Parenting has a strong influence on child development. However, there is minimal empirical evidence on why some parents use beneficial techniques, while others use harmful behaviours. Thus, there is a significant gap in the knowledge needed to address problematic parenting. Theories suggest that parental self-concept has a large influence on parenting behaviours. The aim of this study was to examine the relation between parent self-cognitions and parenting behaviours. One-hundred and four mothers of Grade 7 students completed questionnaires measuring their self-esteem, self-criticism, domain-specific self-concept, and parenting behaviours (support, behavioural control, and psychological control). Regression analyses demonstrated that self-cognitions largely predicted psychological control but support or behavioural control did not. These findings suggest that psychologically controlling behaviour in parents may be due to poor self-worth. With psychological control known to deeply damage children, these findings have major implications for interventions targeting harmful parenting.

中文翻译：

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什么影响育儿行为？父母自我概念的作用

育儿对孩子的发展有很大的影响。然而，关于为什么一些父母使用有益的技术，而其他人使用有害的行为，几乎没有经验证据。因此，解决育儿问题所需的知识存在很大差距。理论表明，父母的自我概念对养育行为有很大的影响。本研究旨在探讨父母自我认知与养育行为之间的关系。104 名 7 年级学生的母亲完成了问卷调查，测量她们的自尊、自我批评、特定领域的自我概念和养育行为（支持、行为控制和心理控制）。回归分析表明，自我认知在很大程度上预测了心理控制，但支持或行为控制却没有。这些发现表明，父母的心理控制行为可能是由于自我价值低下。众所周知，心理控制会对儿童造成严重伤害，这些发现对针对有害育儿的干预措施具有重大意义。