IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/asieco/v92y2024ics1049007824000319.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The effect of paternal parenting behaviors on children development in western rural China

Author

Listed:
  • Yue, Ai
  • Zhang, Yali
  • Zhao, Shuhang
  • Liang, Shibin
  • Ru, Tong
  • Qiao, Na
  • Shi, Yaojiang

Abstract

Despite the crucial role of fathers’ parenting activities in early child development and the increasing global attention to fathers’ parenting behaviors, these is a paucity of knowledge regarding paternal parenting in rural China. Using a rich dataset of 1145 infants from rural China, we described the prevalent paternal parenting behaviors in the sample area and explored the correlations between fathers’ parenting behaviors and children’s cognitive outcome and socio-emotional development. To assess children’s cognitive development, we utilized various scales based on their development stages: the Bayley Scales of Infant Development-Third Edition (BSID-III) for ages 6–24 months and the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-Fourth Edition (WPPSI-IV) for ages 52–85 months. Our overall findings revealed positive correlations between paternal behaviors and developmental outcomes of sampled children, including cognitive skills and social-emotional development. Fathers’ parenting behaviors in rural China are insufficient and need to be improved. Specifically, less than a quarter of fathers reported engaging in activities such as telling stories using picture books, singing songs, or playing with toys with their children in the past three days. Based on our findings, we recommend that local government provide additional parenting instructions to heighten fathers’ awareness and participation in parenting activities, especially in rural low-income areas. Additionally, creating more employment opportunities in their hometowns for fathers with young children could substantially benefit these children.

Suggested Citation

  • Yue, Ai & Zhang, Yali & Zhao, Shuhang & Liang, Shibin & Ru, Tong & Qiao, Na & Shi, Yaojiang, 2024. "The effect of paternal parenting behaviors on children development in western rural China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:asieco:v:92:y:2024:i:c:s1049007824000319
    DOI: 10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101736
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1049007824000319
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101736?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Arthur Lewbel, 2012. "Using Heteroscedasticity to Identify and Estimate Mismeasured and Endogenous Regressor Models," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 67-80.
    2. Marianne Bertrand & Jessica Pan, 2013. "The Trouble with Boys: Social Influences and the Gender Gap in Disruptive Behavior," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(1), pages 32-64, January.
    3. Sean Sylvia & Nele Warrinnier & Renfu Luo & Ai Yue & Orazio Attanasio & Alexis Medina & Scott Rozelle, 2021. "From Quantity to Quality: Delivering a Home-Based Parenting Intervention Through China’s Family Planning Cadres," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 131(635), pages 1365-1400.
    4. Liu, Xinghua & Chen, Kevin & Liu, Chengfang & Wang, Zimeiyi & Luo, Renfu, 2021. "Nutrition, Cognition and Social Emotion Among Preschoolers in Poor, Rural Areas of South Central China: Status and Correlates," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315866, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    5. James J. Heckman & Lance J. Lochner & Petra E. Todd, 2008. "Earnings Functions and Rates of Return," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 2(1), pages 1-31.
    6. Daniela Del Boca & Chiara Monfardini & Cheti Nicoletti, 2017. "Parental and Child Time Investments and the Cognitive Development of Adolescents," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 35(2), pages 565-608.
    7. Jorge Cuartas & Joshua Jeong & Catalina Rey-Guerra & Dana Charles McCoy & Hirokazu Yoshikawa, 2020. "Maternal, paternal, and other caregivers’ stimulation in low- and- middle-income countries," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(7), pages 1-15, July.
    8. Carlos Cinelli & Chad Hazlett, 2020. "Making sense of sensitivity: extending omitted variable bias," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series B, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 82(1), pages 39-67, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Briole, Simon & Le Forner, Hélène & Lepinteur, Anthony, 2020. "Children’s socio-emotional skills: Is there a quantity–quality trade-off?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    2. Nguyen, Ha Trong & Brinkman, Sally & Le, Huong Thu & Zubrick, Stephen R. & Mitrou, Francis, 2022. "Gender differences in time allocation contribute to differences in developmental outcomes in children and adolescents," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    3. Hélène Le Forner, 2023. "Parents' Separation: What is the Effect on Parents' and Children's Time Investments?," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 85(4), pages 718-754, August.
    4. Nguyen, Ha Trong & Connelly, Luke & Le, Huong Thu & Mitrou, Francis & Taylor, Catherine L. & Zubrick, Stephen R., 2019. "Sources of ethnicity differences in non-cognitive development in children and adolescents," EconStor Preprints 205801, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    5. Richard J. Murnane, 2013. "U.S. High School Graduation Rates: Patterns and Explanations," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 51(2), pages 370-422, June.
    6. Letizia Mencarini & Silvia Pasqua & Agnese Romiti, 2019. "Single-mother families and the gender gap in children’s time investment and non-cognitive skills," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 149-176, March.
    7. Gloria Moroni & Cheti Nicoletti & Emma Tominey, 2019. "Child Socio-Emotional Skills: The Role of Parental Inputs," Working Papers 2019-038, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    8. Shelly Lundberg, 2020. "Educational gender gaps," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 87(2), pages 416-439, October.
    9. Hou, Xiaohui & Zhao, Jingwen, 2024. "Impact of regulating political connections on employee welfare attitude: Evidence from China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    10. Hélène Le Forner, 2019. "Age At Parents' Separation And Children Achievement: Evidence From France Using A Sibling Approach," AMSE Working Papers 1928, Aix-Marseille School of Economics, France.
    11. Andrew Bibler, 2017. "Household Composition and Gender Difference in Parental Time Investments," Working Papers 2017-01, University of Alaska Anchorage, Department of Economics.
    12. Jürges, Hendrik & Khanam, Rasheda, 2021. "Adolescents’ time allocation and skill production," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    13. Jiang, Hanchen & Yang, Xi, 2019. "Parental Migration, Investment in Children, and Children's Non-cognitive Development: Evidence from Rural China," GLO Discussion Paper Series 395, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    14. Herrmann, Tabea & Hübler, Olaf & Menkhoff, Lukas & Schmidt, Ulrich, 2016. "Allais for the poor," Kiel Working Papers 2036, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    15. Sènakpon Fidèle A. Dedehouanou & Luca Tiberti & Hilaire G. Houeninvo & Djohodo Inès Monwanou, 2019. "Working while studying: Employment premium or penalty for youth in Benin?," Working Papers PMMA 2019-03, PEP-PMMA.
    16. Daniel I. Tannenbaum, 2020. "The Effect of Child Support on Selection into Marriage and Fertility," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 38(2), pages 611-652.
    17. Do, Manh Hung & Nguyen, Trung Thanh & Grote, Ulrike, 2023. "Land consolidation, rice production, and agricultural transformation: Evidence from household panel data for Vietnam," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 157-173.
    18. Konon, Alexander & Fritsch, Michael & Kritikos, Alexander S., 2018. "Business cycles and start-ups across industries: An empirical analysis of German regions," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 742-761.
    19. Arsène Aurelien NJAMEN KENGDO & Luc NEMBOT NDEFFO & Désiré AVOM, 2020. "The Effect of Foreign Debt on Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan African Sub-Regions," Economics and Applied Informatics, "Dunarea de Jos" University of Galati, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, issue 1, pages 109-114.
    20. Leon Zolotoy & Don O’Sullivan & Keke Song, 2021. "The Role of Ethical Standards in the Relationship Between Religious Social Norms and M&A Announcement Returns," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 170(4), pages 721-742, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:asieco:v:92:y:2024:i:c:s1049007824000319. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/asieco .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.