Parental control is not unconditionally detrimental for externalizing behaviors in early childhood

Abstract

The association of three different strategies of maternal control (behavioral, psychological, and physical), and maternal warmth with children's externalizing behaviors were analyzed in an observational study of 3-year-old children in Turkey (N = 123). The results indicated that (i) mothers exercised all three types of control simultaneously; (ii) behavioral control had a curvilinear association with child externalizing behaviors, suggesting the existence of an optimum level of behavioral control; and (iii) the negative effects of behavioral and psychological control could be moderated by parental warmth. These findings highlighted the importance of studying samples from diverse cultural contexts in order to validate and enrich theoretical models of behavioral development.