Dynamic Developmental Patterns of Parental Warmth and Harsh Discipline and Their Associations with Child Externalizing Problems: A Person-Oriented Approach

Introduction: Parenting has a potent impact on the socialization of children. Different dimensions of parenting are associated with various child outcomes. Parenting is also a dynamic construct that changes over time, dependent on the reciprocal relationship with child outcomes and specific developmental periods. However, few studies have examined parenting as a multidimensional and dynamic construct. This study investigated different patterns of developmental trajectories of two parenting dimensions (harsh discipline and parental warmth) with a person-oriented approach, the prediction of different developmental patterns of parenting by parent, family, and neighborhood variables, and the associations between different parenting patterns and child externalizing problems and callous-unemotional (CU) traits.

Methods: Data were drawn from the combined high-risk control and normative sample (n = 753; 49% African American, 52% European American, 5% others) of the Fast Track project. Child sex (65% male), age (M = 6.5 years), race/urban status (46.0% urban Black, 24.2% urban White, 25.7% rural White), total severity-of-risk screen score, and cohorts were included as covariates. Parent-reported harsh discipline and observer-reported parental warmth from kindergarten to Grade 2 were fit to growth mixture models. Parenting efficacy and satisfaction, depression, SES, and neighborhood safety were included as predictors. Child externalizing problems and CU traits were included as distal outcomes.

Results: Two subgroups were identified for harsh discipline (low decreasing, 83.0%; high stable, 17.0%) and parental warmth (high increasing, 78.7%; low increasing, 21.3%). The majority of parents (67.0%) demonstrated the low decreasing discipline and high increasing warmth pattern, while the prevalence of the high stable discipline and low increasing warmth pattern was the lowest (6.8%). Parenting satisfaction, depression, SES, and neighborhood safety predicted group memberships jointly defined by the two dimensions. Children from the high stable discipline and low increasing warmth pattern showed the highest levels of externalizing problems in Grades 4 and 5. Children from the low decreasing discipline and low increasing warmth pattern showed the highest levels of CU traits in Grade 7.

Conclusion: These findings demonstrate the utility and significance of a person-oriented approach to measuring parenting as a multidimensional and dynamic construct. The prediction of different parenting patterns by various parent, family, and neighborhood variables suggest potential targets for family-centered interventions that aim to influence parenting to improve child developmental outcomes.