Abstract

Parents promote character development in many ways: by cultivating a supportive relationship, modeling the strengths they hope to cultivate, and through the ideas they communicate to their children. Given the need for developmentally sensitive assessments of contexts that facilitate character development, this study examined the role of a family civic context by examining associations between psychological needs support, parental modeling, and communication and character across elementary-, middle-, and high school ages. Using a diverse, cross-sectional sample of 2,467 youth ages 9–19, bifactor models were estimated across age groups to examine age differences in associations between parenting practices and character. Psychological needs support and communication predicted global character across age groups. At older ages, parenting practices evidenced greater specificity in promoting character strengths. Results provide insights into the distinct ways parenting strategies are associated with the development of general and specific character strengths and how these associations vary with age.

摘要

父母通过多种方式促进性格发展：培养支持性关系，塑造他们希望培养的优势，以及通过他们与孩子交流的想法。鉴于需要对促进性格发展的环境进行发展敏感的评估，本研究通过检查小学、初中和高中年龄段的心理需求支持、父母榜样、沟通和性格之间的关联来检验家庭公民环境的作用. 使用包含 2,467 名 9-19 岁青年的多样化横断面样本，对不同年龄组的双因子模型进行了估计，以检查育儿实践与性格之间关联的年龄差异。心理需求支持和沟通预测了跨年龄组的全球特征。年纪大了，育儿实践证明在促进性格优势方面具有更大的特异性。结果提供了对育儿策略与一般和特定性格优势发展相关联的不同方式的见解，以及这些关联如何随年龄而变化。