Importance of Parenting in the Development of Self-Control in Boys and Girls: Results From a Multinational Study of Youth

• NCJ Number: 249374
• Journal: Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 43 Issue: 2 Dated: March-April 2015 Pages: 133-141
• Author(s): Ekaterina Botchkovar; Ineke Haen Marshall; Michael Rocque; Chad Posick
• Date Published: April 2015
• Length: 9 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2006-IJ-CX-0045
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Award: A Multi-City Assessment of Juvenile Delinquency in the U.S.: A Continuation and Expansion of the International Self-Report Delinquency Study

Annotation

Using self-report data from a cross-national study of 7th, 8th, and 9th graders (N = 67, 883) in 30 countries, this study assessed the cultural generality of self-control theory and its predictions linking parenting to self-control.

Abstract

The study focused on the relationship between gender and self-control, assessed the contribution of various parenting strategies to the development of self-control in males and females, and gauged the importance of parenting as an explanation for the established gender gap in self-control. Overall, the results suggest that the development of self-control is a complex process likely affected by multiple factors, some of which may be culture-specific. Supporting self-control theory across all country clusters, males demonstrated lower levels of self-control than females. Furthermore, parenting strategies had a modest effect on self-control in both male and female groups in all cultural contexts; however, the statistically significant differences in the parenting of sons and daughters was limited to post-Socialist, Mediterranean, and Western countries; and in these regions, the contribution of gendered parenting to the gender gap in self-control was minimal. OLS regression was used to evaluate these causal links. (Publisher abstract modified)