A MIXED METHOD APPROACH TO INVESTIGATE THE ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN SAUDI PARENTING BEHAVIORS AND THEIR PRESCHOOLERS’ SELF-REGULA TION

Abstract

Limited research exists that examines Saudi mothers’ parenting behaviors and how these behaviors associate with young children’s self-regulation skills. Moreover, there are limited research tools to assess parenting behaviors for Saudi mothers. To address these gaps, a mixed method convergent design study was used to explore relations between Saudi maternal parenting and their preschool children’s self- regulation skills through different maternal, child, and cultural factors. A total of 106 mothers and their preschool children participated. Drawing upon the Belsky model as a theoretical framework, the associations among mothers self-reported emotion regulation, cultural values, and self-reported parenting styles and behaviors, children’s negative emotionality, and children’s low self-regulation were examined. Semi- structured interviews were also used to assess mothers’ cultural values and parenting through open-ended questions. Using both quantitative and qualitative data collection approaches was intended to provide a more comprehensive understanding of Saudi mothers’ parenting styles and cultural values to enhance the validity of the study results. Several findings should be highlighted: (1) collectivistic cultural values were significantly and negatively associated with authoritative parenting; (2) mothers’ higher parenting stress was significantly and negatively associated with authoritative parenting; (3) mothers’ higher cognitive reappraisal was significantly associated with authoritative parenting; (4) mothers’ higher authoritative parenting was negatively associated with children’s low self-regulation skills, whereas higher authoritarian parenting was positively associated with children’s low self-regulation skills; (5) in path analysis, mothers’ emotional cognitive reappraisal was indirectly and negatively related to child low self-regulation through the composite of parental behaviors; (6) there was no moderation effect of the child negative emotionality on the association between the composite of parental behaviors and child self-regulation. Twenty-five of these mothers participated in the semi-structured interview, and their responses highlighted several unique themes representing Saudi mothers' cultural values and parenting. Also, the integration of the quantitative and qualitative data showed convergence for parenting styles and cultural values.