Relationships between parental marital quality and preschool children’s prosocial behaviours: a meta-analysis

ABSTRACT

Preschoolers’ prosocial behaviours support healthy interpersonal relationships as a component of their social adjustment process. Although several studies have found links between parental marital characteristics and preschoolers’ prosocial behaviours, these conclusions were divisive. Therefore, a meta-analysis was conducted to clarify the inconsistencies in the research on these relationships and to examine the moderating effects underlying these discrepancies. A total of 37 effect sizes were extracted from the 31 included articles, with 14,374 sample sizes. The meta-analysis revealed a low positive link between parental positive marital quality and prosocial behaviours of preschool children, as well as a low negative correlation between negative marital quality and such behaviours. Additionally, the study explores the moderating effects of factors such as children's age, gender, cultural background, informant type, study design, and publication year. Finally, the study limitations were discussed, along with the aspirations for theoretical contributions, future research, and implications for parenting practices.

KEYWORDS:

• Marital quality
• prosocial behaviours
• preschoolers
• meta-analysis
• moderation effect

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Data availability statement

All data are presented in this study. Original data are available on request from the corresponding author.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Private Grant (University Poly-Tech MARA - UPTM), Kuala Lumpur. [grant number PV086-2022]; University Malaya Community Engagement Grant [grant number RUU2022-LL016].

Notes on contributors

Cong Liu

CL: conceptualization, methodology, software, formal analysis, resources, data curation, and writing – original draft preparation. MR: validation and supervision. AF: validation and supervision. MM: validation. All authors: reviewing and agreeing with the published version of the manuscript.

Dr. Cong Liu is a Post-doctoral fellow at the University of Hong Kong. Her research focuses on learning sciences, parenting education, and early childhood development.

Mohd Nazri Abdul Rahman

Dr. Mohd Nazri Abdul Rahman is the deputy dean of the Education Faculty at University Malaya in Malaysia. He is an associate professor in the Educational Psychology and Counseling Department. His research interests focus on early childhood development, parenting education, teacher training, and public policies.

Afdal Afdal

Dr. Afdal is an associate professor of the Department of Guidance and Counseling at Universitas Negeri Padang in Indonesia. Research topics that are usually carried out are related to domestic violence, marriage counseling, careers and counseling in various special populations.

Muhammad Asyraf Mansor

Muhammad Asyraf Mansor is a Research Officer of the Community Network Centre at University Malaya in Malaysia. His research interests focus on early childhood development and community-based education.