Historical Dyadic-Level Latent Profiles of Chinese Maternal Parenting and Early Childhood Behavior

Cultural and historical contexts shape parenting practices, yet little is known about their variability in China pior to recent societal changes. This study uses historical data collected from 471 mothers and their preschool children in urban China before the early 21st century to examine parenting patterns and their links to child behavior. We confirmed a multidimensional structure of parenting in this sample. Further, using latent profile analysis (LPA) with the mother–child dyad as the unit of analysis, we identified five profiles based on 11 mother-rated parenting dimensions and six teacher-rated child behaviors: (1) Balanced-Competent, (2) Traditional-Competent, (3) Controlling-Maladaptive, (4) Disengaged-Maladaptive, and (5) Inconsistent-Maladaptive. Complementing past, relatively uniform conceptualizations of historical Chinese socialization practices, these profiles represent culturally specific combinations of parenting and child adjustment. By applying a person-centered approach to historical data, this study provides a culturally grounded snapshot of Chinese parenting and child functioning around the turn of the century, offering a baseline for future comparison studies.