Longitudinal paths between parenting, internalizing symptoms, and different forms of prosocial behavior

Abstract

This study was designed to explore the longitudinal relations among parenting, internalizing symptoms, and different forms of prosocial behavior in Turkish children. The study tracked 293 mothers and their preschool-aged children (48% girls, Mage = 49 months) over 3 years. Mothers reported on their parenting practices, including demands for obedience, warmth, and inductive reasoning when children were 4 years old. They reported children's internalizing symptoms at age 6 and prosocial behaviors such as helping, sharing, comforting, and cooperation at ages 4 and 7. Path analyses showed that obedience-demanding parenting positively predicted children's helping behavior. Maternal warmth and inductive reasoning were negatively associated with children's internalizing symptoms, which, in turn, were negatively related to all forms of prosocial behavior. These results emphasize the need for culturally informed parental socialization models of prosocial development that account for the multidimensional nature of prosocial behavior.