Parenting Styles and Their Influence on Adulthood

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Parenting Styles
The Parenting Styles’ Influence on Individual’s Future Life
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Parents can influence their children with the help of different specific practices, targeted at guiding, controlling, and socializing young generations. The parents’ attitudes to their kids create a specific emotional atmosphere, which is traditionally called a “parenting style”. It is generally thought that the way of treatment has a serious impact on the children’s future lives and development. The typology was first introduced by Diane Baumrind and identified four major types of parental behavior: authoritarian (or disciplinarian), authoritative, permissive (or indulgent), and uninvolved (or neglectful) (Kuppens & Ceulemans, 2018). There are numerous debates between experts about the pros and cons of each method of raising a child and its possible effect on the individual’s adulthood.

Parenting Styles

The Features of Authoritarian Parenting

Parenting styles are typically characterized by two dimensions: demandingness and responsiveness. Demandingness refers to “the extend parents control their children’s behavior or demand their maturity” (“4 Types of parenting styles and their effects,” 2021, para. 11). Responsiveness signifies “the degree parents are accepting and sensitive to their children’s emotional and developmental needs” ((“4 Types of parenting styles and their effects,” 2021, para. 12). The authoritarian type is characterized by high demandingness and low responsiveness, meaning that parents have high expectations of their kids’ achievements, giving them little response and care. This style implies indisputable obedience, with mothers and fathers applying it to “try to shape, control, and evaluate their children’s behavior based on the absolute set of standards” (Kuppens & Ceulemans, 2018, p. 169). The followers of this way demand obedience and use only one-way communication, making strict discipline their priority and often using severe punishments. According to Baumrind, these parents “are obedience- and status-oriented, and expect their orders to be obeyed without explanation” (as cited in Cherry, 2020, para. 8). Kids in such families tend to feel insecure and have low self-esteem, show poor performance at school, develop aggressive behavior, and even have increased risks to suffer from depression.

The Features of Authoritative Parenting

The authoritative parenting type is characterized by high levels of demandingness and responsiveness, meaning that parents expect good achievements from their kids, showing warmth and care at the same time. This style is “warmer and more autonomy granting than controlling” (Kuppens & Ceulemans, 2018, p. 169). It is aimed at encouraging children to be responsible, understand the reasons for rules, and make their own decisions. The followers of this way always give explanations and reasons for their actions and decisions, teaching the young generation about values and morals. The disciplinary methods in use are negotiable and aimed at the result, establishing the purpose of regulating the behavior. Authoritative parents are always supportive and encourage the independence of their children, always promoting communication and negotiating all the problems. This style is also called democratic due to its basic features. According to Baumrind, these parents “monitor and impart clear standards for their children’s conduct…They want their children to be assertive as well as socially responsible, and self-regulated as well as cooperative” (Cherry, 2020, para. 11). In such families, children are usually happy, more independent, successful, and have good self-esteem, communication skills, and better mental health.

The Features of Permissive Parenting

Permissive parenting is characterized by low demandingness and high responsiveness, meaning that parents are always nurturing and warm, and reluctant to establish rules. In such families, children are not used to hearing the denial of their requests as their parents are afraid to hurt them. Baumrind says that the followers of this style “are more responsive than they are demanding. They are non-traditional and lenient, do not require mature behavior, allow considerable self-regulation, and avoid confrontation” (as cited in Cherry, 2020, para. 14). Typically, these parents become friends with their children, forgetting that their basic duty is to teach the young generation the principal rules of life. The kids in such families tend to have behavior and emotional problems and show worse performance in studying as they cannot follow rules, have little self-control, and have poor social skills.

The Features of Uninvolved Parenting

Uninvolved parenting is characterized by low levels of demandingness and responsiveness, meaning that children have little emotional support and no rules. Such parents are neglectful of their children’s needs and desires. This situation can occur in families with parents having alcohol or drug abuse, or those who have been neglected in their childhood. Kids in such households are usually more impulsive, have low self-esteem and poor communication skills, and tend to have serious mental or behavioral problems in their future life, including criminal issues. The uninvolved or neglectful parenting style is considered to be the worst as it can lead to serious problems in adulthood.

The Parenting Styles’ Influence on Individual’s Future Life

The Reasons Parenting Styles Influence

There have been numerous debates and research about the influence of each parental style on the future life of the person. The family context is regarded as essential because it helps to establish the link between childhood and the relationships of a person with their parents with future behavior and performance. For example, the research, held in 2019 in Spain and Portugal, has shown that this context “continues to play a fundamental role in young peoples’ development, even during the third decade of their lives” (Parra et al., 2019, para. 35). A study has shown that the most widespread parenting style is authoritarian, “being twice as common as the authoritative one” (Parra et al., 2019, para. 37). The family context remains meaningful during the whole life of the person as it is the background serving as a basis for all the future intentions. The atmosphere, in which an individual is being raised, has an impact on their future behavior, attitudes, academic and career achievements, and even health and mental problems.

The Impact on Behavior

Numerous studies showed the correlation of parenting styles with future behavior. According to the research held in 2018, “children of authoritarian parents demonstrated more negative (i.e., hyperactivity, conduct problems, emotional symptoms) and less positive (i.e., prosocial behavior) child outcomes compared to children whose parents belonged to another parenting style” (Kuppens & Ceulemans, 2018, p. 175). The study has demonstrated that the authoritarian ways of parenting lead to the poorest future behavior. The findings of the research have also proved that even children with neglectful parents had fewer problems than those from authoritarian families. Meanwhile, those with authoritative mothers and fathers showed the lowest levels of conduct problems. These results prove that there is a strong connection between the way of upbringing and future behavior patterns.

Parenting style has also been found influential for a future level of the individual’s independence. For example, one research has demonstrated that children in authoritative families “reported the lowest expectation for behavioral autonomy” (Bi et al., 2018, p. 10). This result may be explained by the fact they have already achieved a good level of independence due to their positive relations with their parents, who set a goal of socialization by respecting their children’s needs. In contrast to this style, adolescents from families with an authoritarian way of upbringing tend to seek more autonomy because it is not available to them due to strict control over their lives. Permissive and neglectful parents do not set rules, and children in these families tend to “experience high levels of independence before they can manage it themselves” (Bi et al., 2018, p. 10). This study proved that the behavior and, in particular, the level of independence directly depends on the parenting style, and the authoritative style showed the best results.

The Impact on Academic Achievements and Career

There are numerous types of research, proving that parenting styles influence the future academic achievements and career of the individual. For example, one of the studies examined 310 students and found “a positive and significant relationship between the firm and reassuring parenting style”, while the authoritarian way proved “a negative relationship with educational success and career path” (Zahedani, 2016, p. 132). The research has shown that parental involvement and support are key components for better achievements. It has also been found that successful students had parents with firm styles and those with authoritative methods of upbringing “had the least scores” (Zahedani, 2016, p. 133). Another study has found that parental involvement is also a critical factor influencing self-efficacy and self-discipline in the process of learning among adolescents (Theresya et al., 2018). According to this research, the permissive parenting style “has a significant negative effect on academic achievement”, while the authoritative one proved to have a positive impact on the children’s success (Theresya et al., 2018, p. 36). All of these studies demonstrate that the way of upbringing has a serious impact on the academic achievements and future success of grown-up children.

Moreover, the results of numerous types of research have shown that there is a strong correlation between the way of upbringing and future career achievements. For example, one of the studies has found that a firm parenting style leads to positive career development (Zahedani, 2016). The study proves the right interaction can be beneficial for the future career of an individual. According to another research, the authoritarian parenting style is also found to be the most useful due to the high level of parental control, encouraging children to be resilient and prepared for life challenges (Preston & Salim, 2019). Another research, held in 2018, highlighted that the achievements of grown-up children depend on the activities, which their parents chose for them (Viola & Daniel, 2018). According to this criterion, authoritative mothers and fathers have a positive influence on their children’s career development as they allow them to participate in numerous activities, motivating them to become more explorative and self-reliant. All of these studies prove that there is a strong impact of parenting styles on the future career achievements of children.

The Impact on the Psychological State

Numerous studies, held in different European countries, established finding the link between parenting styles and the mental state of grown-up children as their priority. For example, the research, conducted in Spain and Portugal, proved that there is a strong connection between these two notions. According to the results of their study, “the authoritative and permissive styles are those most closely associated with high levels of wellbeing, while children who perceive their parents as neglectful and authoritarian scored lowest in this variable” (Parra et al., 2019, para. 39). Another research has found that “there is a significant relationship between the dimensions (indifference abuse and over-controlling) of parenting style of mother and the dimensions (stress, anxiety, and depression) of mental health” (Jahan & Suri, 2016, p. 3). These outcomes highlight that warm relationships between parents and their children lead to a more stable psychological state in the future, decreasing the chances of such serious mental conditions as depression and anxiety.

However, other studies provide information that parenting styles are not the only key reason for the appearance of mental health problems in adulthood. According to one of the studies, such factors as poverty level and bullying have a more serious contribution to the problem (Rezvan & D’Souza, 2017). The research proves that there is a correlation between parenting styles and the risks of future mental issues; however, there are other reasons which may appear to be more relevant from this perspective.

The Role of Gender

There have been numerous debates and studies, concerning the influence of parenting styles on children of different genders, trying to understand who is more susceptible to this impact, boys or girls. According to the research held in Spain and Portugal, there are many similarities in the level of distress among males and females. The authoritarian type was found to be the most damaging to both genders, while “the permissive and authoritative styles were most closely related to wellbeing” (Parra et al., 2019, para. 44). On the contrary, the research held in China showed that “the relationships between parenting styles and cohesion were stronger for girls” (Bi et al., 2018, p. 11). According to the results of the study, it is connected with the fact that females are usually more sensitive and emotional. However, it also highlighted numerous similarities between the reactions of boys and girls, making the conclusion that parenting styles influence both genders.

Conclusion

Parenting style is an important concept, referring to the way parents treat their children. There are four major types: authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and neglectful. There have been many types of research aimed at proving the influence of the atmosphere at home on various aspects of the future development of the child. Most of the studies have shown that the authoritative way of raising the young generation is the most beneficial. Kids in such families tend to have higher levels of self-esteem and independence, show better academic performance, demonstrate better social skills and good behavior, and have fewer chances to acquire such serious health conditions as depression and anxiety. On the contrary, multiple studies prove that the authoritarian style has more disadvantages as it makes children dependent on their parents due to a lower level of autonomy, and leads to behavior and mental problems in adulthood. In many aspects, this style is considered to be even worse than the neglectful type, which implies that parents do not take care of their children.

The studies have shown that each of the existing parenting styles, even the neglectful one, which is regarded to be the worst type due to the total ignorance of children’s needs, has its advantages and negative consequences. All of the studied works prove that the approach to parenting has a huge impact on the future life of children, including their behavior, relations with other people, achievements, and physical and mental health. A good parent needs to be considerate about their decisions when raising children and understand that all their actions influence their kids, determining their success and failures in adulthood.

References

Bi, X., Yang, Y., Li, H., Wang, M., Zhang, W, & Deater-Deckard, K. (2018). Parenting styles and parent-adolescent relationships: The mediating roles of behavioral autonomy and parental authority. Frontiers in Psychology, 9(2187).

Cherry, K. (2020). Why parenting styles matter when raising children. Verywell Mind.

Jahan, A., & Suri, S. (2016). Parenting style in relation to mental health among female adolescents. Abnormal Behavior Psychology, 2(125).

Kuppens, S., & Ceulemans E. (2018). Parenting styles: A closer look at a well-known concept.Journal of Child and Family Studies, 28(1), 168–181.

4 Types of parenting styles and their effects. (2021). Parenting for Brain.

Parra, A., Sánchez-Queija, I., del Carmen García-Mendoza, M., Coimbra, S., Oliveira, S.E., & Diez, M. (2019). Perceived parenting styles and adjustment during emerging adulthood: A cross-national perspective. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(15).

Preston, M., & Salim, R.M.A. (2019). Parenting style, proactive personality, and career decision self-efficacy among senior high school students. Humanitas Indonesian Psychological Journal, 16(2), 116-128.

Rezvan, A., & D’Souza, L. (2017). Influence of parenting styles on the mental health of adolescents. European Online Journal of Natural and Social Sciences, 6(4), 667-673.

Theresya, J., Latifah, M., & Hernawati, N. (2018). The effect of parenting style, self-efficacy, and self-regulated learning on adolescents’ academic achievements.Journal of Child Development Studies, 3(1), 28-43.

Viola, M., & Daniel, N. (2018). Influence of parenting styles on career development of youths with intellectual disabilities in selected skills training institutions in Zambia. International Journal of Humanities Social Sciences and Education, 5(12), 69-77.

Zahedani, Z.Z., Rezaee, R., Yazdani, Z., Bagheri, S., & Nabeiei, P. (2016). The influence of parenting style on academic achievement and career path. Journal of Advances in Medical Education & Professionalism, 4(3), 130-134.

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