What are the effects of 4 different types of parenting

Researchers studying fatherhood in different cultural contexts often discuss the form versus function of fatherhood. Parenting involves the behaviors of the parents. The nurturing function involves the outcome of the behavior from the child's perspective.

Think of a two-by-two matrix with "form" on one axis and "function" on the other, with form and function the same or different across cultural contexts. Different forms of parenting (for example, physical affection, saying "I love you", preparing special food, supporting a child's education ) can all serve the same function of making a child feel loved and accepted. In contrast, the same form of parenting (such as making direct eye contact with the child) can serve different functions depending on the cultural context (establishing attentive communication in some but showing disrespect in others).

Four ways of parenting

My colleagues and I studied how four forms of parenting relate to five aspects of child development to understand the commonalities and cultural specificity in how parenting relates to children's well-being. We recruited a sample of 8-year-olds and their parents in nine countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States) and interviewed them annually for many years.

Parents reported four forms of parenting in their relationships with their children, as well as memories of these same four forms of parenting in their childhood relationships with their own parents. We asked parents questions about:

(1) warmth (eg, "I make my child feel loved and needed," "as a child, my mother/father made me feel loved and needed");

(2) hostility and aggression (eg, "I go out of my way to hurt my child's feelings," "when I was a child, my mother/father went out of my way to hurt my feelings");

(3) indifference and neglect (eg, "I don't pay attention to my son," "When I was a child, my mother or father didn't pay attention to me"); and

(4) rejection (for example, "I really don't love my son,"

At ages 12 and 15, children reported five aspects of flourishing: engagement (being absorbed and involved in an activity or the world itself), perseverance (the tenacity to stick with things and pursue a goal despite obstacles). challenges), optimism (having a sense of hope and confidence in the future), connection (feeling loved, supported, and valued by others), and happiness (a general feeling of joy and satisfaction with life).

Key ideas

Our results suggest that single-generation effects of the four forms of parenting on child flourishing may demonstrate commonalities across cultural contexts. Within a single family generation, warmth promotes hostility, neglect, and rejection impede further development of child development. However, we also find evidence of cultural specificity in intergenerational patterns from grandfather to father to son, depending on the cultural norms of some forms of parenting. For example, children from cultures with higher-than-average parental warmth experienced the greatest benefit of intergenerational transmission of warmth in child flourishing. Similarly, children from cultures with hostility,

These findings suggest that children may benefit from some forms of parenting (and be harmed by others) regardless of cultural context. However, the findings also suggest that parents and children interpret parental behaviors by referring to norms about what behaviors are common, acceptable, and encouraged in their cultural context.