Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relation between mothers' parent-ing behavior and their perception of their children's vulnerability as measured by the Japanese version of the Child Vulnerability Scale (CVS-J). Participants in the study were 218 mothers (mean age 38.35 years) who had children between 4 and 15 years of age (mean age of the children, 9.43 years; total number of children: 116 boys, 102 girls). The results were as follows: (1) The mothers who perceived their children as vulnerable tended to discipline inconsistently, and (2) Maternal parenting behavior could be classified into 3 types: receptive, desiring control, and unconcerned. The mothers who were classified as having a desire for control perceived their children as significantly more vulnerable than did the mothers in the other parenting categories. These results suggest that mothers who perceive their children as vulnerable are likely to limit their children's activities and spoil their children.
