Comparative study on emotional behavior and parental job stress of only-child and non-only-child preschool children

Table 2 Comparison of two groups of general data after matching, n (%)

General information		Only child group (n = 550)	Non-only child group (n = 550)	χ2/t	P value
Age (mean ± SD, years)		4.28 ± 1.11	4.23 ± 1.11	0.747	0.455
Child gender	Man	169 (30.73)	158 (28.73)	27.487	0.000
	Woman	381 (69.27)	392 (71.27)
Type number	1 time	224 (40.73)	207 (37.64)	1.652	0.438
	2 times	312 (56.73)	332 (60.36)
	3 times and above	14 (2.55)	11 (2.00)
Mother's age (mean ± SD, years)		36.87 ± 5.09	37.08 ± 5.03	0.688	0.492
Father's age (mean ± SD, years)		35.82 ± 4.68	36.26 ± 4.50	1.481	0.139
Mother's occupation	Civil servants, teachers	98 (17.82)	98 (17.82)	6.753	0.240
	Science and technology, finance, finance workers	86 (15.64)	72 (13.09)
	Freelance, self-employed	78 (14.18)	96 (17.45)
	Workers, industrial and commercial enterprise employees	87 (15.82)	100 (18.18)
	Unemployed	20 (3.64)	27 (4.91)
	Other	181 (32.91)	157 (28.55)
Father's occupation	Civil servants, teachers	118 (21.45)	116 (21.09)	4.838	0.436
	Science and technology, finance, finance workers	72 (13.09)	57 (10.36)
	Freelance, self-employed	114 (20.73)	124 (22.55)
	Workers, industrial and commercial enterprise employees	98 (17.82)	101 (18.36)
	Unemployed	6 (1.09)	13 (2.36)
	Other	142 (25.82)	139 (25.27)
Mother's education	Junior secondary and below	15 (2.73)	18 (3.27)	8.346	0.080
	High school or technical secondary school	46 (8.36)	62 (11.27)
	Universities and colleges	177 (32.18)	143 (26.00)
	Undergraduate course	252 (45.82)	277 (50.36)
	Master degree or above	60 (10.91)	50 (9.09)
Father's education	Junior secondary and below	16 (2.91)	14 (2.55)	4.850	0.303
	High school or technical secondary school	53 (9.64)	75 (13.64)
	Universities and colleges	176 (32.00)	175 (31.82)
	Undergraduate course	264 (48.00)	252 (45.82)
	Master degree or above	41 (7.45)	34 (3.18)
Family type	Nuclear family (parents and children)	314 (57.09)	297 (54.00)	2.113	0.549
	Single parent	5 (0.91)	8 (1.45)
	Of three generations under one roof	222 (40.36)	232 (42.18)
	Other	9 (1.64)	13 (2.36)
Primary caregiver	Mother	389 (70.73)	416 (75.64)	4.796	1.187
	Dad	38 (6.91)	31 (5.64)
	Grandparents	122 (22.18)	100 (18.18)
	Housemaid	1 (0.18)	3 (0.55)
Parental control over children	Highly consistent	161 (29.27)	126 (22.31)	8.979	0.011
	Basically the same	383 (69.64)	409 (74.36)
	Basically different	6 (1.09)	15 (2.73)
Parenting attitudes among seniors and parents	Highly consistent	7 (1.27)	17 (3.09)	3.066	0.216
	Basically the same	202 (36.73)	256 (46.55)
	Basically different	241 (43.82)	277 (50.36)
Proportion of children's expenses	One fifth or less	131 (23.09)	126 (22.91)	1.986	0.575
	One quarter	190 (34.55)	186 (33.82)
	One third	160 (29.09)	179 (32.55)
	A half	69 (12.55)	59 (10.73)
Family atmosphere	Very harmonious	268 (48.73)	250 (45.45)	2.921	0.571
	Good	229 (41.64)	234 (42.55)
	Common	52 (9.45)	64 (11.64)
	Bad	1 (0.18)	1 (0.18)
	Very bad	0 (0.00)	1 (0.18)
Relationship	Harmonious	496 (90.18)	483 (87.82)	1.846	0.397
	Common	44 (8.00)	57 (10.36)
	Other circumstances (e.g. single parent/separation etc.)	10 (1.82)	10 (1.82)
Children's personality characteristics	Extroverted	191 (34.73)	221 (40.18)	3.629	0.163
	Middle	303 (55.09)	281 (51.09)
	Introverted	56 (10.18)	48 (8.73)
Child rearing practices	Democratic authority type	512 (93.09)	489 (88.91)	15.479	0.001
	Absolute authority type	21 (3.82)	15 (2.73)
	Spoiling type	17 (3.09)	44 (8.00)
	Neglect indifference type	0 (0.00)	2 (0.36)
Coping styles of children's negative emotions	Encourage expression	527 (98.82)	525 (95.45)	0.158	0.954
	Neglect	11 (2.00)	11 (2.00)
	Punish	12 (2.18)	14 (2.55)
Scale filled by	Father	103 (18.73)	122 (22.18)	2.017	0.156
	Mother	447 (81.27)	428 (77.82)
SDQ score (mean ± SD, score)		44.09 ± 3.94	44.78 ± 4.38	2.747	0.006
PSI-SF score (mean ± SD, score)
PD total score		25.19 ± 8.69	30.05 ± 10.49	0.131	0.896
P-CDI total		16.49 ± 4.18	19.49 ± 7.23	8.043	0.000
DC total		19.63 ± 6.43	23.28 ± 8.37	8.110	0.000
Aggregate score		61.31 ± 14.96	72.82 ± 21.21	10.400	0.000

SDQ: Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire; PSI-SF: Parenting Stress Index-Short Form; PD: Parenting distress; P-CDI: Parent-child dysfunctional interaction; DC: Difficult children.