Parenting Practices and Child Conduct Problems in a Norwegian Subclinical Sample: Variable and Person‐Centered Approaches

• Published date: 01 October 2021
• Author: Silje S. Hukkelberg,Terje Ogden
• Date: 01 October 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12538

S S. H  T O The Norwegian Center for Child Behavioral

Development

Parenting Practices and Child Conduct Problems

in a Norwegian Subclinical Sample: Variable

and Person-Centered Approaches

Objective: The aims of this study were (a) to

examine how different parenting practices con-

nect to each other and to child conduct problems

(variable-centered approach) and (b) to identify

groups of parents who share the same parenting

style and identify how these relate to child con-

duct problems (person-centered approach).

Background: Substantial evidence indicates

that positive parenting practices are associated

with lower levels of child conduct problems,

whereas negative practices are associated

with higher levels of child problem behavior.

Research is limited when it comes to exam-

ining parenting practices at intake to parent

management training in clinical Scandinavian

samples.

Method: Participants were551 Norwegian par-

ents and their children (aged 3–12years) with

moderate to high levels of conduct problems.

Parentsreported on child conduct problems and

parenting practices. Associations between dif-

ferent parenting practices and child conduct

problems were examined using network and

latent prole analyses.

Results: Three latent proles of parenting were

identied, each related to differentlevels of child

The Norwegian Center for Child Behavioral Development

(NUBU), Postboks 7053 Majorstuen, 0306 Oslo; Norway

(s.s.hukkelberg@nubu.no).

Key Words: child conduct problems, latent prole analysis,

network analysis, parenting practices.

conduct problems. The network of practices

showed that parental mental distress and harsh

discipline were directly associated with higher

levels of child conduct problems. The majority

of parents were characterized as permissive and

displayed a mix of positive and harsh parenting.

Conclusion: Harsh parenting was related to

higher levels of child conduct problems. Disci-

pline skills appeared as especially important in

the network analyses.

Implications: Parent training should address

harsh discipline practices and parental mental

distress, given that these are associated with

more child conduct problems. Discipline skills

appeared as the most important targets for

changing overall parenting practices.

Children with early-onset conduct problems

are at increased risk for entering a life course

at higher risk of academic failure, severe psy-

chopathology, social exclusion, and criminality

(Caspi et al., 2016; Jaffee et al., 2012; Mof-

tt, 1993). According to the social interaction

learning (SIL) model (Patterson, 1982, 2016)

and consistent with empirical ndings, parenting

is an important proximal predictor of child con-

duct problems (Bauer & Webster-Stratton,2006;

Ogden & Hagen, 2018; Patterson, 1982). Pos-

itive parenting characterized by limit setting,

moderate levels of control, clear expectations,

and warmth promotes healthy and well-adjusted

children, whereas negative parenting, including

1102 Family Relations 70 (October 2021): 1102–1116

DOI:10.1111/fare.12538