Maternal encouragement of modest behavior, temperamental shyness, and anxious withdrawal linkages to Chinese American children\u27s social adjustment: A moderated mediation analysis

© 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Past studies have revealed potential differences in the functional meaning and social evaluation of children\u27s temperamental shyness between Chinese interdependence-oriented and North American independence-oriented cultural contexts. However, very little is known about shy Chinese American children\u27s adjustment in Western school contexts and potential pathways underlying their adjustment. To address this gap in the literature, we examined the associations between Chinese American children\u27s temperamental shyness and their social adjustment outcomes, including peer exclusion, prosocial behavior, and assertiveness/leadership skills. In addition, the mediating role of children\u27s display of anxious-withdrawn behavior and the moderating role of first-generation Chinese immigrant mothers’ encouragement of modesty in their parenting practices as applied to associations between temperamental shyness and social adjustment outcomes were explored. Path analyses indicated that the impact of Chinese American children\u27s temperamental shyness on their socioemotional adjustment was mediated by their display of anxious-withdrawn behavior in school. However, when Chinese immigrant mothers encouraged their children to be more modest, children\u27s temperamental shyness was less strongly related to negative social adjustment outcomes through diminished anxious-withdrawn behavior. These results highlighted the importance of culturally emphasized parenting practices in fostering Chinese American children\u27s adjustment in the United States