The Longitudinal Associations of Mothers’ and Fathers’ Parenting Styles with Preschool Children’s Social Problem-Solving Skills: The Moderating Role of Primary-Caregiver Status

The bioecological model emphasizes parent–child interactions as proximal processes associated with children’s development over time, whereas family systems theory highlights the distinct yet interdependent roles of mothers and fathers. However, few longitudinal studies have simultaneously examined the associations of mothers’ and fathers’ parenting styles with preschool children’s social problem-solving skills. This study recruited 275 co-residing mother–father Chinese families and employed a three-wave longitudinal design to investigate the longitudinal associations between fathers’ and mothers’ parenting styles and preschool children’s social problem-solving skills, while considering primary-caregiver status. After accounting for prior levels, mothers’ authoritative parenting at Time 2 was positively associated with children’s social problem-solving skills at Time 3, whereas mothers’ authoritarian parenting at Time 1 was negatively associated with social problem-solving skills at Time 2. Fathers’ authoritative parenting showed no significant longitudinal association. However, the interaction between authoritarian parenting at Time 1 and whether the father was identified as the primary caregiver was significantly associated with children’s social problem-solving skills at Time 2. These findings indicate limited and interval-specific longitudinal associations between parenting styles and children’s social problem-solving skills and the possible relevance of primary-caregiver status.