Moderating Effects of Power and Prestige Across Age on Parental Acceptance and Children's Psychological Adjustment

Abstract

Children’s psychological adjustment has traditionally been examined in relation to parental acceptance and rejection. However, less is known about the role of parental interpersonal power and prestige in explaining differential maternal and paternal contributions.The present study examines whether the interpersonal power and prestige that children attribute to their parents help explain these differential contributions. The sample comprised 913 children aged 9 to 16 years. Children completed the child version of the Parental Power and Prestige Questionnaire (3PQ), the short forms of the Parental Acceptance-Rejection/Control Questionnaire for mothers and fathers (PARQ), and the Personality Assessment Questionnaire (PAQ). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted. Age was positively associated with maladjustment (β = .23, p < .001), whereas sex was not significant (β = −.01, p = .72). Both paternal (β = .34, p < .001) and maternal acceptance (β = .30, p < .001) were positively related to children’s adjustment across all age groups. Perceived interpersonal power showed a small but significant negative association with adjustment (β = −.14, p < .001). Age-group analyses indicated that paternal interpersonal power had a direct effect among children aged 9–10 and 13–14 years and moderated the association between paternal acceptance and adjustment in the 13–14 group (β = .89, p = .02). Prestige effects were limited and age-specific.

Overall, parental acceptance was consistently associated with children’s adjustment regardless of age, whereas the direct and moderating effects of perceived parental power and prestige varied across developmental stages.