What is it about?
When children act out (externalizing behaviors like aggression/disruptive behaviours) or withdraw (internalizing behaviors like anxiety), how do parents explain what's causing it? We interviewed 16 Malaysian mothers about what they think causes difficult behaviors in young children. We found that their explanations were deeply shaped by religious and spiritual beliefs - perspectives that weren't captured in existing research tools developed primarily with Western families. This matters because how parents understand the why behind challenging behaviors influences how they respond. If we want to develop effective early intervention and prevention programs, we need to understand parents' cultural frameworks rather than assuming all parents think about child behavior in the same way.
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Perspectives
There's no one-size-fits-all explanation for children's behaviors across cultures, and we need culturally sensitive approaches that respect diverse belief systems.
Jean Anne Heng
University of Cambridge
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Examining Malaysian mothers' causal attributions of maladaptive externalizing and internalizing behaviors in young children, Family Relations, June 2024, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1111/fare.13050.
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