title: Effect of African- and European-American maternal attitudes and limit-setting strategies on children's self-regulation.
abstract: The effect of maternal attitudes and limit-setting strategies on children's self-regulation (measured as committed compliance) was compared in 151 African-American (AA) and 108 European-American (EA) mothers and their 3-year-old children. There were no ethnic differences in children's compliance, however ethnicity moderated the relationship between maternal authoritarian attitudes and children's compliance. Higher authoritarian attitudes predicted less children's compliance in the EA sample, but greater compliance in the AA sample. Observational limit-setting data revealed that in both ethnic groups, maternal authoritarian attitudes influenced children's self-regulation through maternal use of lower-power (gentle) verbal strategies, fewer physical strategies, and judicious use of higher-power verbal strategies. The findings indicate that the meaning and purpose of authoritarian attitudes varies across these mothers' socio-cultural contexts.
authors.affiliation: University of Rochester School of Nursing, Rochester, NY 14642, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: LeCuyer
authors.forename: Dena P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Swanson
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cole
authors.forename: Harriet
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kitzman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000208:ethnology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000208:ethnology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008425:Maternal Behavior / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009034:Mother-Child Relations / Q000208:ethnology*; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016487:Parenting / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D020377:Self Efficacy; D044465:White People / Q000208:ethnology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult