Parenting styles and coparenting in China: The role of parents and children’s sibling status

This study examined the relationships of parents’ and children’s sibling status to parenting and co-parenting in Shanghai, China. Parents of 652 children (mean age = 61.55 months) from 12 preschools completed the questionnaire. The fathers and mothers provided demographic information and responded to items that assessed parenting style and perceived co-parenting. The results found that, in two-child families, mothers without siblings reported more authoritative parenting styles and less authoritarian parenting styles than mothers with siblings. Co-parenting positively related to authoritative parenting style and negatively related to authoritarian parenting style for both parents and regardless of parents’ and children’s sibling status. The results support the resource dilution model for Chinese families, emphasize the importance of sibling status on parenting and co-parenting, clarify gender differences, and add to the emerging discourse on China’s changing population policy.