The mediating role of self-regulation on the relationship between parenting styles and problem behaviors among preschoolers

This study aims to determine the mediating role of self-regulation in the relationship between parenting styles and problem behaviors among preschoolers. To do this, the direct relationships between the mediating variable (self-regulation), the predicting variable (parenting styles) and the outcome variable (problem behaviors) were established first using the SPSS 21 program, and finally, the mediation model was tested using the PROCESS macro software (Hayes, 2012). Nine hundred ninety-four mothers of preschoolers aged between 36 and 77 months (M=60.42, SD=12.6) participated in this study. Demographic Information Form, Parenting styles scale (Demir & Şendil, 2008), Turkish form of Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation Scale (Lafreinere and Dumas, 1996) that is translated by Çorapçı et al. (2010), Self-Regulation Skills Scale for Children Aged 4-6 Years (Erol & İvrendi, 2018), Emotion regulation subscale from the Turkish adaptation of the Emotion Regulation Scale (Shields and Cicchetti, 1997) translated by Batum and Yağmurlu (2007), and being overactive and careless subscale of The Preschool Behavior Problems Screening Scale (Kanlıkılıçer, 2005) were used in the online forms. This study found that self-regulation played a partial mediating role in the relationship between authoritarian parenting styles and problem behaviors and a fully mediating role in the relationship between authoritative parenting style and problem behaviors among preschoolers.