The Effects of Parenting Styles on Children

There are many ideas and opinions on how to raise children and how to be a “good parent. ” Often, parents get advice on how to parent from their own parents, from their close friends, and even experts. There are three main types of parenting styles: authoritarian parenting, permissive parenting, and authoritative parenting. Authoritative parenting is a parenting style characterized by strict rules, harsh punishments and little warmth. Permissive parenting is characterized by parents who are responsive to their children, but lack rules and discipline.
Authoritative parenting is characterized by parents who hold high expectations and set clear guidelines, but are responsive and loving to their children. Parenting styles determine the behaviour of children. The most effective parenting style, the authoritative style, can help lead to positive outcomes for children. It is significant to know what impact each parenting style has on a child’s behaviour due to certain parenting styles having a negative effect, and certain styles having positive and healthy effects on a child’s behaviour.
A national longitudinal survey was conducted by Social Development Canada and Statistics Canada that observed over 4,100 children over a eight year period. The results supported many of research psychologist, Diana Baumrind’s, findings. This included, that an authoritarian parenting style lead to children who are obedient, competent, good at following rules; but they lack in self-esteem, social skills and happiness, and were more likely to be aggressive. An authoritative parenting style, results in children that are balanced, competent, successful, and happy.

Lastly, a permissive parenting style resulted in children having poor academic records and they were more likely to clash with authorities. Diana Baumrind believes that: While it is unreasonable to expect any parent capable of committing to one style and never deviating from it, having an end result in mind – what kind of person you want your child to become and what type of relationship you want to have with them – can provide the extra motivation and reasoning behind your choice of parenting style and disciplinary strategies. (Smith, 2011, www. suite101. om) This is a very good suggestion for parents because if one truly looks into how they want their child to turn out, they will probably want them to be happy, responsible, competent, social, successful, and balanced, and they will realize that there is a way to achieve that. This would be achievable by them being a role model for their children, showing them a prime example of who they should look up to. An authoritative parenting style is a balance of setting rules, giving love, but at the same time letting children know that the parent is in charge.
An article about how parenting styles impact children states: Balanced (Authoritative) parents:• Guide their children’s activities explaining why rules are important • Consider their child’s point of view when they refuse to behave as requested. In this way, the parent is accepting of their child’s individuality while setting standards for future behaviour • Keep communication open and clear• Enforce consistent consequences (Bornstein, 2007, www. ealthunit. com) This is a true method of balanced parenting, according to Rick Trinkner, a doctoral candidate at University of new Hampshire, he suggests, “Our data offers further evidence that the authoritative parenting style is an effective way for parents to successfully socialize their children and that its influence works largely through its effect on youth perceptions of parental legitimacy” (Wyman, 2012, www. howtolearn. com).
The references above, show that the authoritative parenting style is the best way to raise a child. A disadvantage when researching the effect that parenting styles have on child behaviour is that some parents may deny that the result of their child’s behaviour is due to their parenting style. It could also offend some parents if it were said, for example, that their child is unhappy and aggressive because of their authoritarian parenting style.
Although surveys and observations have been done on this subject, and that there is research to prove that parenting styles do have an effect on a child’s behaviour, everyone always has their own opinions, and may not agree with this research. References Bornstein L, Bornstein MH. (2007). Parenting styles and child social development. In Tremblay RE, Barr RG, Peters RDeV, eds. Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development [online]. Montreal, Quebec: Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development.
Smith, L. (2011). Parenting Styles: Authoritarian, Authoritative and Permissive. In Parenting Methods [online. ] Retrieved Monday, October 15th, 2012, from http://suite101. com/article/parenting-styles-authoritarian-authoritative-and-permissive-a361151. Wyman, P. (2012). How Your Parenting Style Affects Your Child’s Behaviour. In Articles [online. ] Retrieved Monday, October 15th, 2012, from http://www. howtolearn. com/2012/02/how-your-parenting-style-affects-your-childs-behavior.