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

Table 1 Comparison of two groups of general data before matching, n (%)

General information		Only child group (n = 691)	Non-only group (n = 623)	χ2/t	P value
Age (mean ± SD, years)		4.23 ± 1.12	4.22 ± 1.11	0.162	0.871
Child sex	Man	207 (29.96)	179 (28.73)	0.237	0.627
	Woman	484 (70.04)	444 (71.27)
Parity	1 time	273 (39.51)	234 (37.56)	0.698	0.706
	2 time	401 (58.03)	376 (60.35)
	More than 3	16 (2.32)	13 (2.09)
Mother age (mean ± SD, years)		36.95 ± 5.17	37.11 ± 5.02	0.568	0.570
Father's age (mean ± SD, years)		35.86 ± 4.61	36.21 ± 4.45	1.397	0.163
Motherhood occupation	Civil servants; teacher	115 (16.64)	118 (18.94)	12.790	0.025
	Technology; finance; financial worker	110 (15.91)	76 (12.20)
	Freelancer; individual operator	91 (13.17)	115 (18.46)
	Workers; employees of industrial and commercial enterprises	111 (16.06)	107 (17.17)
	Unemployed person	34 (4.92)	30 (4.82)
	Other	230 (33.29)	177 (28.41)
Father's occupation	Civil servants; teacher	141 (20.41)	141 (22.63)	5.787	0.328
	Technology; finance; financial worker	94 (13.60)	63 (10.11)
	Freelancer; individual operator	143 (20.69)	145 (23.27)
	Workers; employees of industrial and commercial enterprises	122 (17.66)	106 (17.01)
	Unemployed person	11 (1.59)	13 (2.09)
	Other	180 (26.05)	155 (24.88)
Mother education	Junior high school and below	19 (2.75)	18 (2.89)	5.590	0.232
	High school or technical secondary school	69 (9.99)	72 (11.56)
	Universities and colleges	219 (31.69)	164 (26.32)
	Undergraduate course	312 (45.15)	309 (49.60)
	Master degree or above	72 (10.85)	60 (9.63)
Father's education	Junior high school and below	19 (2.75)	15 (2.41)	4.729	0.316
	High school or technical secondary school	75 (10.85)	88 (14.13)
	Universities and colleges	227 (32.85)	201 (32.26)
	Undergraduate course	312 (45.15)	279 (44.78)
	Master degree or above	58 (8.39)	40 (6.42)
Family type	Nuclear family (parents and children)	390 (56.44)	340 (49.06)	1.862	0.602
	Single parent	10 (1.45)	9 (1.30)
	Of three generations under one roof	281 (40.67)	259 (37.37)
	Other	10 (1.45)	15 (2.16)
Main caregivers	Mother	494 (71.49)	479 (76.89)	5.141	0.162
	Father	47 (6.80)	33 (5.30)
	Grandparents or grandparents	147 (21.27)	108 (17.34)
	Housemaid	3 (0.43)	3 (0.48)
Parents' attitude towards children's discipline	Highly consistent	173 (25.04)	165 (23.81)	0.642	0.726
	Basically the same	503 (72.79)	442 (63.78)
	Basically different	15 (2.17)	16 (2.31)
The attitude of the elderly and parents towards children's discipline	Highly consistent	22 (3.18)	18 (2.60)	1.468	0.480
	Basically the same	279 (40.38)	272 (39.25)
	Basically different	390 (56.44)	333 (48.05)
Proportion of children's expenses	One fifth or less	158 (22.87)	150 (21.65)	5.982	0.113
	One quarter	242 (35.02)	202 (29.15)
	One third	193 (27.93)	203 (29.29)
	A half	98 (14.18)	68 (9.81)
Family atmosphere	Very harmonious	297 (42.98)	305 (48.96)	8.063	0.089
	Good	294 (42.55)	250 (40.13)
	Common	97 (14.04)	66 (10.59)
	Bad	3 (0.43)	1 (0.16)
	Very bad	0 (0.00)	1 (0.16)
Conjugal relation	Harmonious	594 (85.96)	550 (79.37)	1.645	0.439
	Common	80 (11.58)	60 (8.66)
	Other circumstances (such as single parent/separation, etc.)	17 (2.46)	13 (1.88)
Children's personality characteristics	Extroverted	228 (33.00)	258 (37.23)	11.366	0.003
	Middle	387 (56.03)	316 (45.60)
	Introverted	76 (11.00)	49 (7.07)
Child rearing practices	Absolute authority type	621 (89.87)	558 (89.57)	12.386	0.006
	Spoiling type	36 (5.20)	15 (2.40)
	Neglect indifference type	31 (4.49)	48 (7.70)
	Absolute authority type	3 (0.43)	2 (0.32)
Coping styles of children's negative emotions	Encourage expression	655 (94.79)	597 (86.15)	1.042	0.594
	Neglect	19 (2.75)	12 (1.73)
	Punish	17 (2.46)	14 (2.02)
Questionnaire filled by	Father	138 (19.97)	134 (19.34)	0.472	0.492
	Mother	553 (80.03)	489 (70.56)
SDQ score (mean ± SD, score)		44.44 ± 4.52	44.63 ± 4.34	0.775	0.438
PSI-SF score (mean ± SD, score)
PD total score		28.51 ± 10.78	28.14 ± 11.19	0.610	0.542
P-CDI total		19.41 ± 7.88	18.73 ± 7.11	1.636	0.102
DC total		22.80 ± 9.80	22.14 ± 8.48	1.299	0.194
Aggregate score		70.72 ± 24.18	69.00 ± 22.53	1.330	0.184

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

Table 3 correlation analysis between difference indexes before matching

Index	Mother's occupation		Children's character traits
	Correlation	P value	Correlation	P value
Mother's occupation	-	-	-	-
Children's character traits	-0.010	0.713	-	-
Child rearing pattern	0.016	0.562	0.040	0.146

Table 4 correlation analysis between difference indexes after matching

Index	Child gender	Parents' attitude towards their children	Child rearing pattern	SDQ score
Child gender	-	-	-	-
Parents' attitude towards their children	0.004	-	-	-
Child rearing pattern	0.043	0.0962	-	-
SDQ score	-0.010	-0.048	0.041	-
PSI-SF score	0.0771	0.1931	0.1721	0.2221

¹The correlation was significant when the confidence level (double tests) was 0.05.

²Correlation was significant at a confidence (double test) of 0.01. SDQ: Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire; PSI-SF: Parenting Stress Index-Short Form.