The Influence of Parental Child-Rearing Practices on Aggressive Behavior in Preschool Children

Abstract

The period from 3 to 6 years old is a crucial time for the social development of preschool children. At this stage, aggressive behavior can easily lead to difficulties in peer interaction and poor adaptability to school, and may also lay the foundation for subsequent antisocial behavior. However, existing studies have not fully explored the age differences in children‘s aggressive behaviors, nor have they systematically investigated the influence of the unique parenting characteristics of Chinese parents. This study takes this group of people as the research object to explore the influence of parents‘ parenting styles on children‘s aggressive behaviors and their underlying mechanisms. This paper adopts a systematic approach first to define the relationship between parenting styles and aggressive behaviors, and then analyzes the connections and mediating pathways between them. The results show that negative parenting styles increase the risk of aggression and potentially create a vicious cycle. Positive parenting, like authoritative parenting, can reduce aggression, with emotional dysregulation and self-control being key mediators. In addition, as children age, aggression changes from physical aggression to verbal and relational aggression. Based on these findings, a 3D intervention framework including emotional support, rule-making, and skill-building was constructed to reduce the occurrence of aggressive behavior. This approach aims to deepen the understanding of the localization mechanism and provides evidence-based parenting strategies for the Chinese family.