Chunk #8 — Observed Parenting Behavior with Teens: Measurement Invariance and Predictive Validity Across Race — Rewards and Costs in Parenting Behaviors
Psychological costs include parent responses to child behavior that are critical, highly controlling, and hostile. Some studies have linked psychological costs to increased problem behaviors in both African American and European American children (McLoyd & Smith, 2002; Whiteside-Mansell, Bradley, Tresch Owen, Randolph, & Cauce, 2003). In Whiteside-Mansell and colleagues’ (2003) rare observational study of parenting in African American and European American mothers of 36-month-old children, findings supported measurement equivalence across race, and psychological costs were positively linked to behavior problems in both groups of preschoolers. The inclusion of psychological costs as a target in prevention programs for African American families is somewhat controversial. One study found physical discipline was related to antisocial behavior for European American children, but not for African American children (Deater-Deckard, Dodge, Bates, & Pettit, 1996). Some research suggests that African American parents tend to use more psychological costs than European Americans (C. R. Bradley, 1998; Pinderhughes, Dodge, Bates, Pettit, & Zelli, 2000). Other studies have demonstrated no mean differences across race (Hill & Bush, 2001; Whiteside-Mansell, Bradley, Tresch Owen, Randolph, & Cauce, 2003) or that differences may be explained by income (R. H. Bradley, Corwyn, Burchinal, McAdoo, & García Coll, 2001).
