Intergenerational transmission of parenting beliefs and practices among a sample of low-income African American women: Do social support and child behavior problems moderate transmission effects

This study examined the intergenerational links between mothers' early childhood experiences and their present-day parenting beliefs and behaviors. Factors from mothers' family of origin experiences included levels of parental warmth, family cohesion, family conflict, and adult pathology. Parenting beliefs were measured on three scales, each representing a different parenting style (firm/responsive, harsh, lax). Parenting practices were measured through observation of mothers' emotional and behavioral responsiveness during a structured parent-child interaction task. In addition to exploring intergenerational associations, the roles of child disruptive behavior problems and maternal social support were examined as potential moderators of the intergenerational relationships. The study contributed to our understanding of parenting within a socioeconomic and cultural context by focusing on a sample of African American women parenting children in the context of poverty. Data were collected from 104 urban-dwelling, low-income African American mothers of preschoolers. More than 70% of the mothers were raising their children alone.;The major findings were as follows: multiple linear regression analyses revealed that maternal warmth and paternal warmth in the family of origin were positive predictors of current firm/responsive parenting beliefs; maternal warmth during childhood positively predicted present-day harsh parenting beliefs, and family cohesion in the family of origin negatively predicted current lax parenting beliefs. There were no statistically significant predictors of observed parenting practices. Moderated multiple regression analyses revealed no significant influences for the moderator variables; however, there was a trend toward significance for the role of friendship social support as a moderator of the relationship between maternal warmth during childhood and current firm/responsive parenting beliefs.;Results of the study support intergenerational links in parenting, particularly with regard to levels of caregiver warmth, and levels of structure and predictability in the childrearing environment. The associations between family of origin experiences and current parenting appear to be somewhat impervious to moderating influences in other domains of the childrearing ecology, at least the factors explored in the present study. The findings raise questions about the mechanisms of intergenerational transmission of parenting beliefs and behaviors. The findings also highlight the importance of conceptualizing and measuring parenting beliefs and practices within a socio-cultural context.