• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
• /
• v.11 no.6
• /
• pp.133-151
• /
• 2015

The aim of this study was to examine how children's self control, mother's addiction to smart devices and parenting behavior influence the way young children used smart devices. Participants were made up of 166 preschoolers and their mothers. Descriptive analysis, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and hierarchical regression analysis were used for statistical analysis. The results were as follows: First, children in their early childhood years used smart devices once or twice a week, for ten to thirty minutes, mainly during weekends. Children in their early childhood stage started to use smart devices before reaching the age of 3, and accessed them through their parents, usually along with their siblings. Parents allowed their children to use smart devices for fun and entertainment, with only 66.3% of them setting rules. Second, the mother's tendency to be immersed in smart devices, overprotection and permission were positively correlated to young children's overusage of smart devices, whereas geniality, encouragement, setting limits, and children's self control were negatively correlated. The study also found that the mother's tendency of being immersed in smart devices was the most influential factor for their children's overusage of smart devices. The value of this study lies in providing practical suggestions for children's smart device usage and parental education programs.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
• /
• v.37 no.5
• /
• pp.33-52
• /
• 2016

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the trajectory of maternal parenting stress during infancy according to the employment status of mothers when each year's depression was controlled and examine the longitudinal effects of parenting stress on affective parenting and socioemotional developmental outcomes for preschoolers. Methods: Using latent growth modeling, the first 4 waves of panel data collected from 2,078 mothers and their babies were analyzed. This nationwide data was provided from the 2008 Panel Study on Korean Children, conducted by the Korea Institute of Child Care and Education. Results: First, maternal parenting stress showed a linear increasing pattern, and there were individual differences in intercept and slope. Second, when each year's maternal depression was controlled, the intercept of parenting stress was lower, but the rate of increase was higher. In multiple group analyses, this increasing pattern of parenting stress was significant only in unemployed mothers. Lastly, the increase of unemployed mothers' parenting stress had direct effects on child emotionality and peer interaction and had an indirect effect on child peer interaction (mediated by affective parenting). Conclusion: The current study verified that the longitudinal effects of increasing parenting stress of unemployed mothers on affective parenting and child socioemotional development when maternal depression level was controlled. These results imply that we need to pay more attention to emotional health and resources of unemployed mothers and provide them with social support as well as employed mothers.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
• /
• v.38 no.2
• /
• pp.37-50
• /
• 2017

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess actor and partner effects of mothers' and fathers' parenting stress and family cohesion and flexibility on warm parenting behavior. Methods: The sample consisted of 1,471 couples from the Panel Study of Korean Children. The sample was drawn from the sixth wave of data collection, including mothers and fathers of children aged 60-66 months. Data were analyzed via actor-partner interdependence models. Results: The findings illustrated that the actor effect of parenting stress on warm parenting behavior was significant in mothers and fathers, but there was no partner effect. They also revealed that actor and partner effects were significant in relation to mothers' and father's parenting stress and family cohesion and flexibility. Moreover, there was an actor effect of family cohesion on warm parenting behavior for mothers and fathers, but its partner effect was significant only in mothers. Finally, the mediating effects of family cohesion and flexibility between parenting stress and warm parenting behavior was verified. Conclusion: The results highlight not only the need for dyadic data analysis for mothers and fathers but also the need to consider in depth the fathers' role in parenting. Additional implications are discussed.

• Human Ecology Research
• /
• v.58 no.1
• /
• pp.1-12
• /
• 2020

This study examined if the effect of family functioning on preschoolers' school readiness can be mediated by mothers' affective parenting and preschoolers' self-regulation in the year before children enter elementary school. This study analyzed the 7^th year data of panel study of Korean children collected by the Korean Institute of Child Care and Education. Statistical analysis included 1,513 pairs of 6-year-old children and mothers. Descriptive statistics analysis, correlation analysis, structural equation modeling, and bootstrapping analysis were conducted using SPSS 22 and Amos 20. The primary findings were as follows. First, the sub-factors of preschoolers' school readiness composed of children's social and emotional development, approach to learning, cognitive development and general knowledge, and communication were positively correlated with family functioning, mothers' affective parenting, and preschoolers' self-regulation. Second, the result of structural equation modeling showed that the indirect paths from family functioning to preschoolers' school readiness through mothers' affective parenting and preschoolers' self-regulation were significant, while the direct path was insignificant. Third, bootstrapping analysis showed that mothers' affective parenting and preschoolers' self-regulation fully mediated the relationship between family functioning and preschoolers' self-regulation. The findings provide the grounds for families and parents with preschool aged children to implement effective support practices to maintain a functional family system that can promote preschoolers' school readiness.