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Christie Tursi
Dr. Gabriela Rios
ENC 1102
June 9, 2014
Parenting Styles And The Effects On Child Development
Society, like parenting, is centered on human development and functions by balancing
individual freedom and control. The 1950s societal norm of family consists of a mother and a
father, and they are responsible for teaching their children values. Children will either develop
positive or negative habits during this stage. In todays modernized society, families vary in size
and gender, and have the opportunity to adopt. Diverse household structures can influence
parenting styles and the way children develop differently, specifically their behavior. Parents are
the power structure in a household because they are the providers; they have more knowledge
and teach their children. Children are constrained by obeying and pleasing their parents that have
particular parenting styles, overall affecting their development. There are three types of parenting
styles: authoritarian, permissive and authoritative. Authoritarian parents are characterized by
strict rules, harsh punishments and withdrawal of love. Permissive parents are very lenient, have
few or inconsistent rules, and tend to spoil their child. Authoritative parents are medians that
hold high expectations, act as role models, and display unconditional love to their child. My first
source (Choi, Jeong-Kyum, and Ho-Soon Pyun),
Choi, Jeong-Kyun, and Ho-Soon Pyun. "Nonresident Fathers Financial Support, Informal
Instrumental Support, Mothers Parenting, And Child Development In Single-Mother
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Families With Low Income." Journal Of Family Issues 35.4 (2014): 526-546. PsycINFO.
Web. 5 June 2014.
In the article, "Nonresident Fathers Financial Support, Informal Instrumental Support,
Mothers Parenting, And Child Development In Single-Mother Families With Low
Income, Dr. Choi, editor of the Journal of International Social Issues, and Ho-Soon
Pyun, an Adjunct Professor at WSU, studied how single parent homes and how a fathers
child support effects child development. They claim that the fathers financial support is
positively associated with signs of child well-being, such as behavioral adjustment,
academic achievement, and cognitive outcomes. For example, nonresident fathers
financial aid support can be supplemental economic resources for single mothers and
their children, which allow mothers to buy necessary material goods and services such as
medical insurance, child care or school, books and toys, which may enhance childrens
developmental processes. Not only do fathers that pay child support help give their child
the necessary tools they need but also alleviate the mothers stress of a financial burden,
which affects her parenting. Research shows that increased stress on a mother is
associated with more frequent problematic child behavior.
Although I do believe that fathers who pay child support lessen economic hardship and
ideally improve a childs behavior by providing him/her with toys and child-care, but we
cant trace what exactly mothers are really using the money for and it depends on the
mothers parenting more as she deals with stress. I think what effects a childs behavior
the most in a low-income, single mother household is the divorce itself and not being able
to have a relationship with their father. For example, divorce is known to have a strong
effect on a child because they may hear their parents fight and may have to pick sides,
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which disrupts unity as a family. In my experience, when my parents separated they made
my brother and I choose who we wanted to live with but it felt like I was torn to choose
who I loved more. Since I lived with my mom and she directly took care of me, I had
an insecure relationship with my dad; I was reluctant to see him. I also thought it was
acceptable to call other people names because my parents called each other names. I even
had bad words slip out of my mouth sometimes when I didnt even mean to say them. In
sum, I believe the amount of time one spends directly with their parent shapes their
relationship and their development more so than having indirect financial assistance.
Gauvain, Mary, Susan M. Perez, and Heidi Beebe. "Authoritative Parenting And Parental
Support For Children's Cognitive Development." Authoritative parenting: Synthesizing
nurturance and discipline for optimal child development. 211-233. n.p.: American
Psychological Association, 2013. PsycBOOKS. Web. 5 June 2014.
In the article Authoritative Parenting and Parental Support for Childrens Cognitive
Development, psychologists Mary Gauvain, Susuan M. Perez and Heidi Beebe suggest
that it is important to consider the manner of of parent-child relationship that may
contribute to different learning results. Through studying mother-child interactions, they
compared two groups of children with the same IQ and matching pre-tests, and gave
them a task to complete. They have concluded that one aspect that may both contribute
to and be informed by childrens cognitive and sociomotional development is parenting
style. In this light, parenting style may serve as an index of the dynamic nature of
learning opportunities in social context (5).Their research shows that the mothers of the
non-compliant children expressed more disapproval toward their children by using more
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behavioral consequences and by constraining their children to explore independently, as
opposed to mothers of compliant children that assumed for responsibility for the task.
I agree that a childs learning and cognitive development is associated with parent-child
experiences, such as how they were disciplined in this case, which may inhibit their
ability to learn and may inhibit their social skills. For example, authoritarian parents are
characterized by strict rules, harsh punishments with little or no explanation and
withdrawal of love by associating love with only success and accomplishments. In the
study, a child of the authoritarian mother may assume less responsibility for the task
because the child may not want to disappoint their mother and may fear punishment. Yet,
I do believe that children of authoritarian parents may perform better due to the pressure
of their parents. For example, many families I know enforce strict rules that dont allow
their child to go out in order for them to study more and not get in trouble, as well as
punishing them if they do not earn an A, so they usually perform better than average on
tests caused by the pressure of their parents high standards. This authoritarian style
parent-child relationship can be tied to inclined academic performance but negatively
affects the social life of children from being too sheltered.
"John Locke." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. William Uzgalis, 10 July 2012. Web. 6
June 2014.
John Locke, an English philosopher and physician during the Enlightenment, believed to
what is known as tabula rasa. Locke compares our minds to a blank sheet of paper,
containing no ideas at birth. Therefore, our knowledge is shaped by our experiences. The
term idea, Locke explains stands for whatsoever is the Object of the Understanding,
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when a man thinks (2. The Limits of Human Understanding). Although Western
philosophers, Plato and Descartes disagree on the grounds that certain habits are innate or
occur naturally. I believe that the reason certain habits seem to occur naturally is because
those habits are inherited from our parents just like animal instincts. This has sparked the
nature vs. nurture debate. For example, if someone does well in school, is it because he or
she is a gifted prodigy or a result of an enriched environment? Or if a husband abuses his
family is it because he is a violent person or something he learned from observing his
parents relationship? This question has remained unanswered for centuries.
But according to Vatz, a rhetorical situation causes exigency, or a reaction. The effect of
a rhetorical situation is susceptible to change because it depends on the audience. Bitzer
would argue rhetorical discourse comes into existence as a response to situation. In
other words, the situation is urgent and therefore brings attention. In this rhetorical space,
parenting styles are the power structure and the childs behavior is the constraint. I agree
with Locke, that behavior determined by experience. I also agree with Vatz, on the
grounds that like a rhetorical situation, childrens behavior can change because not every
child reacts the same way to parenting styles with different levels of affection or
punishment.
Tan, Tony Xing, et al. "Family Stress, Parenting Styles, And Behavioral Adjustment In
Preschool-Age Adopted Chinese Girls." Early Childhood Research Quarterly 27.1
(2012): 128-136. PsycINFO. Web. 10 June 2014.
In the article "Family Stress, Parenting Styles, And Behavioral Adjustment In Preschool-
Age Adopted Chinese Girls", psychologist Tan and colleagues studied family stress,
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parenting and child behavior in adopted Chinese families. Foster care itself is known to
have a negative effect on a childs cognitive behavior and development; children who are
taken away later in age are at a higher risk due the torn separation from their parents. This
makes parenting for challenging because their adopted child may have had a history of
abuse or may be already emotionally damaged and from the process. In fact, according to
Tan, over 88% of the 60 studies examined, stress and child psychopathology were
positively correlated (Stressful life events, parenting, and children's behavioral
adjustment). Results showed that adoptive mothers reported moderate family stress,
authoritative parenting style, and few behavior problems. In contrast, authoritarian and
permissive parenting is associated with higher stress levels and behavioral problems.
In sum, not all adoptions turn out beneficial to the child because not all parents are the
same. For instance, my aunt and uncle adopted two girls, who had the same mother,
because they couldnt have kids but they cared more about how much money they were
getting from the government than they cared for the girls. They are the authoritarian type
parents and in my opinion arent good parents because the girls are mostly locked in
separate rooms for time out, even on family occasions. In short, I believe adoption is a
successful natural intervention that promotes healthy development because adoptive
parents are usually loving and offer a better environment for growing up than foster
homes, but not all parents have the same parenting style and results on child development
may vary.
Uji, Masayo, et al. "The Impact Of Authoritative, Authoritarian, And Permissive Parenting
Styles On ChildrenS Later Mental Health In Japan: Focusing On Parent And Child
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Gender." Journal Of Child And Family Studies 23.2 (2014): 293-302. PsycINFO. Web. 7
June 2014.
In the article "The Impact Of Authoritative, Authoritarian, And Permissive Parenting
Styles On ChildrenS Later Mental Health In Japan: Focusing On Parent And Child
Gender", Japanese graduates of psychology, Uji, Sakamoto, and Adachi have examined
the three parenting styles: authoritarian, authoritative, and passive in Japan and its long
term effects on a childs mental health, psychological well being and risk to others. I
would like to focus on their passive parenting results. First off, passive parenting is
characterized by parents that are lenient and have few and inconsistent rules. According
to these psychologists, passivity and modesty no longer benefit individuals in the social
environment in Japan; instead, assertiveness and self confidence are necessary in order
to maintain positive mental health attributes such as life functioning, psychological well-
being, and self esteem(8). Also worth noting is only paternal permissive parenting led to
an increase in respondents symptomatic problems. Maternal permissiveness did not
affect childrens mental health. Thus its important for Japanese fathers must make a
commitment to parenting and avoid leaving the mother for the sake of their children to
live mentally healthy lives. I agree that passive style parenting does not set enough limits
for children and they will more than likely develop a lack of self discipline; especially
teenagers who may develop alcohol abuse from underage drinking and other drug abuse.
Xu, Huilan, et al. "Parenting Style And Dietary Behaviour Of Young Children. Findings From
The Healthy Beginnings Trial." Appetite71.(2013): 171-177. PsycINFO. Web. 10 June
2014.
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In the article, "Parenting Style And Dietary Behaviour Of Young Children. Findings
From The Healthy Beginnings Trial, Xu investigates child development, including their
diet behavior, based on the role of parents. Childrens dietary behavior is strongly related
to parenting styles and parenting interventions are used to prevent child obesity and
health risks. According to Xus experiment, most mothers were aged 25 years or older
(64%), married (95%) and employed (62%), with annual household income more than
$40,000 (74%), but only a quarter had tertiary education (26%). Just above half of the
children (54%) were reported as consuming 2 or more serves of vegetables a day, 71%
reported consuming 2 or more serves of fruit a day and 74% reported they did not
consume any soft drink, while more than half of the children (56%) reported to eat snacks
more than 1 time per week. Fruit portions were considerably higher for those families
who made over $40,000. On the other hand, mothers less than 25 years old reported
children with a higher soft drink use, as well as families with lower incomes who allowed
children to consume more unhealthy snacks. Childrens dietary behaviors are a reflection
of parental styles (warmth and hostility) and parental-efficacy (how well parents can
interpret their child). The proportion of 2 servings of vegetables or fruit was higher
among children of mothers with higher parental-efficacy (60% vs. 38%) and parental
warmth (58% vs. 43%) compared to lower parental-efficacy and lower levels of warmth.
Inversely, the ratio of consuming soft drinks was higher among mothers with low
parental-efficacy and snack consumption was higher with among children with mothers
who tend to be hostile.
On the contrary, in my view, authoritarians, those who are not warm and are
strict/demanding, may have the better qualities to enforce children to eat their fruits and
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vegetables. For example, my parents would not let me leave the dinner table until I ate all
my food on my plate, even if it became cold. This might sound harsh, but it worked. In
contrast, permissive parents tend to be very loving, yet too lenient and lack discipline and
may fail to enforce children to eat their vegetables by letting them scrape whatever they
dont like into the trash. Authoritative parents in my opinion would be the most effective
because they are warm, yet stern. Perhaps, they might offer an incentive like dessert or
offer to cook their childs favorite vegetable. In sum, parenting styles can negatively or
positively affect dietary behavior of children. These eating habits usually carry onto
adulthood and will have more serious effects when theyre older.