Parenting styles and effects on children - Research Paper Example

? Parenting styles and effects on children April 18, Introduction Parenting style is one of the independent variables studied inthe field of child development. Several studies have established the importance of parenting style to the healthy development of children’s intellectual, social, and psychological abilities (Dornbusch et al., 1987; Martinez &Garcia, 2008). Poor parenting styles, often characterized as either too neglectful or too authoritarian, tend to produce children with social, academic, and psychological problems (Fite, Stoppelbein, & Greening, 2009). Baumrind’s (1971) seminal work on parenting has been influential in classifying parenting styles and determining which one is most effective in raising children. Through her series of studies on younger and older children and their parents, Baumrind established three parenting styles: authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive parenting (Dornbusch et al., 1987, p.1244). Another parenting style has been added, the neglectful parenting style, by Lambom et al. (1991 cited in Garcia & Gracia, 2009, p.103). Lambom et al. (1991) confirmed the validity of the four-topology model with a diverse sample of around 10,000 high school students in the United States (cited in Garcia & Gracia, 2009, p.103). This paper describes these four parenting styles and their effects on children’s development. It also tries to answer which among them are the best or worst parenting style. Four Types of Parenting Styles and Outcomes on Child Development The four parenting styles are authoritarian parenting, authoritative parenting, permissive parenting, and uninvolved parenting. These styles are categorized according to their kinds and levels of disciplinary measures and the main values they inculcate on their children. They are also depicted according to parents’ communication styles and assumptions about their children’s levels of maturity. This section describes each style, the effects of each style on children, including their attitudes and behaviors. It mentions several studies that already empirically tested the effect of each parenting style on the social, psychological, and cognitive dimensions of childhood development. Authoritarian Style Authoritarian parenting is a very restrictive parenting style, where parents establish strict and inflexible rules that they expect their children to follow (Baldwin, McIntyre, & Hardaway, 2007, p.550). These parents use, or the threat of, physical punishment to attain compliance from their children. Authoritarian parents often fail to clarify the reasons for their rules and regulations aside from maintaining their own power over their children. They expect their children to follow them because of their authority and the tradition of maintaining the hierarchy between parents and children. These parents also underscore the importance of work tradition, obedience, preservation of order, and respect for authority (Dornbusch et al., 1987, p.1245). Authoritarian parents have high demands, but are not responsive to their children’s emotions and psychological needs. Children of authoritarian parents tend to be disciplined and proficient, although they tend to be unhappy and have lower self-esteem than children of authoritative and permissive parents. Baumrind’s studies showed that these children suffer from low levels independence and social responsibility (Dornbusch et al., 1987, p.1245). In the journal article, “The Relation of Parenting Style to Adolescent School Performance,” Dornbusch et al. (1987) studied the association between parenting style and school performance of 7,836 students from San Francisco Bay area high school students. Findings showed that both authoritarian and permissive parenting styles were negatively related with grades across gender, age, parental education, ethnic, and family structure (Dornbusch et al., 1987). In addition, authoritarian parenting had a stronger association with grades than did the authoritarian and permissive parenting styles, except among Hispanic males (Dornbusch et al., 1987). Authoritarian demand their children to have good grades, but their disciplinary measures may or may not be effective in enhancing their children’s academic performance. Authoritative Parenting Authoritative parenting also entails establishing rules and guidelines that their children are expected to follow, which is similar to authoritarian parents who have high standards and consistently execute the same rules and expectations (Baldwin, McIntyre, & Hardaway, 2007, p.550). Unlike authoritarian parents, authoritative parents are much more democratic. They allow a give-and-take communication pattern, because they encourage their children to think critically. Authoritative parents are responsive to their children and are prepared to listen to questions. When their children fall short of expectations, these parents are more nurturing and forgiving rather than punishing. Authoritarian parents will use physical punishment, while authoritative parents see this as either a last resort or not an effective disciplinary measure. Authoritative parents use emotional punishments, such as through positive punishment, or adding something that will provide displeasure to children, such as giving them more housework, so that they cannot go out and have fun. Authoritative parents are also like permissive parents who want their children to be confident in expressing themselves (Baldwin, McIntyre, & Hardaway, 2007, p.550). Authoritative and permissive parents encourage individuality and autonomy. Children of authoritative parents tend to have high levels of social and cognitive competence. In Baumrind’s study, female children of authoritative parents particularly had high social responsibility values (Dornbusch et al., 1987, p.1245). On her study for children ages 8 to 9 years old, boys and girls alike exhibited high social and cognitive competences compared to other parenting styles (Dornbusch et al., 1987, p.1245). Dornbusch et al. (1987) also showed that adolescents raised by authoritative parents had higher school performance or grades than those who come from authoritarian and permissive parenting backgrounds. At the same time, they noted that pure authoritative parenting style had the highest association with grades compared to authoritarian and permissive parenting styles. Dornbusch et al. (1987), however, stressed that for Asian children, an authoritarian parenting style is more related to students’ grades. Martinez and Garcia (2008), in “Internalization of Values and Self-Esteem among Brazilian Teenagers from Authoritative, Indulgent, Authoritarian, and Neglectful Homes,” examined the effects of parental socialization on Brazilian teenagers' self-esteem and their internalization of values. Their sampling included 1,198 adolescents from a metropolitan area. Internalization of social values and building the child's self-esteem are important objectives in parental socialization (Kochanska, Aksan, & Nichols, 2003 cited in Martinez & Garcia, 2008, p.13). The values tested in Martinez and Garcia’s study were Schwartz values of self-transcendence (universalism and benevolence) and conservation (security, conformity, and tradition), well as self-esteem on the other (Martinez & Garcia, 2008, p.15). Findings showed that adolescents from authoritative families give high priority to five value types examined, which were universalism, benevolence, conformity, tradition, and security, than adolescents from neglectful and authoritarian families, but there were no differences between adolescents from indulgent and authoritative families in the priority assigned to these five value types. These findings indicated that authoritative parenting tend to produce happier, well-adjusted, and academically successful children than neglectful and authoritarian parenting styles. Permissive Parenting Permissive parents are also called indulgent parents, who have very few demands to make of their children (Baldwin, McIntyre, & Hardaway, 2007, p.550). These parents hardly ever discipline their children because they have low expectations of maturity and self-control for them. Permissive parents are very responsive and hardly demanding; they also encourage their children to freely express themselves and do as they please (Baldwin, McIntyre, & Hardaway, 2007, p.550). Children of permissive parents tend to have high self-esteem, because of the freedom provided by their parents, although some may also suffer from psychological problems. Baumrind’s study showed that these children are immature and lacked self-control and self-reliance (Dornbusch et al., 1987, p.1245). In her follow-up studies for children with ages 8 to 9 years old, these children also scored low in social and cognitive competence (Dornbusch et al., 1987, p.1245). Dornbusch et al. (1987) affirmed these findings in their study. Their adolescent sampling showed lower grades and association with grades than with children from authoritative backgrounds. Fite, Stoppelbein, and Greening (2009), in “Predicting Readmission to a Child Psychiatric Inpatient Unit: The Impact of Parenting Styles,” studied the associations between parenting styles and children’s re-admission to psychiatric inpatient units. Findings showed that permissive parenting is associated with higher risks of re-admission for their children. They stressed that: “…high levels of permissive parenting style were associated with an increased risk for readmission. That is, children whose caregivers failed to set limits were at an increased risk for readmission” (p. 626). They hypothesized that permissive parenting can result to internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. Another study, however, shows that permissive parenting can be good for children too, when cultural factors are considered. In the study conducted by Martinez and Garcia (2008), findings showed that Brazilian children of authoritative parents had higher academic and family self-esteem than adolescents that came from neglectful families. The same study also showed that adolescents with indulgent parents have higher family self-esteem and do not vary in academic, social, and physical self-esteem from adolescents who had authoritative parents (Martinez & Garcia, 2008, p.24). These findings are confirmed by Garcia and Gracia (2009) in, “Is Always Authoritative the Optimum Parenting Style? Evidence from Spanish Families.” Their sampling included a sample of 1,416 teenagers from 12 to 17 years of age. Findings showed that for Spanish children, the permissive style is the most optimum parenting style, since it scored the same or higher than authoritative parenting in the areas of self-esteem and personal competence. Hence, permissive parenting can also be an optimum form of parenting. Uninvolved Parenting An uninvolved parenting style is characterized as having few demands, low responsiveness and little communication with their children. While these parents can attain their child's basic needs, they are generally disconnected from their child's life. In extreme cases, these parents may even refuse or overlook the basic physical and emotional needs of their children. Studies by Martinez and Garcia (2008) and Garcia and Gracia (2009) showed that children from neglectful or uninvolved parents had social, academic, and psychological problems. Martinez and Garcia (2008) provided findings that children from uninvolved parents had low self-esteem and self-efficiency. Garcia and Gracia (2009) noted that children from neglectful families had higher scores in hostility/aggression, negative self-esteem, negative self-adequacy, and emotional irresponsiveness. These children have the lowest self-esteem, socially maladjusted, and have academic problems. In other words, they were unhappy and lower self-confidence. Which Parenting Styles Are The Best And Worst? The best parenting style according to most studies is the authoritative parenting style, although permissive parenting style also yields high self-esteem and confidence when tested on Brazilian and Spanish participants (Garcia & Gracia, 2009; Martinez & Garcia, 2008). Authoritative parenting is connected with better social, emotional, and academic outcomes in adolescents than authoritarian and neglectful parenting (Martinez & Garcia, 2008, p.24). In one study, adolescents from indulgent homes do not vary in self-transcendence and conservation values and even have the same or higher scores on self-esteem than adolescents from authoritative homes (Martinez & Garcia, 2008, p.24). The worse parenting approach is the neglectful style of parenting, and some studies also noted that authoritarian is not good for children’s social and emotional development, when they come from a context that promotes high levels of individuality (Dornbusch et al., 1987; Martinez & Garcia, 2008). In “Authoritative and Authoritarian Parenting Practices and Social and School Performance in Chinese Children,” Chen, Dong, and Zhou (1997) studied the connection between authoritative and authoritarian parenting styles and social and school adjustment in Chinese children. Their sampling included second grade children, aged eight years, and their parents in Beijing, People’s Republic of China. The children took a peer assessment measure of social behavior and a sociometric measure. Teachers conducted scales for school-related social competence and problems for these students. Parents provided the data about childrearing practices. Findings showed that both authoritarian and authoritative parenting styles contributed to children’s academic success and social adjustment in China, contrary to findings in Western societies. Chen, Dong, and Zhou (1997) learned that authoritarian parenting of both mothers and fathers was “positively associated with aggression-disruption and negatively associated with peer acceptance, sociability competence, distinguished studentship, and school achievement” (p.867). They also observed that authoritative parenting style was positively associated with children’s peer acceptance, social competence, and school achievement and negatively related to children’s social problems. Chen, Dong, and Zhou (1997) concluded that authoritarian and authoritative parenting practices in Chinese culture provide the same functions in child rearing that are comparable to those found in Western cultures. In both cultures, authoritarian parenting, which is described with having the features of parental enforcement, punishment and negative emotions, may produce confusion, aggravation and feelings of insecurity in children which, in turn, may contribute to the development of deviant social behaviors and peer rejection in the school (Chen, Dong, & Zhou, 1997, p.867). In addition, since authoritarian parents provide little enlightenment, direction, and emotional support in child rearing, their children may be less likely than others to build up intrinsic achievement motivation and more likely than others to experience problems in academic performance, which may reinforce parental disappointment and rejection (Chen, Dong, & Zhou, 1997, p.867). These children do not understand what they are being punished for and tend to become either rebellious or timid. Authoritative parenting, on the contrary, provides warmth, guidance, encouragement, and empowerment, which can be connected with confidence and positive thinking of the world (Chen, Dong, & Zhou, 1997, p.867). These feelings can contribute to positive affect and positive academic performance and motivation (Chen, Dong, & Zhou, 1997, p.867). Cultural factors have to be considered, nevertheless, when determining the best parenting style for children. Ang and Goh (2006), in “Authoritarian Parenting Style in Asian Societies: A Cluster-Analytic Investigation,” conducted a cluster analysis of parenting styles among Chinese adolescent students. External validation evidence showed that adolescents in the maladjusted cluster had negative attitudes towards school and teachers compared to adolescents in the well-adjusted cluster for both samples. These findings indicated that authoritarian parenting style could possibly have a different and positive cultural meaning for Asians. Ang and Goh (2006) concluded that authoritarian parenting style does not universally produce dismal social, emotional, and cognitive effects for their children. In particular, individual or internal characteristics, such as self-motivation to do well in school, student’s comfort level with teachers and education process, and general adaptation to school can also impact the success of students (Ang & Goh, p. 2006, p.148). Individual and cultural context should also be considered when evaluating the effects of parenting styles on children. The study on Brazilian adolescents showed that a permissive parenting style may be just as good or even better, to some extent, than authoritative parenting (Martinez & Garcia, 2008, p.24). The study of Martinez and Garcia (2008) indicated that it is possible that for horizontal collectivistic country such as Brazil, where society emphasizes egalitarian relations, instead of hierarchical relations, such as in the United States (where vertical individualism is high), or in some Asian cultures (where vertical collectivism is widely practiced and authoritarianism is more acceptable), strictness and imposition is not essential to attain greater internalization of self-transcendence and conservation values and healthy self-esteem in adolescents (p.24). Strict practices do not have the same positive value in Brazilian culture as in European-American societies. As a substitute, Brazilian parents prevalently used acceptance and involvement that can be seen from practices of affection and dialogue, which can be enough to develop optimal teenagers' outcomes in the internalization of those values and self-esteem. Garcia and Gracia (2009) found from their own study that for Spanish children, indulgent or permissive parenting works better than authoritative parenting and other parenting styles in developing children’s self-esteem, personal competence in school and social life, and better handling of social concerns. Conclusion The most effective parenting style, in general, is the authoritative style, because it balances discipline and empowerment. Children need rules and guidelines to help them develop the right values, attitudes, and behaviors. They need to be disciplined too, so that they would know the different between right and wrong. Furthermore, they need love and nurturing, and an affirmation that they are important and secure. They want to be heard and to be respected. Some cultures, however, favor authoritarian or permissive parenting style, however, because it fits their cultural norms and practices. These parenting styles can achieve the same levels of social, emotional, and cognitive developments as authoritative style. Authoritarian parenting style, for well-adjusted individuals, can help children develop order and discipline that they need to enhance self-esteem and improve social and academic performance. Permissive parenting style is also good for children, if they belong to highly egalitarian societies. These societies encourage their children to be active decision-makers and to learn from their own mistakes and weaknesses. The worst parenting style, as these studies showed, is the neglectful style. It does not provide any form of guidance or love, and can even overlook the basic emotional and physical needs of their children. The neglectful parenting style is like being a parent in title only without fulfilling their critical roles and responsibilities in developing their children’s multifaceted needs and concerns. Thus, the worst parent is a neglectful parent, while the best possible parenting styles are authoritative, permissive, and authoritarian styles, depending on cultural, individual, and other social factors. References Ang, R. & Goh, D. (2006). Authoritarian parenting style in Asian societies: A cluster- analytic investigation. Contemporary Family Therapy: An International Journal, 28 (1), 131-151. Baldwin, D.R., McIntyre, A., & Hardaway, E. (2007). Perceived parenting styles on college students' optimism. College Student Journal, 41 (3), 550-557. Chen, X., Dong, Q. & Zhou, H. (1997). Authoritative and authoritarian parenting practices and social and school performance in Chinese children. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 21 (4), 855-874. Dornbusch, S.M., Ritter, P.L., Leiderman, P. H., Roberts, D.F., & Fraleigh, M.J. (1987). The relation of parenting style to adolescent school performance. Child Development, 58 (5), 1244-1258. Fite, P., Stoppelbein, L., & Greening, L. 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