each of the five parenting behaviors (  s ranged from.15 for mother reported psychological control to.20 for teen reported psychological control, all p<.05). STEP 3: Entering mothers’ valuing of conformity into each regression equation caused the beta weight for neighborhood risk to drop to below p<.05 in all 5 models, indicating full mediation in all cases. MEASURES Neighborhood Risk Neighborhood Quality Questionnaire: mothers’ self-reports of the level of risk existing in their neighborhoods Maternal Valuing of Conformity Parenting Values Measure (Schaefer & Edgerton, 1985; Kohn, 1977): mothers’ self-reports of their values with regard to their adolescent’s behavior Self-Reported Parenting Behaviors 1. Psychological Control – Child Report of Parenting Behavior Inventory (Schaefer, 1965; Schluderman & Schluderman, 1970): adolescents’ and mothers’ reports of maternal psychological control. 2. Authoritarian Decision-Making – Parent-Child Conflict Questionnaire (Hetherington & Clingempeel, 1992; Steinberg, 1987; Dornbusch et.al, 1985): adolescents’ and mothers’ reports of mothers’ unilateral decision-making. Observed Parenting Behaviors 1. Supportive Behavior – Supportive Behavior Coding System (Allen, Insabella, Hall, Marsh, & Porter, 1999): Valuing of the other person, being engaged in the interaction, interpreting the adolescent’s problem, and adolescents’ satisfaction with the interaction during a task in which adolescents asked mothers for help with a problem. 2. Positive Relatedness – Autonomy and Relatedness Coding System (Allen, Hauser, Bell, Boykin, & Tate, 1995): Engagement in interaction and validating adolescents’ statements during a revealed differences task. Self-Reported Parenting Behaviors 1. When mothers valued conformity, their adolescents reported that they exercised more psychological control (Table 1). Table 1: Mothers’ valuing of conformity mediates links between neighborhood risk and mothers’ parenting behaviors: adolescent reports of psychological control Adolescents’ report of psychological control  ΔR2ΔR2 Total R 2 Adolescent Gender-.03 Perceived Neighborhood Risk * Mothers’ Valuing of Conformity.45****.19.23**** Gender * Valuing Conformity 1.16*.03.26**** *p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001, ***p< An interaction between gender and mothers’ parenting values in this model revealed that this effect was particularly pronounced for female adolescents (not depicted). 2. Mothers who valued conformity also reported exercising more psychological control as well as engaging in more authoritarian decision making (see Table 2). Table 2: Mothers’ valuing of conformity mediates links between neighborhood risk and mothers’ parenting behaviors: mothers’ reports of psychological control and authoritarian decision-making Mothers’ report of psychological control  ΔR2ΔR2 Total R 2 Adolescent Gender.03 Perceived Neighborhood Risk ** Mothers’ Valuing of Conformity.36***.12.18*** Mothers’ report of authoritarian decision-making Adolescent Gender.04 Perceived Neighborhood Risk Mothers’ Valuing of Conformity.22**.04.07** *p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001, ***p<.0001 Observed Parenting Behaviors 1. Mothers who valued conformity demonstrated less successful support during interactions with their teens (see Table 3). Table 3: Mothers’ valuing of conformity mediates links between neighborhood risk and mothers’ parenting behaviors: observations of supportive behavior Observed supportive behavior  ΔR2ΔR2 Total R 2 Adolescent Gender-.05 Perceived Neighborhood Risk * Mothers’ Valuing of Conformity-.27***.06.09** *p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001, ***p< Mothers who valued conformity also expressed fewer positive relationship behaviors while discussing a disagreement (see Table 4). Table 4: Mothers’ valuing of conformity mediates links between neighborhood risk and mothers’ parenting behaviors: observations of positive-relatedness Observed supportive behavior  ΔR2ΔR2 Total R 2 Adolescent Gender-.02 Perceived Neighborhood Risk Mothers’ Valuing of Conformity-.27***.06.09** *p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001, ***p<.0001 RESULTS: DIRECTION OF EFFECTS This study was supported by grants to Joseph P. Allen at the University of Virginia from the National Institute of Mental Health (R01-MH44934, R01-MH58066, and F31- MH ). REFERENCES Allen, J. P., Hauser, S. T., Bell, K. L., Boykin, K. A., & Tate, D. C. (1995). Autonomy and relatedness coding system manual. Allen, J. P., Insabella, G. M., Hall, F., Marsh, P., & Porter, M. R. (1999). Supportive behavior task coding manual. Unpublished manuscript, University of Virginia, Charlottesville. Baron, R.M. & Kenny, D.A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, Bornstein, M.H. & Bradley, R.H. (2003). Socioeconomic status, parenting and child development. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Dornbusch, S.M., Carlsmith, J.M., Bushwall, S.J., Ritter, P.L., Leiderman, H., Hastorf, A.H. & Gross, R.T. (1985). Single parents, extended households and the control of adolescents. Child Development, 56, Hoff-Ginsberg, E. & Tardif, T. (1995). Socioeconomic status and parenting. In M.H. Bornstein (Ed.) 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Children’s reports of parental behavior: An inventory. Child Development, 36, Schaefer, E.S. & Edgerton, M. (1985). Parent and child correlates of parental modernity. In I.E. Sigel (Ed.) Parental belief systems: The psychological consequences for children. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Schluderman, E. & Schluderman, S. (1970). Replicability of factors in children’s reports of parent behavior (CRPBI). Journal of Psychology, 76, Steinberg, L. (1987). The impact of puberty on family relations: Effects of pubertal status and pubertal timing. Developmental Psychology, 23, SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that parents who live in high risk settings place a high value on conformity, and that this parenting value explains the association between neighborhood risk and a relatively harsh and authoritarian parenting style. More specifically, mothers who valued conformity were rated as more psychologically controlling and did not involve their adolescents in decision-making. Further, these mothers were observed to be less engaged, supportive and validating with their adolescents, whether discussing a problem that the teen was having outside or within the mother-adolescent relationship. Finally, the results of this study suggest that a complete understanding of the effects of the neighborhood context on family functioning requires a careful consideration of parenting values – and more specifically, how such values might effect parenting behaviors. Future research on this topic would benefit from examining how parenting values and their corresponding parenting behaviors might interact over time to affect adolescents’ social and emotional development in both high and low-risk settings.