Au Psy492 M6 A2 Sonson E

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Running head: PARENTING STYLES AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Topic Proposal: Parenting Styles and Child Development-

What are the Correlations between Parenting Styles and Child Behavior Development?

Elisha Sonson

Argosy University, Pittsburgh

PARENTING STYLES AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT 2

Title Parenting Styles and Child Development: What are the correlation between Parenting

Styles and Child Behavior Development?

Research has supported that the parenting styles embraced by parents time and again have

an immense repercussion on the development of the child, in perspective of the issue, analysis on

parenting styles and its intense influences on children, particularly in belligerence and behavior.

The purpose for this literature review is to draw attention on the types of parenting styles used by

parents and its impact on children’s behavior development. In addition, the literature review

would also support the hypotheses that “there are convincing links between parenting styles and

the impact these styles have on children’s behavior development.”

In today’s modern world, the development of children is an important concern. The

parenting styles children are subjected to creates great influence on their behaviors and how they

deal with trials and confronts in their lives. In earlier cohorts, child rearing came with strict rules;

discipline and children were stricken by obedience. The parenting styles of this era were

essential to foster the self-control, reinforce good behavior and discipline demanded by societies’

where rigorous compliance to authority was required by children. Although these types of

parenting style are still prevalent in modern society, many parents are grounded to certain

parenting styles that are not creating positive behaviors in children’s development. Ange (2005)

describes Baumrind’s parenting style classification as authoritative, authoritarian, and

permissive.

Developmental psychologists have conducted numerous researches to study how different

parenting styles influence child development. The authoritative parenting practice used

according to research, have found to generate beneficial effects in children’s behavior


development and parents who embrace this type of parenting style are thought to have very

distinct definitions on the boundaries and liberty of their children. Authoritarian parents are

insistent, domineering of the children and are less receptive to their children. The permissive

parenting style compels less of their children because they are very lenient (Ange, 2005). Parents

who practice this style of parenting are likely to negatively impact their children’s behavior

development and these children are likely to experience behavioral problems sometime in their

lives.

In the studies that were manipulated as referenced, parenting styles practices and their

influence on children was the central core of the study particularly in very young children.

Gender also influenced the study and the parenting styles exercised through the parent. The

findings outlined in the referenced articles show a clear correlation of the proposed hypothesis.

Discussion

Literature Findings:

1. Article: Do parenting styles and adolescents adjusting to self-perception and

relationships? Ang, Rebecca P.

a. Summary: The study looked at the effects of perceived parenting styles

on self-reliance, interpersonal relations, sense of inadequacy and attitude

to school after controlling for effects on adolescents’ self-esteem. Included

in the study were 548 adolescents from Singapore, Malay, Asian and

Asian Americans. The findings of the study showed that Asian and Asian

Americans samples were mixed in that both authoritative and authoritarian


parenting styles appeared to be associated with positive adolescent

outcomes. The findings also stated that this outcome could be a reflection

of culture. Malay adolescents who perceived their father as authoritative

were self-reliant and confident. Perception of the paternal parenting styles

influenced the outcome more than the perception of adolescents of

maternal parenting styles (Ang, 2005).

b. Strength and weakness: The strength of the study is that the sample was

sizeable and contained a mixed population. The weakness is that culture

could have been the biggest influenced in the study.

2. Article: How do mothers’ childrearing histories, stress and parenting affect children’s

behavioral outcomes? Assel, M. A; Landry, S. H; Swank, P. R and Steelman, L

a. Summary: The longitudinal study observed 180 preterm and 112 termed

children and their female primary caregivers up to age 4. The cohorts were

of middle to low socio-income status from South-east Texas. The study

was conducted to investigate the direct and indirect relations of maternal

childrearing history and emotional stress and observed parenting styles.

The investigation began when the children were age 3 up to their 4th year.

The mothers parenting styles were measured on a 5-point scale to capture

warmth, responsiveness and flexibility. The findings of the investigation

showed mothers who recalled more punitive and neglecting memories of

how they were parented were more likely to report higher emotional stress


levels and those parents displayed less warmth towards their children.

Those parents who reported low- moderate levels of anxiety appeared to

have difficulty responding to their children’s need and interest (Assel, et

al, 2002).

b. Strength and weakness: The strength of the study is the reliability of the

observational measures. Multiple observers were used to code the parents’

behaviors and their child’s initial skills. Other observational study

correlates well with the findings of this study. The weakness of the study

is that a longitudinal analysis is rarely used to examine the influence of

maternal emotional functioning and observed parenting behavior on

children’s behaviors.

3. Article: The role of parenting styles in children’s problem behavior. Aunola, Kaisa and

Nurmi, Jari-Erik

a. Summary: This paper explores the combination of parenting styles of

mothers’ and fathers’ (affection, behavioral and psychological control)

that influences their children’s internal and external behavioral problems.

The sample yield a total of 196 participants (children ages 5-6years). The

study followed the children from kindergarten through second grade to

observe and measure their problem behaviors. The study had mothers’ and

fathers’ filling in questionnaire once a year to measure their parenting

styles (Aunola, 2005). Internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors


were assessed using structured interviews performed by trained

investigators. The findings revealed that high psychological control of

mothers’ in combination with high affection showed increase an in the

level of internal and external behavior problems in children. The level of

internal and external behavior decreased when behavioral control of

mothers’ was combined with low level of psychological control (Aunola,

2005).

b. Strength and weakness: The strength of the study is that it used a mix

family. It investigated two parent families, mothers or fathers living with

their spouses and single household families. The weakness of the study is

that problem behaviors were assessed on the basis of children’s self-

reports.

4. Article: Early adolescents’ perceptions of mothers and fathers’ parenting styles and

problem behavior. Bolkan, Cow; Sano, Yoshie; De Costa, Jennifer; Acock, Alan C and

Day, Randal D.

a. Summary: This study focused its’ longitudinal observation on 3,353

youths between the ages of 12-16 and followed over time to document

their transition to emerging adulthood. The restricted age group was

because age-related changes in problem behavior occur during late

adolescence. Caucasians made up a large portion of the sample, while

African Americans made up 19 percent of the sample. Asians and 12


percent of other racial/ethnic were also included in the study. The children

came from both biological parent, single parent and one biological parent

household. The finding of the longitudinal study indicated that a

combination of maternal and parenting style produced a more complicated

picture of the relationship between parenting and adolescent outcomes

than previously thought. An unexpected finding though revealed that in

contrast to other studies, youths who perceived their parents parenting

style as permissive showed no significant worse outcome than those who

reported having authoritative parents. The authoritarian parenting style did

reveal the worse outcome in adolescent behavior (Bolkan, et al, 2010).

b. Strength and weakness: The strength of the study compared to other

studies showed gender difference as an influence in the outcome of

children’s behavior of authoritarian parents. The study had a sizable

sample and mix population. The weakness of the longitudinal study is that

the information was collected from previously collected survey data in

terms of measure design. The reliance on perception increased because the

finding used responses from the same participants.

5. Article: African American and Puerto Rican American parenting styles, paternal

involvement, and head start children’s social competence. Fagan, Jay and Merrill-Palmer,

Quarterly.


a. Summary: The study examined the parenting styles and paternal

involvement of mothers’ and fathers’ of African-American and Puerto

Rican parents. A total of 134 families, (73 mother-father pairs) and 73

preschoolers and 23 classroom teachers participated in the study. The

study used a cultural ecology model, that is, the unique cultural patterns of

individual and group behavior that may facilitate the adaptation of parents

and children to their environment to survey the low income families from

both races and assessment of parenting styles and involvement to child

behavior. The large majority of fathers were biologically related to the

children and a small percentage being stepfathers. The research presented

findings that were consistent with previously reported studies and found

few differences in the parenting styles of either race and mothers and

fathers’ of those races. The findings also concluded that ethnicity was

significantly associated with parenting style practices (Fagan, 2000).

However, there were indications of African American parents being less

responsive in terms of child social competence than Puerto Rican parents.

b. Strength and weakness: The strength of the study is that it did focus on

culture, social environment as part of the investigation than just race. The

weakness though is that the study could have included more participants

and samples of various income and social background than focusing only

on low income groups.


6. Article: Parent-child relationships and the verbal information pathway to fear in children:

Two preliminary experiments. Field, Andy P. Field; Ball, Jess E.; Kawyzc, Nicola J. and

Moore, Harriett

a. Summary: The application of this study investigated the interface

between parenting styles and threat information on children fears. The

participant included 41 children (24 boys and 17 girls) ages 6-10 years

from a school in Leigh-On-Sea, Essex, United Kingdom. The basis of the

experiment states that children within this age group have a typical fear of

animals. The 5-point Likert response scale was created by Field and

Lawson and included fear belief questionnaires (FBQ) ranging from 0 (no

fear belief) to 4 (maximum fear belief). The children were given 30 cards

each with a statement reflecting each of the parenting styles, example

warmth (she loves me) punitive (often threatens to punish me) as the

parenting style questionnaire (PSQ) to assess their perception of parental

style. The findings indicated that the punitive (authoritarian) parenting

style does have some influence on the effect that threat information has on

children’s self-reporting fear beliefs about animals. The positive parenting

(authoritative) parenting did not reveal similar information (Field et al,

2010).

Key words: Parenting style questionnaire (PSQ) and Fear belief

questionnaire (FBQ)


b. Strength and weakness: The strength of this study is that the children had

no prior experience and no prior fear expectations of the animals used in

the images. The weakness though is that the participants came from the

same school instead of a more mixed population. Past research have never

showed or indicated a correlation between different age groups and their

negative affect about animal information.

7. Article: Parenting style as a moderator of associations between maternal disciplinary

strategies and child well-being. Fletcher, Anne C; Walls, Jill K; Cook, Emily C; Madison,

Karis J and Bridges, Tracey H.

a. Summary: The article presented 370 fourth-grade boys and girls and their

mothers. Thirty-seven percent of that population was African American

and Caucasians made up sixty-three percent of the group. The families

were split and each family was assigned to one of the four parenting style

groups, namely the authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent or permissive

and indifferent families. The CRPBI questions were developed by

Schaefer and was measure using a three-point scale. The fourth-graders

were asked questions such as, “How often has your mother yelled at you

for something you did wrong”? With the consent of the parents, the

students’ fourth-quarter grades were assessed in math and language. The

responses revealed that 106 students from authoritative families felt that

their parents were responsive to their need but very demanding, 90 of

students from permissive/indulgent families claimed their parents to be


responsive but not too demanding, 73 students from authoritarian families

responded that their parents are too demanding and less responsive to

them while 101 students from indifferent families claim low

responsiveness and very demanding parents. Children demonstrated the

most positive development when they experience parenting practices that

were both high in responsiveness and demandingness (Fletcher, et al,

2008).

Key words: Children’s report of parenting behaviors inventory (CRPBI)

b. Strength and weakness: The strength of the article is that the sample was

sufficient in producing the information in the article and statistical analysis

using the ANOVA was tested. The weakness of the study is that the

accuracy of this study may spring some controversies because the scores

from the fourth-quarter could not predict indefinitely the parenting styles

as a reason for some low grades. While parenting styles can have an effect

on the development of children, other factors such as teaching styles, lack

of understanding of the subject material or the subject taught being the

child’s weak area of performance.

8. Article: The moderating effects of parenting styles on African American and Caucasian

children’s suicidal behaviors. Greening, Leilani; Stoppelbein, Laura and Luebbe, Aaron.

a. Summary: The analysis of the study focused on parenting styles and

suicidal behavior in adolescents. The sample of 172 young children


included 49 girls and 123 boys. African American children made up 69

percent (118 children) of the participants and Caucasians made up 31

percent (54 children) of the participants. The children were admitted for

acute psychiatric inpatient care using standardized measures for suicidal

behaviors, depressive symptoms and aggression. Their parents completed

the same standardized measures but for parental distress and parenting

style practices. The study was statistically controlled by age and gender

and the findings concluded that those children who validated more

depressive symptoms or reactive aggression recounted more current and

past suicidal behaviors than children with fewer symptoms. The findings

also revealed an extensive relationship between depressive symptoms and

parental use of authoritarian parenting style practices of African

Americans and older children but not for Caucasian children (Greening et

al, 2010).

b. Strength and weakness: The strength of Greening et al, (2010) study is

that it was controlled and the participants were inpatients. However, the

sample was not sizable for this type of study. The study seems to lean

more towards African American children than both races. The findings

showed African Americans parenting style practices to play a big role in

the suicidal behaviors in children than Caucasian parents, but there were

numerous factors that could have led to the children suicidal behavior,

such as medication, untimely treatment and environmental living


conditions. Out of the 172 participants 86 percent were enrolled in

Medicare, 80 percent had income below $20.000, all the children had

some type of behavioral disorder, 62 percent were on psychiatric

medication at the time of the study and 80 percent were or had received

outpatient psychiatric services. I believe that the findings of the study

should have included a larger and mixed population and included children

who had no history of psychiatric disorder or other illnesses. These factors

I think jeopardize the integrity of the study.

9. Article: Patterns of parents rearing styles & child behavior problem among Portuguese

school-aged children. Pereira, Ana I. F; Canavarro, Cristina; Cardoso, Margarida F and

Mendonca, Denisa

a. Summary: A longitudinal multi-informant study was conducted using a sample

of 512 middle aged children (8-11) from the Portuguese general population. The

study measured the parental rearing styles of parents and explored whether

different patterns of parenting style practices were related to child adjusting and

psychopathological problems namely withdrawal, delinquent and aggressive

behaviors in children. Association between parental rearing styles and the child’s

behavioral problems were explored one year later after the first assessment. The

findings of the study concluded that negative (punitive/authoritarian) patterns of

parenting styles shows a strong association with externalizing problems compared

to internalizing issues (Pereira, et al, 2009).


b. Strength and weakness: The strength of the study is that the samples included

children from various geographical regions of Portugal, which makes the integrity

of the study less bias. The weakness of the study is that the children were told

what the goal of the study entailed and I believe that could have influenced their

responses.

10. Article: Impact of behavioral inhibition & parenting style on internalizing &

externalizing problems from early childhood through adolescence. Williams, Lela R;

Degnan, Kathryn A.; Edgar-Perez, Koraly E.; Henderson, Heather A; Rubin, Kenneth H;

Pine, Daniel S; Steinberg, Laurence and Fox, Nathan A

a. Summary: This study explored the relationship between behavioral inhibition in

toddlerhood, parenting style practices in childhood and trajectories on

internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems from 4-years to early

adolescent. The sample consisted of 113 children representing a range of

temperamental reactivity to novelty. The study was conducted in a laboratory and

results were collected when the children were about 4-24 months and 4, 7 and 15-

years of age. The children were assessed for behavioral inhibition in the lab using

standard stimuli and situations. Mothers completed questionnaires assessing their

parenting styles when the children were 7 and the children’s behavioral problem

were assessed at 4, 7 and 15-years of age. The findings of the study concluded

authoritarian parenting style practices as significantly interacting with age to

predict change in externalizing problems. Authoritative parenting style


contributed to lower externalizing problem in childhood and adolescence

(Williams, et al, 2009).

b. Strength and weakness: The strength of the study did demonstrate that certain

parenting styles jointly influence the risk of internalizing and externalizing

problems over time. The weakness of the study is that the stimuli used on the

infants were not accurate enough to generate the findings.

All the researched articles showed a commonality in their goals. The commonality

shown focused on the parenting style practices of parents with children through adolescent

and the effects these parenting style practices have on children’s development and later

behavior problems. A few of the articles concentrated on various cultures in order to explore

whether these issues varied within culture or whether the various parenting styles of certain

ethnic group influences the behaviors in children. The realization for me was that I had

limited knowledge in the differencing styles of parenting and how these styles can influence

later behaviors in children. Most children who reported their parents as being punitive and

demanding had parents who used the authoritarian parenting style of parenting. These

children did have the most significant outcome in behavior problems compared to children

who reported their parents as authoritative. Prior researches have supported these findings as

quantified in the listed referenced articles (Fagan, 2000). Although there were some usual

factors like low-income and environmental conditions within specific cultures namely

African Americans that could have contributed to parental stress and how parents respond to

their children, overall, the findings in all the articles were quite similar.


Conclusion

Parenting has always been a complex role that includes certain behaviors that work

exclusively and mutually to influence child outcomes. The concept of parenting style practices is

used to seize variation in parents’ endeavor to control and socialize their children.

Research psychologists, particularly developmental psychologists have had a keen interest

in the influence parents have on the development and later behavior problems of children. One of

the most vigorous advances to this area is the investigation of what is known as “parenting style

practices.” The typology of the parenting styles includes the “authoritative parents, who are

reported as responsive and demanding, the authoritarian parents, who are highly demanding,

always giving directives and are less responsive to the needs of their children. The permissive

parenting style of parenting involves parents that are non-directive, very lenient in their parental

practices, responsive, not demanding, allows considerable self-regulation and avoids

confrontation with their children. These parenting style practices have been observed to forecast

child well-being in realms of social aptitude, academic functioning, psychosocial development

and later problem behavior. Much literature reviews have been conducted and supported the

observed domains and how the different parenting styles influence these domains and later

behavior in children.

During my investigation, I took a closer view of the finding from various literature reviews

to analyze how the findings of these studies were manipulated and how well the argument

discussed supported my own hypothesis that “there are convincing links between parenting styles

and the impact these styles have on children’s behavior.” The prevailing argument in Ang,

(2005) is the perceived effect certain parenting styles have on self-reliance, attitude towards


school and self-esteem of children from Asian, Singapore and Malay. Ang, in her findings

associated the authoritative and authoritarian parenting styles as being associated with positive

outcomes on adolescent. However, the other argument is that culture may have influenced the

outcome of the findings (2005).

Another argument came from the literature review of Assel et al, (2002), which contended

that maternal childrearing history and emotional stress of parents were the indirect association

with their parenting styles. The contention is that parents who experienced punitive and neglect

(parents who uses authoritarian parenting style) during their childhood had a higher level of

emotional stress and less warmth towards their children. Other prevailing argument focused

attention of both mothers and fathers and the contention is that high psychosocial control of both

parents increased the level of internal and external behavior problems in children (Aunola and

Nurmi, 2005).

Bolkan et al, (2010) prevailing conflict is that children who perceived their parents

parenting style as authoritarian, had a worse outcome in their behavior than youths who perceive

their parent parenting style as permissive. In their argument, Bolkan et al, challenge that the

authoritarian style of parenting creates behavioral problems in children even though they came

from single, both biological parent or one biological parent household. Although Bolkan et al’s,

observation consisted of various racial and ethnic groups as Ang, (2005) their argument did not

focus on culture, rather on the actual parenting styles and the behavioral outcome of their

children (2010).

The prevailing argument of Fagan and Merrill-Palmer, seem to emphasize on whether

one’s culture and ecology model play a role in the use of one’s parenting style practice. The


culture and ecology model (low economic background, environmental conditions) of African

American and Puerto Ricans were the central core of this argument. Fagan and Merrill-Palmer

maintained that ethnicity of both groups was significantly associated with their parenting style

practices. However, the argument highlighted African Americans as less responsive to the social

competence of their children than Puerto Rican parents (2000). Compared to Fagan and Merrill-

Palmer, (2000) prevailing argument, Field, et al’s argument is that certain parenting styles

produces threat information on children’s fears. Field, et al, use of animals in his study supported

his argument that authoritarian use of parental practice creates fear in children. In addition, Field

et al’s, contention is that punitive forms of punishment and demandingness increase behavior

problems in children (2010).

In Fletcher et al, the demanding parents who were also responsive to their children’s need,

saw those children showing positive behavioral outcome than parents who were not at all

responsive to their children. The argument seems to support the parenting style of parents who

regardless of their level of demandingness, responded to the need of their children. The argument

of this study seemed to focus more on the positive outcome and not particularly the parenting

style practices used to produce the outcome (2008). The (2010) literature review of Greening et

al challenged that children who validated more depressive symptoms and aggression were

associated with parents who practice authoritarian parenting styles. The argument was shifted

more towards African American’s who practices authoritarian parenting styles (Greening et al,

2010). The argument is that African American’s more than Caucasians show an extensive

association between depression and authoritarian parenting style practices towards their children.


The reigning argument of Pereira et al focused on the various parenting styles and their

relationship on children’s psychopathological problems (withdrawal, delinquent and aggression).

The argument was that negative patterns of parenting style practices showed a strong correlation

with externalizing problems compared to internalizing issues. The authoritarian style of

parenting was tied into this argument as children who perceived their parents as authoritarian in

their parenting style are often experiencing later behavioral problems (2009). Like Pereira et al’s

argument, Williams et al also had a similar argument and their argument also showed that

authoritarians’ parental practices to be associated with externalizing behavior problems (2009).

Although, the rational for parents’ behavior in their parenting styles were observed, the one

argument that stands out in nearly all of the literature reviews is that certain parenting style

practices namely the authoritarian style of parenting does have an effect on later behavioral

outcome of children.

Based on the findings and arguments of the literature review I could alter my research

question to further develop the areas of study in the referenced literature review. I would propose

the new research question as “Parenting Styles and Child Aggressive Behavior: What is the

correlation between authoritarian parenting styles and later behavioral problem in children?”

This research question is important because based on the finding of the referenced literature

reviews; a great majority of the findings reflects a correlation between later behavior problems in

children and parents who are perceived to practice authoritarian parenting style of parenting.

Parents who practice this style of parenting are very demanding of their children, they are less

responsive to their children’s need, and resort to punitive punishment. This type of parenting

practice has been shown to produce later behavior problems in children including aggression,


depression and anxiety (Pereira et al, 2009). Although some research shows that some ethnic

group more than others use this style of parenting practice, the argument in the referenced

literature is not against the ethnic groups that practice this style of parenting rather the various

parenting styles and their effect on later behavior problems in children.


References

Ange, Rebecca. P., (2005) Parenting styles and adolescents adjusting to self-perception and

relationships, Social Service Training Institute Journal 2(2)

Assel, M. A; Landry, S. H; Swank, P. R & Steelman, L (2002) How do mothers’ childrearing

histories, stress and parenting affect children’s behavioral outcomes? Childcare Health

Development Scholarly Journal of Medical Science-Pediatrics 28(5)

Aunola, Kaisa, & Nurmi, Jari-Erik (2005) The role of parenting styles in children’s problem

behavior. Children Development 76(6) 1144-1159 doi: 10.1111/J. 1467-

5624.2005.00841x

Bolkan, Cow; Sano, Yoshie; De Costa, Jennifer; Acock, Alan C & Day, Randal D (2010) Early

adolescents’ perceptions of mothers and fathers’ parenting styles and problem behavior,

Marriage & Family Review (46)8 563

Fagan, Jay., & Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, M., (2000) African American and Puerto Rican

American parenting styles, paternal involvement, and head start children’s social

competence (46)4 592

Field, Andy P. Field; Ball, Jess E.; Kawyzc, Nicola J & Moore, Harriett (2007) Parent-child

relationship & the verbal information pathway to fear in children: Two Preliminary

Experiments 35: 473-486 doi: 10.1017/7S152465807003736


Fletcher, Anne C; Walls, Jill K; Cook, Emily C; Madison, Karis J & Bridges, Tracey H, (2008)

Parents’ style as a moderator of association between maternal disciplinary strategies &

child well-being, Journal of Family Issues (29)12 1724-1744

Greening, Leilani; Stoppelbein, Laura & Luebbe, Aaron, (2010) The moderating effects of

parenting styles on African American & Caucasian children’s suicidal behaviors 39:357-

369 doi: 10.1007/s10964-009-9459-z

Pereira, Ana I. F; Canavarro, Cristina; Cardoso, Margarida F & Mendonca, Denisa (2009)

Patterns of parents rearing styles & child behavior problem among Portuguese school-

aged children 18(4) 454-464

Williams, Lela R; Degnan, Kathryn A.; Edgar-Perez, Koraly E.; Henderson, Heather A; Rubin,

Kenneth H; Pine, Daniel S; Steinberg, Laurence & Fox, Nathan A (2009) Impact of

behavioral inhibition & parenting style on internalizing & externalizing problems from

early childhood through adolescence, Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 37:1063-

1075 doi: 10.1007/s10802-009-9331-3

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