Intergenerational transmission of warm-sensitive-stimulating parenting: a prospective study of mothers and fathers of 3-year-olds
Abstract
More than 200 New Zealand men and women studied repeatedly since age 3 were videotaped interacting with their own 3-year-old children to determine (a) whether childrearing and family climate experienced in 3 distinct developmental periods while growing up (i.e., early childhood, middle childhood, early adolescence) predicted parenting and (b) whether romantic relationship quality moderated the effect of childrearing history on observed parenting. Support for the first hypothesis emerged across all 3 developmental periods for mothers (only), with no evidence of moderating effects of romantic relationship quality for mothers or fathers. Results are discussed in terms of supportive versus harsh parenting, mother-father differences, and the characteristics of the sample.
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Parenting styles in humans are likely to be transmitted across generations (Belsky, 2005; Champagne, 2010).
“Parenting styles in humans are likely to be transmitted across generations (Belsky, 2005; Champagne, 2010)”
From Approaching the biology of human parental attachment: Brain imaging, oxytocin and coordinated assessments of mothers and fathers (2014) · cites this paper as Belsky, 2005
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- Authors
- Belsky, J., Jaffee, S. R., Sligo, J., Woodward, L., & Silva, P. A.
- Affiliations
- Birkbeck, University of London (GB)
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- University of Otago (NZ)
- University of Canterbury (NZ)
- Corresponding author
- Belsky, Jay
- Venue
- Child Development
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2005-03-01
- Volume
- 76
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 384-396
- ISSN
- 0009-3920 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-8624
- OpenAlex
- W2081714415
- Cited by
- 282
- References
- 60
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 21 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 22 · 2014: 16 · 2013: 12 · 2012: 15
- FWCI
- 27.34
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Child Development (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Demography › Family Dynamics and Relationships
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
- Keywords
- intergenerational transmission, parenting, family climate, romantic relationship quality, mothers, fathers, mother-father differences, early childhood, middle childhood, early adolescence, three-year-old children
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Child, Preschool, Fathers, Female, Humans, Male, Mothers, Parent-Child Relations, Prospective Studies, Surveys and Questionnaires, Videotape Recording, Parenting, Intergenerational Relations
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