Developmental Characteristics Of First-born Children’s Self-regulation And The Joint Effects Of Parenting Behavior

Self-regulation refers to the ability of individuals to actively adjust and control their talk,emotions and behavior responses,so as to establish a stable state of mind and body.With the implementation of the two-child policy in China,the previous only child becomes the first child,and this change may affect the development of the first child to some extent.Some related studies have shown that the first-born children have more emotional and behavioral disorders after the birth of a second child.Therefore,it is necessary to explore the self-regulation ability of first-born children.In addition,one of the important factors that affect children’s self-regulation is parenting behavior.And in the past studies on the parenting behavior of first-born children,the influence of the father or mother was considered unilaterally.However,father and mother play a joint role,so this study further explores the joint role of father and mother’s parenting behavior on first-born children’s self-regulation.Based on Dong Cunmei’s research(2011,2012),8 contradictory situations between children and their parents and 8 contradictory situations between children and their peers were compiled.Among them,four are assertion scenes,which can show their needs and will when their goals and needs are obstructed,and four are inhibition scenes,which can restrain their needs and emotions when their goals and needs are obstructed.Each story situation sets up three types of responses:self-assertion,self-suppression,impulsive behavior.According to the statistics of the frequency and rate of reaction of 68 sixth graders in each story situation,the first two story situations with the highest frequency and rate of self-assertion in the assertion scene and self-inhibition in the inhibition scene were selected.And a total of 8 story situations were obtained as the material for formal study.In the first study,a total of 288 first-born children(137 in the fourth grade,77 in the sixth grade,and 74 in the eighth grade)were compared with 225 only children(83in the fourth grade,95 in the sixth grade,and 47 in the eighth grade)using 8 story situations formed by the preliminary study to explore the developmental characteristics of first-born children’s self-regulation.The results showed that the self-regulation of first-born children was unbalanced(less self-assertion and more self-inhibition)and unregulated(more impulsive behavior)compared with that of the only children.Specifically,the first-born children showed less self-assertion and more impulsive behavior than the only children in the assertion situation of interacting with peers.First-born children showed less self-assertion and more self-inhibition than the only children in the assertion situation with their parents.First-born children showed more impulsive behavior than the only children in the inhibited situation of interacting with peers.In addition,first-born children in fourth grade showed less self-assertion and more impulsive behavior than the only children.First-born children in eighth grade showed less self-assertion and more self-inhibition than the only children as the grade increases.The second study further explored the effect of parental parenting behavior on the self-regulation of first-born children.Using the Parenting Behavior Questionnaire compiled by Wang Meiping and Zhang Wenxin(2014)as a measuring tool,this study compared the parenting behaviors of 288 first-born children(137 in the fourth grade,77 in the sixth grade,and 74 in the eighth grade)and 225 only children(83 in the fourth grade,95 in the sixth grade,and 47 in the eighth grade)to analyze the differences between the parenting behaviors of first-born children and only children and the effects of the parenting behaviors of first-born children on their self-regulation.The results showed that both fathers and mothers of first-born children had fewer positive parenting behaviors and more negative parenting behaviors than those of only children,and both of them hindered the development of first-born children’s self-regulation.Specifically,the first-born children with low positive parenting behavior of both parents showed less self-assertion and more impulsive behavior than other types of first-born children.First-born children with high negative parenting behavior of both parents showed more impulsive behavior than other types of first-born children.The results show that :(1)The first-born children’s self-regulation is unbalanced(less self-assertion and more self-inhibition)and unregulated(more impulsive behavior)compared with the only children.(2)Compared with the only children,the fathers and mothers of the first-born children have less positive parenting behaviors and more negative parenting behaviors,which together hinder the development of first-born children’s self-regulation.