4 Types Of Parenting Styles – Inside: 4 parenting styles in developmental psychology and why it matters to your parenting style. Why gentle parenting or positive parenting differs from permissive parenting. A balanced approach is best.
As much as we wish this were true, unfortunately, children are not born with guides on their wrists. As parents, it is our responsibility to figure out how to raise perfect and successful children.
4 Types Of Parenting Styles
If you’ve ever asked yourself what kind of parent you want to be, this article is a great place to start. The key to understanding your parenting style is to understand the four parenting styles in developmental psychology.
The 4 Types Of Parenting Styles
The four parenting styles in developmental psychology are based on the work of the late psychologist Diana Baumerind in the early 1960s. Dr. Baumerlind and Stanford University researchers Eleanor McCovey and John Martin found that each parenting style affects children’s behavior in different ways and differs along two dimensions, or categories: reactions, gender, and demand.
Recently, psychologists have identified a third dimension, structure, which is the extent to which parents provide their children with a predictable, organized, and consistent environment.
The combination of responsiveness, demands and structure will enrich the relationship between you and your child. Here are four parenting styles, their key characteristics and their importance to a child’s development.
Parents with an authoritative parenting style work together with their children to solve problems. Instead of letting children solve problems on their own, they come back to their own level and help them come up with ideas to solve problems. Instead of giving them answers, they give them the tools to solve the problems on the spot. These children tend to be self-disciplined and able to think for themselves in times of conflict.
Different Parenting Styles & Their Effects On Child Development
Authoritative parents also set clear rules and expectations for their children. They have clear boundaries and rules and communicate with their children in a way that encourages cooperation by providing choices, advice and encouragement.
One of the most essential characteristics of an authoritarian style is open communication channels and natural consequences. Although there are clear rules and expectations, children and parents regularly discuss their wishes and needs in order to understand each other and cooperate in all areas. These natural consequences show up when parents allow their children to do something they know is likely to be bad, so that the child knows what might happen next.
Authoritative parents use discipline to teach their children and solve problems, not as a form of punishment. It promotes autonomy in children.
This parenting style focuses on both control and support. Authoritarian parents also have this tendency
What Type Of Parent Are You: 4 Parenting Types
For their children. Parents respond to their children’s social and emotional needs and provide clear rules and expectations.
One study found that parents who used an authoritative parenting style had children who scored highest on measures of social and emotional development such as play, self-esteem, tantrums, interaction with people, handling transitions and behaviour. Another study found that children of authoritative parents had higher academic success in college and were better adjusted.
Authoritarian parenting is parent-driven rather than child-centered. This means that parents set strict rules and punish them when these rules are not followed. Parents want their children to listen, not respond. They are authority figures and children’s behavior should reflect this.
In an authoritarian parenting style, communication channels tend to be one-way. The child’s social and emotional needs are not the most important thing, the most important thing is that the child follows the family’s rules and requirements. There is less flexibility with regard to children’s needs and less parental support, warmth and encouragement.
What’s My Parenting Style? 4 Types Of Styles Explained
The authoritarian parenting style has high control, low support and high structure. Parents with this style expect obedience from their children and ignore their children’s emotional and social needs.
Long-term cross-cultural research shows that harsh discipline predicts later behavioral problems and low self-esteem. In Japan, authoritarian parenting predicted poorer mental health outcomes in children as adults (eg, symptom problems, risk to self and others, life functioning, and mental health).
Parents who practice this parenting style are sometimes called neglectful parents because they are disengaged or absent from their relationship with their children. They provide little guidance or nurturing when children are emotionally wounded or have problems and seek help.
Uninvolved parents are indifferent to their children’s social-emotional and behavioral needs. This means that they often do not have enforced rules at home, and this behavior is particularly expressed when children enter the classroom.
Types Of Parenting Styles And Their Effects On Kids
This type of parent lacks control and support. They do not demand their children and do not react when the children need emotional support. They are also short in size.
Children whose parents are not involved suffer the worst effects – cognitive decline, antisocial behaviour, attachment problems and even brain differences. The good news is that Dr. Amy Werner, who has studied the resilience of neglected children, found that all it takes to strengthen a neglected child is the presence of a caring adult in the child’s life—a teacher, a grandparent, or a teacher—can make a child strong. Take a path of resilience and hope.
Permissive parenting is often child-driven. The child takes care of the house and there are no rules or expectations to meet. In an attempt to appease their children and avoid conflict, parents may overindulge them with toys, candy, TV, etc. They prefer positive outcomes to tantrums and controlling behavior.
However, these parents regularly communicate with their children, but it is a one-way street and the children get away with it. These parents often assume a friendship role and provide limited guidance or direction when conflicts arise.
Types Of Parenting Styles & Their Effects On Children
The parent-child relationship results in low demands and high responsiveness. Children of permissive parents often get what they want from their permissive parents.
Yes, you can get screen time. When that time is over – it’s all over. The boundaries are clear. If your child has feelings about boundaries, that’s okay. You can understand how they feel, but keep the boundaries consistent.
One study found a link between uninvolved or permissive parents and a higher likelihood of criminal behavior and depression in teenagers. Another study found that permissive parenting styles were linked to a higher likelihood of anxiety and internet addiction in children.
A parenting style that has become popular in recent years is the sensitive parenting style. According to the University of Rochester Medical Center, sensitive parenting is often described as parents being more sensitive and responsive to their children’s pain, a loving and involved approach, and the use of firm rather than harsh discipline.
Authoritarian Parenting: Characteristics & Drawbacks
As children grow, they learn how to cope with the world, regulate their emotions and respond to changes around them. Positive parenting means that parents are very responsive to their children’s basic needs and accept their children’s individual needs, which may vary depending on the child’s temperament. Parents are more likely to lower their gaze and acknowledge their child’s feelings before suggesting a solution. This teaches children to accept that their feelings are valid and to come up with ways to solve problems in a healthy way.
This does not mean that these parents do not have rules, boundaries or demands. It just means that with all the rules and expectations still in place, it’s the parents’ job to guide their children through strong emotions and realistic situations in healthy ways.
In these examples, there are clear boundaries or limits to the child’s behavior—no jumping off the table, no turning off the screen, no walking. Sensitive parents set boundaries, validate their children’s feelings and provide a beginning for conflict resolution.
Gentle or sensitive parenting styles, such as positive parenting, are often confused with permissive parenting. That’s not how it is. Effective and positive parenting is warm and respectful, with limits and boundaries. This is a balanced approach.
Helicopter Parenting: Signs, Pros And Cons, How To Change
These parenting styles were developed to allow parents to be categorized for research—as such, they are extreme versions of a possible continuum. At any given time we can be a little more strict or a little less strict, or a little more warm and understanding or a little less.
Another important caveat is that there may be some cultural differences—predictions that predict positive outcomes in Western cultures may not hold true in other cultures.
Overall, it is important to have a balanced approach where you provide clear boundaries and limits, as well as warmth and sensitivity in most situations.
Within developmental psychology, it can be argued that children who grow up in an authoritarian parenting style are more likely to be self-reliant, independent and socially competent. This parenting style is ideal for sensitive and positive parenting.
Types Of Parenting Styles And Their Effects On Children
The key to finding the perfect (golden match, if you will) parenting style is to be flexible. Successful parents develop the ability to adapt to circumstances. This balance can vary from family to family, but the most important thing is that it has both demanding and responsive qualities.
Use these styles
