The purpose of the present study was to analyze the effect of perceptions of neighborhood danger on positive parenting and whether it is mediated by the mothers' perceived self-efficacy in managing negative emotions, comparing two countries: Colombia and Italy. Participants were 434 mothers and children between ages of 8 and 10 years old (108 dyads from Medellin, Colombia and 109 dyads from Rome, Italy). selected by convenience, non-probabilistically and proportionally to the social stratum of each city. Mothers and children answered the neighborhood violence perception scale, mothers also answered the emotional self-efficacy scale and children the Acceptance-Rejection/Control questionnaire. The multigroup analysis found that mothers' self-efficacy in managing negative emotions behaved differently in Colombia compared to Italy. In Colombia, mothers' perceived self-efficacy in managing negative emotions mediated the link between the effect of perceived neighborhood violence and the quality of mother-child relationship. In Italy, mothers' self-efficacy in managing negative emotions did not mediate this link. Perceived self-efficacy in managing negative emotions of Colombian mothers indirectly explains the adverse effect of perceived neighborhood danger on positive parenting. With mothers from Rome-Italy, there is no significant relationship between perceived self-efficacy for the management of negative emotions and positive parenting.
El estudio analiza el efecto de la percepción de violencia de barrio en la crianza positiva y si este es mediado por la autoeficacia percibida para la gestión de emociones negativas de las madres comparando los países de Colombia e Italia. Los participantes fueron 434 madres e hijos de 8 a 10 años (108 díadas de Medellín-Colombia y 109 díadas de Roma-Italia), seleccionados por conveniencia, de forma no probabilística y proporcionalmente al estrato social de cada ciudad. Madres e hijos respondieron la escala de percepción de violencia de barrio, las madres además respondieron la escala de y los hijos el cuestionario de Aceptación-Rechazo/Control. Un análisis multigrupo mostró que el rol de la gestión de emociones negativas de las madres es diferente en ambos países. En Medellín-Colombia existe un rol mediador de la autoeficacia percibida para la gestión de emociones negativas de las madres entre el efecto de la percepción de violencia de barrio sobre la crianza positiva. La autoeficacia percibida para la gestión de emociones negativas de las madres colombianas explica indirectamente el efecto adverso de la percepción de violencia de barrio sobre las prácticas educativas parentales positivas. Con las madres de Roma-Italia, no se evidencia una relación significativa entre la autoeficacia percibida para la gestión de emociones negativas con la crianza positiva.
Keywords: emotional self-efficacy; neighborhood danger; parent-child relationship quality; positive parenting.