Research On The Relationship Between Parenting Style,Child’s Temperament And Kindergarten Adjustment

Entering kindergarten is the first step for young children to move from family to society,and smoothly adapting to the kindergarten environment is part of their social adaptation.Parenting style is the earliest and most persistent factor among family factors.Temperament is the inherent and lifetime personality of a child.Both factors are most closely related to children’s adaptation to kindergarten.The influence of father’s parenting style on child’s social adaptation is different than that of mother.Moreover,previous research of kindergarten adjustment has focused on two aspects,which are child’s family and the kindergarten,and less attention has been paid to child related factors.Since early social adaptation of child is affected by the interaction between parenting style and child’s temperament,the current study aimed to investigate the interaction between parenting style and temperament to child’s kindergarten adaptation.Participants of the current study were 226 children in junior class(aged 3 to 4)and their parents selected from seven kindergartens located in a W City Economic Development Zone of Shandong Province.Parents filled out the Parenting Style Dimensions Questionnaire(PSDQ)and the Parent Temperament Questionnaire(PTQ),and teachers of junior class filled out the Adaptation to Kindergarten Teacher Rating Scale.Results of the survey study showed that:1.Child’s age,gender and primary caregiver were linked to significant differences in levels of kindergarten adjustment.Specifically,older children generally not only had parents with higher education backgrounds but also had higher levels of adaptation to kindergarten;girls adjusted better than boys;children who were taken cared by their grandparents(or maternal grandparents)had higher levels of emotional stability.2.All dimensions of kindergarten adjustment were significantly positively correlated to authoritative parenting style of both father and mother.However,all dimensions of kindergarten adjustment were significantly negatively correlated toauthoritarian parenting style of both father and mother.All dimensions of child’s temperament were significantly positively correlated to authoritative parenting style of both father and mother.Nevertheless,all dimensions of child’s temperament were significantly negatively correlated to authoritarian parenting style of both father and mother.All dimensions of child’s temperament measurement were also significantly positively correlated to all dimensions of kindergarten adjustment measurement.It was also found that children with easy characteristics had higher levels of kindergarten adaptation than children with difficult characteristics.3.There was an interaction between parenting style and child’s temperament on kindergarten adjustment,such that a negative correlation was found between authoritarian parenting style of father and levels of kindergarten adjustment among children with slow-starting characteristics,and a negative correlation was found between authoritarian parenting style of mother and levels of kindergarten adjustment among children with easy characteristics.Through investigating several kindergarten adjustment related factors,the current study not only enriched the field of kindergarten adjustment research but also provided empirical data and materials for the theory of temperament interactions.This can help educators and parents to adjust relevant factors to promote smooth kindergarten adjustment of children and enhance their social adaptabilities.