Parental Positive Reinforcement and Child Prosocial Behaviors in Asian American Families: A Multigroup Cross‐Lagged Analysis

Objective This study investigated the longitudinal and reciprocal association between parental positive reinforcement and child prosocial behavior across child age groups. Background Parental positive reinforcement is associated with greater child prosocial behavior, but its longitudinal associations remain understudied in Asian American families. Methods Two hundred twenty‐three Asian American parents (79.37% female; M age = 41.52, SD = 6.94) of children aged 2–19 years (54.71% girls; M age = 8.53, SD = 4.63; 34.08% aged 2–5 years, 33.63% aged 6–10 years, and 32.29% aged 11–19 years) reported their positive reinforcement and their children's prosocial behavior at baseline (T1), 6‐month (T2), and 1‐year follow‐up (T3). Multigroup cross‐lagged panel modeling was conducted. Results Parental positive reinforcement was positively associated with subsequent prosocial behavior from T1 to T2 and from T2 to T3 across all child age groups. Children's prosocial behavior at T1 was not associated with parental positive reinforcement at T2 across age groups. Prosocial behavior at T2 was positively associated with parental positive reinforcement at T3 only among children aged 6–10 years. Conclusions Bidirectional parent–child influences may be particularly salient during middle childhood. Implications These findings can inform interventions to promote behavioral development in Asian American families.