The expectancy-value theory states that parents' beliefs about education influence their behaviors, which in turn shape children's perceptions and beliefs and subsequently, academic outcomes. Therefore, this study aimed to qualitatively examine maternal beliefs about factors related to academic achievement. It also explored whether these beliefs varied based on the children's sex and school level.

Data were drawn from a nationwide study conducted in Türkiye, involving the mothers of 5,841 children (M= 38.31, SD = 5.76) from grades 1 through 11 (e.g., 2266 primary schoolers in grades 1-4, 2099 middle schoolers in grades 5-8, and 1476 high schoolers in grades 9-11). Mothers responded to an open-ended question (e.g., “What factors do you think are important for children to succeed in school?”), either online or in person at their child’s school. Before coding, the primary researcher identified some main themes and sub-themes by reviewing the mothers' answers. Mothers’ responses were thematically categorized within these themes by three researchers using the MAXQDA program. Researchers identified 22 main themes and 65 sub-themes at the end of codings. For a subset of 1,250 responses, intercoder reliability ranged from .57 to .62, based on at least 90% segment overlap, which was considered acceptable due to the complexity and volume of responses. Discrepancies were discussed and resolved before each coder individually coded some part of the responses.

Mothers predominantly reported child, school, and family-related themes. Child-related themes included motivation, studying, and the child's characteristics such as self-discipline and self-confidence. Family support, care, and love were reported as family-related themes. Teacher, classroom environment, and school were school-related themes. Mothers of primary schoolers emphasized teacher and family-related themes more than others, while those of high schoolers highlighted self-discipline, school discipline, and future goals. Mothers of boys more often mentioned motivation and teacher care than those of girls.

Interparental conflict and negative parenting behaviors are two prominent risk factors for a developing child. Although extensive research has documented that familial influences mostly spill over from parents to children, the extent to which child characteristics shape family processes remains an open question.

The present study examines the extent to which child characteristics—trait anxiety and negative emotionality—play a role in the association between parental conflict and negative parenting. Taking advantage of having child-, mother-, and father-reported measures on study variables, this study applies a Multiple Indicators Multiple Causes (MIMIC) model to a cross-sectional dataset (N=1931; mean child age=10.16) to examine how child-reported anxiety and mother-reported emotionality relate to the covarying association between marital conflict and parenting. We compared three nested structural equation models for each selected child characteristic; (1) a null model (no child effect on observed indicators and latent constructs), (2) a saturated model (child effect on observed indicators, not on latent constructs), and (3) an invariant model (child effect on latent constructs, not on observed indicators).

Results supported the saturated model for children’s trait anxiety; it is likely to confound their perceptions of conflict (child-reported marital conflict; β=.145, p=.000) and harsh parenting (β=.172, p=.000 for maternal; β=.154, p=.000 for paternal) than with parent-reported measures. For negative emotionality, the invariant model fitted the data better; children’s higher negative emotionality significantly contributed to adverse family climate through increasing interparental conflict (β=.125, p=.001) and harsh parenting (β=.138, p=.000).

The findings suggest that trait anxiety appears to have a selective effect in shaping children’s perceptions of the quality of the family climate, while child temperament shows a more systemic influence by exacerbating overall parental influences. These findings support the transactional nature of family relations, underscoring the significant role of child characteristics in contributing to family processes.

Background. Parenting self-efficacy enables parents to adopt adaptive parenting practices that significantly enhance their children's well-being and health. Parenting programs therefore generally strive to increase parenting self-efficacy. While parenting programs might indeed benefit parents who initially doubt their ability to parent effectively, is there a risk that they could potentially harm those already confident about their parenting abilities?

Objective. We aim to examine (i) the overall impact of parenting programs on parenting self-efficacy and (ii) how parenting programs differentially benefit, or potentially harm, parents with varying initial levels of self-efficacy.

Methods. We will use individual participant data from 1,493 families participating in 14 European randomized controlled trials of parenting programs (study preregistration: PROSPERO CRD42022262594). These programs were based on social learning theory and aimed to reduce child disruptive behavior. We will conduct a one-stage individual participant data meta-analysis of (1) the effect of parenting programs on parenting self-efficacy and (2) baseline parenting self-efficacy as a continuous moderator of this effect. First, we will harmonize self-efficacy estimates for each trial and then multiply impute within each trial for 10 imputations, using fully conditional specifications and predictive mean matching. Then, we will estimate the interaction in a one-stage random effects meta-analysis model, considering a range of polynomial solutions and using trial-stratified intercepts and main treatment effects.

Results. Basic data harmonization is complete for all trials. We are currently harmonizing data on parenting self-efficacy. Analyses will be completed in April 2025.

Conclusions and significance. This study is the first to consider how varying initial levels of self-efficacy influence how much parents benefit from parenting programs. We will discuss our findings relative to study quality and recommendations for programs to maximize benefits and avoid potential harms.

The present study investigates the role of relationships with mothers-in-law in predicting parenting behaviors among mothers with young children within the relational culture of Türkiye. In Turkish families, mothers-in-law maintain close relationships with their married children and provide active support, mainly for childcare, which often has consequential effects on marital and parenting dynamics. While their support can be beneficial, intrusive behaviors may contribute to marital discord and negative parenting practices. Based on the spillover hypothesis, we proposed that in-law harmony would predict parenting behaviors by impacting mothers’ parenting competency and marital functioning.

Employing a large sample (N = 2,766), married mothers of young children (aged 0-3), we tested the power of in-law harmony in predicting mothers’ supporting/stimulating parenting behaviors and harsh discipline with two mediational models, one for parenting competency and the other for the marital functioning. The first model yielded that in-law harmony predicted mothers’ supporting/stimulating and harsh parenting behaviors through parenting competence and difficulty. The second model demonstrated that demonstrated that marital dissatisfaction, interparental conflict, and maternal depression mediated the links between in-low harmony and the two parenting behaviors. Findings suggested that disharmonious relationships with mothers-in-law make mothers feel less efficacious in their parenting behaviors and also deteriorate their marital relationships.

These findings highlight the silent role of mothers-in-law in nuclear family dynamics: supportive when relationships are positive but potentially disruptive when intrusive. The study suggests that fostering respectful and non-intrusive relationships with in-laws, particularly mothers-in-law, may enhance marital quality and promote better parenting practices in collectivist cultural contexts.

Mind-mindedness is defined as caregiver’s ability to perceive and respond to mental states, essentially tuning into the emotional and cognitive needs of their children. Research has highlighted a strong relationship between mothers’ mind-related comments and children’s development. This relationship is not immune to today's fast-paced digital advancements that are reshaping parenting through behaviors such as "sharenting" –sharing information about children on social media. Although sharenting is widely recognized, its underlying causes and implications remain underexplored.

This study primarily focuses on the intersection of parental assistance to children's emotion regulation and mind-mindedness, exploring how sharenting influences their relationship. Specifically, it examines whether sharenting serves as an extension of a mother’s attunement to their child’s emotional needs or, conversely, whether it disrupts attunement and contributes to difficulties in emotional regulation. The study aims to provide a deeper understanding of how digital parenting behaviors interact with mind-mindedness and shape children's emotional development.

A G*Power analysis indicated that a minimum of 100 mothers of preschool-aged children (36-60 months) ought to participate in this study. The mothers will be asked to describe their child to assess mind-mindedness, and to complete PACER Questionnaire for measuring their assistance to children’s emotion regulation and a social media use survey. It is hypothesized that attuned maternal comments will be positively associated with parental assistance to children’s emotion regulation. Additionally, the potential explanatory moderation role of sharenting in this relationship will be examined.

Investigating the effects of parenting practices on children’s development is important in the context of the modern world. Although there is extensive research on mind-mindedness and children’s development, to the best of our knowledge, no studies have investigated the role of sharenting in this domain. Since this study is still ongoing, the findings will be discussed later considering their implications for understanding parenting in the digital age.