Published online Jul 26, 2024. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v12.i21.4642
Revised: May 24, 2024
Accepted: June 7, 2024
Published online: July 26, 2024
Processing time: 68 Days and 20.4 Hours
Studies have revealed that Children's psychological, behavioral, and emotional problems are easily influenced by the family environment. In recent years, the family structure in China has undergone significant changes, with more families having two or three children.
To explore the relationship between emotional behavior and parental job stress in only preschool and non-only preschool children.
Children aged 3-6 in kindergartens in four main urban areas of Shijiazhuang were selected by stratified sampling for a questionnaire and divided into only and non-only child groups. Their emotional behaviors and parental pressure were compared. Only and non-only children were paired in a 1:1 ratio by class and age (difference less than or equal to 6 months), and the matched data were compared. The relationship between children's emotional behavior and parents' job stress before and after matching was analyzed.
Before matching, the mother's occupation, children's personality characteristics, and children's rearing patterns differed between the groups (P < 0.05). After matching 550 pairs, differences in the children's parenting styles remained. There were significant differences in children's gender and parents' attitudes toward children between the two groups. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) scores of children in the only child group and the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (PSI-SF) scores of parents were significantly lower than those in the non-only child group (P < 0.05). Pearson’s correlation analysis showed that after matching, there was a positive correlation between children's parenting style and parents' attitudes toward their children (r = 0.096, P < 0.01), and the PSI-SF score was positively correlated with children's gender, parents' attitudes toward their children, and SDQ scores (r = 0.077, 0.193, 0.172, 0.222).
Preschool children's emotional behavior and parental pressure were significantly higher in multi-child families. Parental pressure in differently structured families was associated with many factors, and preschool children's emotional behavior was positively correlated with parental pressure.
Core Tip: Children's psychological, behavioral, and emotional problems are easily influenced by the family environment. However, most studies have not clearly indicated whether there is a strong influence mechanism between children's behavioral and emotional problems and parents' educational methods. In recent years, with the emergence of second and third children, the family structure of only children in the past few decades has been changed. In this study, we extracted relevant data from 1314 families to further understand the relationship between emotional behavior of children from only child or non only child families and parental work pressure, providing scientific basis for optimizing children's education and family relationships.