Father’s Parenting and Child Self-Control: A Comparison Between the Netherlands and South Korea

Parents from different cultures may employ different parenting behaviors to support children's development. It remains unclear whether the associations of parental warmth and control with self-control abilities vary across cultures. Moreover, little is known about how these associations may differ for father' parenting behaviors. We investigated the associations of paternal warmth and control with children's self-control problems using data from the Netherlands and South Korea. Data came from two prospective studies: the Dutch Generation R Study (n = 2,136) and the Panel Study on Korean Children (n = 1,468). Results showed paternal warmth was protective against child self-control problems in both countries. Paternal control was associated with more self-control problems in Dutch but not in Korean children, though this association in Dutch children was not significant after including all covariates. The findings emphasize the universal significance of paternal parenting in fostering children's self-control and stress to support fathers' involvement in child development.