title: Exploring the association between parental rearing styles and medical students' critical thinking disposition in China.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Critical thinking is an essential ability for medical students. However, the relationship between parental rearing styles and medical students' critical thinking disposition has rarely been considered. The aim of this study was to investigate whether parental rearing styles were significant predictors of critical thinking disposition among Chinese medical students.
  
  
  METHODS
  1,075 medical students from the first year to the fifth year attending one of three medical schools in China were recruited via multistage stratified cluster sampling. The Chinese Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory(CTDI-CV) and The Egna Minnen av Barndoms Uppfostran (EMBU) questionnaire were applied to collect data and to conduct descriptive analysis. Stepwise multiple linear regression was used to analyze the data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The critical thinking disposition average mean score was 287.44 with 632 participants (58.79%) demonstrating positive critical thinking disposition. Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis revealed that the rearing styles of fathers, including "overprotection", "emotional warmth and understanding", "rejection" and "over-interference" were significant predictors of medical students' critical thinking disposition that explained 79.0% of the variance in critical thinking ability. Rearing styles of mothers including "emotional warmth and understanding", "punishing" and "rejection" were also found to be significant predictors, and explained 77.0% of the variance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Meaningful association has been evidenced between parental rearing styles and Chinese medical students' critical thinking disposition. Parental rearing styles should be considered as one of the many potential determinant factors that contribute to the cultivation of medical students' critical thinking capability. Positive parental rearing styles should be encouraged in the cultivation of children's critical thinking skills.
authors.affiliation: Tongji Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China. huanglei@tongji.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Yangpu Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China. supercell002@sina.com.
authors.forename: Zhaoxin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: The Psychological Counseling Center, Tongji University, Shanghai, China. yaoyuhong@tongji.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yuhong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.affiliation: Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China. 787674275@qq.com.
authors.forename: Chang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shan
authors.affiliation: Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China. hattie218@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Haojie
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China. sakyozhu@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Mengyi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Yangpu Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China. lussy@126.com.
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China. 981533123@qq.com.
authors.forename: Pengfei
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China. Zhaoxd62@gmail.com.|Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Shanghai East Hospital Affiliated toTongji University, Shanghai, China. Zhaoxd62@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Xudong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002668:Child Rearing; D002681:China; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005220:Fathers / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology; D016487:Parenting; D010551:Personality; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013850:Thinking; D055815:Young Adult