The results suggest that children's perceptions of parental child-rearing behavior are related to their tendencies to be dogmatic in their beliefs, and apparently perceptions of parents as loving has reinforcing properties for the child that may lead to the uncritical acceptance of the belief system of the parents.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the birth order differences in perception of parental child-rearing practices in one-and two-sibling families. The two-sibling families were separated into all the possible sex permutations (male-male, female-female, male-female, female-male) to assess the influence of sex of sibling in viewing the parents' child-rearing practices.

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between child-oriented parental attitudes and resulting child behavior.

Hypothesized in this study are the following: (1) that there are significant general differences between the childrearing attitudes of disadvantaged Chicano and Black mothers, (2) that their respective attitudes significantly vary on particular subtests of maternal attitude, and (3) that demographic variables, such as age, number of marriages, nativemigrant status, and level of education will affect significant differences in response on a number of specified attitudinal subtests.

PhD (African Studies) / Department of African Studies / This study explored Nyaluso ya vhana, the traditional child rearing practices in Vhavenḓa families. Child rearing practices are associated with culture, norms and beliefs of a group. However, due to modernisation and globalisation, community and family are concerned that child rearing influences are no longer closely connected to traditional practices, which poses a societal challenge. Furthermore, the positive aspects of traditional child rearing practices were never circulated. As a result, it appears to have no place in the contemporary child rearing practices. The purpose of this study was to explore the traditional child rearing practices in Vhavenḓa families. The intention was to establish if there are areas of traditional practices that were useful, and that should be promoted. A qualitative research design was used. Data collection was through one-on-one interviews with 16 participants. Results show that traditional Vhavenḓa child rearing practices entail the following: i). role modelling good behaviour, ii). Respect as an important ingredient of role modelling, iii). Perseverance as a virtue that was inculcated in children through various ways, iv). Participation in household chores, v). Taking a village to raise a child, vi). Traditional leaders helping the community in fostering culture and traditional child-rearing practices, and vii). Rituals and taboos as backbones in traditional child rearing practices. It was believed that the deliberate guidance and discipline-oriented practices, contributed to the positive child development and healthy citizenship. This study provided insights in the positive aspects of traditional Vhavenḓa child rearing practices. / NRF

Early childhood malnutrition is a global public health problem with serious short- and long-term consequences. The aim of this thesis is to evaluate the effects of psychosocial stimulation (PS) with or without food supplementation (FS) on growth and development of severely malnourished children, quality of home environment, mother’s child-rearing practices and depressive symptoms. The study setting was Dhaka, Bangladesh, and the participants were severely malnourished children, aged 6-24 months, admitted at Dhaka Hospital of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B). A hospital-based study was conducted in Nutrition Rehabilitation Unit of ICDDR,B hospital, where a control group (n=43) was studied initially, followed by an intervention group (n=54). All received standard nutrition rehabilitation care. The intervention group received daily group meetings and play sessions in the hospital, and was thereafter visited at home for 6 months. A community-based randomised trial was conducted including children (n=507) admitted at hospital for initial treatment of an acute infection, and thereafter assigned to PS, FS, PS+FS, clinic control or hospital control groups. PS was delivered at follow-up visits, fortnightly for 6 months at community clinics. FS included distribution of cereal-based food packets (150–300 kcal/day depending on age) for 3 months. All groups received standard medical care and micronutrient supplementation. In the hospital-based study, the intervention group had significantly higher scores in mental (p<0.001, effect size 0.52 SD) and motor development (p=0.047, effect size 0.37 SD), and weight (p=0.03, effect size 0.39 SD), after 6- months intervention. In the community-based trial, there was a significant effect of stimulation after six months of intervention on children’s mental development (group*session interaction p=0.037, effect size=0.37 SD) and weight (group*session interaction p=0.02, effect size=0.26 SD) but no effect on motor development or linear growth. The PS+FS and PS groups differed in total HOME score, two HOME subscales (maternal involvement and play materials), and in mother’s child- rearing practices scores but not in depressive symptoms. PS with or without FS had small improvement on children’s growth and development, quality of home environment and mother’s rearing-practices of severely malnourished children. More intensive interventions with longer duration are therefore recommended.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between perceived child rear ing practices and the moral character or pro-social behavior of students in their late teens and early twenties. A questionnaire was administered to forty - eight students to test their moral character which was the dependent variable on the following traits : ambitious , broadminded , capable , cheerful , clean , courageous , forgiving , helpful , honest , imaginative , independent , intellectual , logical, loving , obedient , polite, responsible and self- controlled. The child rearing practices used by the mothers and fathers were also tested as the independent predictor variables according to the following terms : autonomy , coercion, companionship , guilt , inconsistency, love withdrawal, over protection, physical affection, positive reasoning , and support . A similar questionnaire was also sent to the parents of these students as king the mother and father to rate their student ' s moral character and also how they fee l they raised their son or daughter. The results indicate fathers influence their daughter ' s moral character as much as do mothers. However , using the above moral character variables and child rearing practices variables , fathers only slightly influence their sons and mothers have no significant influence over their sons. Parental child rearing techniques influencing the females the most are : low amounts of physical affection and autonomy from both parents, low amounts of support from the mother , and low amounts of guilt from the father . Also, high amounts of companionship and inconsistency from both parents are strong influences on moral character high ratings. Those child rearing techniques promoting high moral character in males are low amounts of over protection and high amounts of love withdrawal from fathers. It also appears the way children perceive their parents rearing them is in most cases not the way parents feel they raised their children. Also , the way children view their own character traits is not the same way the parents view it in most cases .

This study examined the relationship between child rearing practices and ethnic identity in interracial and Yoruba children in Nigeria. An in-depth study of 20 interracial and 20 Yoruba families was conducted. Three methods of measuring ethnic identity (a doll choice technique, Draw-A-Person and 'Tell me about yourself') were administered to 20 interracial and 20 Yoruba children (aged 6-9 years) in the home environment. A questionnaire was administered to the mother in each family to measure the extent of use of 'elite' Yoruba child rearing practices. A separate questionnaire was'also administered to fathers. The mothers' questionnaire responses were correlated with the children's test-results. The doll choice technique and Draw-A-Person were found to be more successful than 'Tell me about yourself'. However, an additional 'food preference' measure was extracted from 'Tell me about yourself'. The results indicated that Yoruba children showed a stronger Yoruba identity than interracial children and that the majority of children in both groups showed correct owngroup identification. As expected, Yoruba mothers were found to use more Yoruba child rearing, practices than interracial mothers. A significant relationship between child rearing practices and ethnic identity was found in the interracial group but not in the Yoruba group. Correlations between doll play, Draw-A-Person and the food preference measure were generally low. Race of experimenter (white and Yoruba) did not affect children's test results. Results were interpreted within a family interactions framework and with considerations given to the social and cultural background of the subjects. It was suggested that socialization may be important for the development of ethnic identity in the 'minority' interracial children but not in the 'majority' Yoruba children. The implications of this finding for interracial children in other societies and for other ethnic minority groups was discussed.

This study examined the relationship between child rearing practices and ethnic identity in interracial and Yoruba children in Nigeria. An in-depth study of 20 interracial and 20 Yoruba families was conducted. Three methods of measuring ethnic identity (a doll choice technique, Draw-A-Person and 'Tell me about yourself') were administered to 20 interracial and 20 Yoruba children (aged 6-9 years) in the home environment. A questionnaire was administered to the mother in each family to measure the extent of use of 'elite' Yoruba child rearing practices. A separate questionnaire was'also administered to fathers. The mothers' questionnaire responses were correlated with the children's test-results. The doll choice technique and Draw-A-Person were found to be more successful than 'Tell me about yourself'. However, an additional 'food preference' measure was extracted from 'Tell me about yourself'. The results indicated that Yoruba children showed a stronger Yoruba identity than interracial children and that the majority of children in both groups showed correct owngroup identification. As expected, Yoruba mothers were found to use more Yoruba child rearing, practices than interracial mothers. A significant relationship between child rearing practices and ethnic identity was found in the interracial group but not in the Yoruba group. Correlations between doll play, Draw-A-Person and the food preference measure were generally low. Race of experimenter (white and Yoruba) did not affect children's test results. Results were interpreted within a family interactions framework and with considerations given to the social and cultural background of the subjects. It was suggested that socialization may be important for the development of ethnic identity in the 'minority' interracial children but not in the 'majority' Yoruba children. The implications of this finding for interracial children in other societies and for other ethnic minority groups was discussed.

O presente estudo teve como objetivo examinar eventuais diferenças das práticas educativas parentais com relação a filhos únicos e primogênitos de famílias com dois filhos. Participaram do estudo 22 famílias, das quais 12 com filhos únicos e 10 com dois filhos. As famílias foram emparelhadas conforme o nível sócio-econômico e pela idade e sexo dos filhos únicos e primogênitos. A idade dos filhos únicos variou entre 4,6 e 6,1 anos (M=5,5; dp=0,51) e a dos primogênitos entre 4,3 e 6,3 anos (M=5,1; dp=0,78). As mães e pais dos dois grupos responderam a uma entrevista sobre práticas educativas parentais. As entrevistas foram submetidas à análise de conteúdo. Contrariando a hipótese inicial do estudo, o teste do qui-quadrado somente revelou diferença marginalmente significativa nas práticas de mães e pais com relação ao filho único. De maneira geral, verificou-se semelhança nas práticas educativas entre mães e pais em ambos os grupos de famílias. Os resultados são discutidos à luz da literatura, com vistas a entender os fatores que podem estar contribuindo para explicar as semelhanças das práticas educativas utilizadas para filhos únicos e primogênitos. / The aim of this study was to examine eventual differences in parental child-rearing practices related to only child and first born of two children families. Twenty two families participated in this study, 12 only-child families and 10 two-children families. Families were matched according to socioeconomic level, age and sex of only child and first born. Only children’s age ranged from 4,6 to 6,1 years (M=5,5; sd=0,51) and first borns were aged from 4,3 to 6,3 years (M=5,1; sd=0,78). Mothers and fathers of both groups were interviewed about parental child-rearing practices. Answers were content-analyzed. The hypothesis of the study was not supported. According to chi-square test marginally significant differences were obtained in maternal and paternal child-rearing practices related to only child. Results indicated agreement between mother’s and father’s childrearing practices in both groups. Issues described as determinants of childrearing practices are discussed considering the role of the family in child development.