Authoritative parenting in western culture

Authoritative parenting in western culture

The different styles of parenting available play a significant role in the growth and development of children in western culture. No one parenting style fits every child, and as such, they should be adapted depending on the child’s and the parents’ personalities. Among the main parenting styles include; authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and uninvolved parenting. This essay will talk about authoritative parenting. As the name suggests, it involves parents having more control over their children’s behaviour. In this case, the parents intend to promote freedom and independence in their children, but at the same time, they exercise a certain level of control. As a result, the children become more mature and responsible at the early stages of their lives. The parents do this by promoting accountability which helps the children to respond to different circumstances in life in the best way possible. These styles aim at providing an optimum, well-developed child of competence and character. (“Authoritative Parenting”, 2019) Parenting is an important determinant factor in a child’s behaviour since children learn from what they see in their surroundings, as such, parents need to know how to be involved in their children’s lives without being overbearing. When parents are bossy in their children lives, there is a probability of them having mental and anxiety issues as they grow up. (Gere, Villabø, Torgersen & Kendall, 2012) Authoritative parenting is perhaps the most effective style of parenting as it establishes discipline, emotional development, and enhances problem-solving skills among children.

A research done by Choi, Kim, Kim, & Park, 2013, shows that authoritative parenting promotes close bonds between the parent and the child. By creating firm and clear rules, parents can engage their children employing inductive reasoning, active exploration risk-taking as long as it does not violate the regulations in place. Likewise, the probability of conflict is minimal, which promotes a close bond and reduced conflict. Children brought up in this style ideally have better relationships with their peers, academic performance, (Majumder, 2015) established core values and mental health. (Choi, Kim, Kim & Park, 2013)

Authoritative parenting demands high expectations from their children. Also, parents do their level best to provide whatever is needed, including resources for their children to fulfil these expectations. The continuous support that comes with this style of parenting is of great assistance in helping them. (Choi, Kim, Kim & Park, 2013) These parents provide constant supports to their children that help them meet their goals. In a sense, the belief is that by applying fair rules, in a warm and nurturing way, as well as effective communication with the child, it sets certain expectations on behaviour and maturity. (Maiuolo, Deane & Ciarrochi, 2019)

Through higher parental authoritativeness, studies have shown and identified this method as contributing to better mental health outcomes. In a study done on mental health problems in adolescents, it was found that authoritative parenting had a positive correlation between the parenting style and more significant active coping mechanisms in adolescents. It was attributed to the balance of parental limit setting, support and nurturing. (Maiuolo, Deane, & Ciarrochi, 2019)

Consequently, there is a belief in punishment to promote discipline. As a result of authoritative parenting, children grow up with high motivation levels, self-driven, and confident. It takes a strict approach to parenting, which aims at creating independence as early as possible in life, for instance, by contributing to household affairs.

Parents need to know where to draw the line so as not to be bossy in their children’s life which might be termed as helicopter parenting. (Jung et al., 2019) Authoritative parenting through studies and literature is seen as the most effective method of parenting. However, it is all about attaining a balance so as not to be overbearing.

Higher levels of parental control have been associated with child anxiety. (Gere, Villabø, Torgersen & Kendall, 2012) It is usually characterized by excessive parental regulation of their child’s activities and daily schedule, which affects how their thinking capacity and emotions. Research done on childhood anxiety disorder showed the effects of parenting behaviour as an influencing aspect in a child’s development and future behaviour since it prevents them from dealing with anxiety-provoking situations. (Gere, Villabø, Torgersen & Kendall, 2012) The rationale behind the findings was that when parents are overprotective of their children, it sends the message that the world is a dangerous place leading to anxiety. It was further observed that when children are diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. There is, however, no certainty that parental control is uniquely responsible for child anxiety disorder. Among the literature available, there is little to no particular study aimed at determining whether overprotective parenting is the sole cause of child anxiety because anxiety and child behaviour problems are both attributed parenting styles. (Gere, Villabø, Torgersen & Kendall, 2012)

Contrary to authoritative parenting, helicopter parenting promotes dependency, which has adverse effects on their lives. Such negative effects include; child’s mental well-being and anxiety. This parenting practise is generally regarded as detrimental to a child’s welfare. Psychological health-related issues become predominant in a child’s life. (Jung et al., 2019) However, some studies have shown that helicopter parenting has no direct correlation with a student’s well-being. For example, studies were done by Lampert (2009), and Reed et al. (2016) conclude that there is no direct association between helicopter parenting and psychological health problems. (Jung et al., 2019) Contrary to this, further studies have concluded that helicopter parenting sin some instances promotes parent-child relationships. Most students who received helicopter parenting in this study had better psychological adjustment, life satisfaction and high students in their study who grew up with helicopter parenting showed higher levels of life satisfaction, and had more precise and realistic goals. (Jung et al., 2019)

Conclusion

Authoritative parenting though, might have a few flaws, is the most effective style of parenting as current and ongoing research has shown over the years. It is beneficial to children upbringing since they grow up with close bonds with their parents due to less confrontation as a consequence of clear rules and limitations. They also gain a sence of accountability, promoting maturity and high expectations, independence, good mental health as well as the ability to handle stressful situations. The downside to this style has been on determining the balance between being authoritative and overbearing. The lack of balance among parents has led to helicopter parenting and parental control which has had detrimental effects on children’s growth. On the other hand, some studies have refuted a direct correlation between overbearing parenting and issues of mental health and child anxiety. Parents need to establish a balance when administering authoritative parenting on their children to ensure they get a bright future.