differences in parenting styles
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Chapter12PowerPointnotes_accessible.pptxThe Family Chapter 12
Chapter Outline
Family Structure
Family Dynamics
Child Maltreatment
Family Socioeconomic Context
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Defining Family from the Perspective of the Child
Defining “Family”
A group involving at least one adult who is related to the child by birth, marriage, adoption, or foster status
Responsible for providing basic necessities as well as love, support, safety, stability, and opportunities for learning
I. Family Structure
Family structure: number of and relationships among the people living in a household
Alterations in family structure
Influence interactions among family members
Affect family routines and norms
Affect children’s emotional well-being
Most effects of shifts are gradual; some single events can be traumatic.
Most effects of shifts are gradual; some single events can be traumatic.
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Changes in Family Structure in the United States1
The family structures in which children live have changed dramatically over the past 60- 0 years.
Children were much less likely in 2018 to be living with two married parents and much more likely to be living with single mothers than in 1960. (Note: Data for cohabiting parents was unavailable in 1960.) (Data from U.S. Census Bureau, 2018a, 2018b)
The family structures in which children live have changed dramatically over the past 70 years.
Children were much less likely in 2018 to be living with two married parents and much more likely to be living with single mothers than in 1960. (Note: Data for cohabitating parents was unavailable in 1960.) (Data from U.S. Census Bureau, 2018a, 2018b)
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Changes in Family Structure in the United States2
More children live with single or unmarried parents.
First-time parents are older than in the past.
More children live with grandparents.
Families are smaller.
Family structures are more fluid.
Changes in Family Structure in the United States3
More children are living with single or unmarried parents than in the past.
In 2018, 65% of U.S. children lived with married parents.
In the U.S., 26% of children live with single parents; 4% live with cohabiting parents.
Higher for Black (53%) and Latino (29%) children
Implications of Single Parent Family Structure:
Less time to spend with children
Lower income; 34% of single-parent families live below federal poverty line
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Changes in Family Structure in the United States4
First-time parents are older than in the past.
Average age when women had their first child was 21 in 1970, compare to 27 in 2016.
Teen birth rate is decreasing: ages 15–17 rate was 32 per 1000 in 1994 and only 9 per 1000 in 2016.
Older first-time parents (more likely)
Planned birth with fewer children
Have more education
Have higher job status
More financial resources
More positive parenting
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Changes in Family Structure in the United States5
More children live with grandparents; almost 10% of all children in the United States live with a grandparent.
In 1970, 3% children had grandparents as primary caregivers as opposed to 6% today.
There are financial constraints for grandparents as primary caregivers due to limited income and retirement funds.
Children more likely to experience emotional and behavioral problems.
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Changes in Family Structure in the United States6
Smaller families
Women delaying pregnancies for careers
Increased access to birth control
Fewer children with multiple siblings
Family structures more fluid
50% of marriages end in divorce
Repeated family transitions for children
Increased child behavior problems linked to increased family structure transitions
The more family structure transitions a child undergoes, the more instability the child experiences, which can lead to the development of behavior problems.
The more family structure transitions a child undergoes, the more instability the child experiences, which can lead to the development of behavior problems.
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Individual Differences: Teenagers as Parents
Teen pregnancy dropped dramatically over past two decades
Better sex education; access to birth control; abortion
Teen risks related to becoming pregnant
Disadvantaged household; school problems; low expectations for college; early first intercourse
Consequences of adolescent pregnancy
Higher risk of poverty, negative school outcomes; lower high school and/or college graduation; less positive parenting
Intervention programs (e.g., Teen–tot programs)
Same-Sex Parents1
U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015 that same-sex marriages are constitutional.
In 2016, 114,000 same-sex couples were reported to be raising children.
68% of these children are biologically related to one of their parents.
Second-parent adoption
American Academy of Pediatrics reaffirms that there is no evidence of a causal link between parents’ sexual orientation and children’s development across a range of domains (Siegel et al., 2013).
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Same-Sex Parents2
Research suggests that the development of children of gay and lesbian parents does not differ from that of children of heterosexual parents.
Child adjustment depends on family dynamics and closeness of parent–child relationship.
American Academy of Pediatrics reaffirms that there is no evidence of a causal link between parents’ sexual orientation and children’s development across a range of domains (Siegel et al., 2013).
Peer similarity in sexual orientation, gender identity, gender behavior, romantic involvement, sexual behavior
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Divorced Parents1
In 2018, 4.6 million children lived only with a divorced mother; 1.3 million with only a divorced father
Mechanisms by which divorce can affect children
Parent with whom child lives: single, time-intensive, financially constrained
New school, neighborhood disrupting routines and social networks
Outcomes
Positive: less conflict, fewer emotional problems
Negative: depression, delinquent behavior
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Divorced Parents2
Children’s adjustment to divorce
Children experience sadness, depression
Boys may externalize problems
May be a drop in academic achievement
Such children at greater risk of divorce for themselves
Overall small differences in children of divorced families when compared with intact families
College/older children less reactive to parents’ divorce
High levels of warmth from either parent can also buffer children from the effects of conflict during the divorce transition (Sandler, Wheeler, & Braver, 2013).
For children from high-conflict families, divorce is a positive change if it can disrupt that conflict.
High levels of warmth from either parent can also buffer children from the effects of conflict during the divorce transition (Sandler, Wheeler, & Braver, 2013).
For children from high-conflict families, divorce is a positive change if it can disrupt that conflict.
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Stepparents
More than 4 million children live with stepparents.
Simple stepfamily
Complex/blended stepfamilies
Stepfathers more likely to have strained relationships with stepchildren; conflict with stepparents is common
Positive relationships with each parent can have independent positive benefits on children.
Simple stepfamily: a new stepparent joins another parent and children
Complex/blended stepfamilies: addition of stepparent and step siblings
Attitude of the noncustodial biological parent toward the stepparent can lead to conflicts
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Family Dynamics
Family dynamics: the way in which family members interact through various relationships
Mother with each child
Father with each child
Mother with father
Siblings with one another
Family members are interdependent and reciprocally influence one another.
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Parenting1
Socialization: the process through which children acquire the values, standards, skills, knowledge, and behaviors that are regarded as appropriate for their present and future roles in their culture
Key parenting aspects important for child development are
Use of discipline
Overall parenting style
Majority of parents say they want them to be honest and ethical (71%), caring and compassionate (65%), and hardworking (62%) ( Pew Research Center, 2015 ).
Majority of parents say they want them to be honest and ethical (71%), caring and compassionate (65%), and hardworking (62%) ( Pew Research Center, 2015 ).
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Parenting2
Discipline: the set of strategies and behaviors parents use to teach children how to behave appropriately
Internalization: effective discipline that leads to a permanent change in child’s behavior (i.e., child learned and accepted desired behavior)
Punishment: a negative/undesirable outcome that follows a behavior to reduce the likelihood that the behavior will occur again
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Parenting3
Parenting styles
Parenting behaviors and attitudes that set the emotional climate of parent–child interactions, such as parental responsiveness and demandingness
Diana Baumrind (1973): 4 parenting styles
Authoritarian parenting
Authoritarian parenting
Permissive parenting
Uninvolved parenting
Recent research suggests parenting styles may not be singular but are dependent on contextual factors
Authoritative parenting: parenting style that is high in demandingness and supportiveness. Authoritative parents set clear standards and limits for their children and are firm about enforcing them; at the same time, they allow their children considerable autonomy within those limits, are attentive and responsive to their children’s concerns and needs, and respect and consider their children’s perspective.
Authoritarian parenting: parenting style that is high in demandingness and low in responsiveness. Authoritarian parents are nonresponsive to their children’s needs and tend to enforce their demands through the exercise of parental power and the use of threats and punishment. They are oriented toward obedience and authority and expect their children to comply with their demands without question or explanation.
Permissive parenting: parenting style that is high in responsiveness but low in demandingness. Permissive parents are responsive to their children’s needs and do not require their children to regulate themselves or act in appropriate or mature ways.
Uninvolved parenting: parenting style that is low in both demandingness and responsiveness to their children; in other words, this style describes parents who are generally disengaged.
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Permissive
High nurturance and communication
Little discipline, guidance, or control of misconduct
Rejecting-neglecting
Indifference
Unaware of what happens in child’s life
Parenting4
Characteristics of Parenting Styles:
Authoritarian
High behavior standards
Strict punishment of
misconduct
Little communication
Authoritative
Sets limits but listens
Flexible
High nurturance
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Baumrind: Parenting Styles
In Baumrind’s typology of parenting styles, every parent falls somewhere on the dimension of control and warmth. Baumrind grouped parents into four potential parenting styles. This figure shows the four potential responses of parents reacting to a child who will not share a toy. (Information from Baumrind, 1973)
In Baumrind’s typology of parenting styles, every parent falls somewhere on the dimension of control and warmth. Baumrind grouped parents into four potential parenting styles. This figure shows the four potential responses of parents reacting to a child who will not share a toy. (Information from Baumrind, 1973)
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Differences in Mothers' and Fathers' Interactions with Their Children
Interactions are influenced by:
Level of involvement
Child-rearing strategies
Culture influences
Warm and responsive parenting
Involvement
Both parents are involved in child-rearing behaviors; mothers spend one-and-a-half hours more daily with children than fathers do.
Child-rearing strategies
Mothers provide physical and emotional support.
Fathers play more with children.
Culture influences involvement and nature of interaction with children
Warm and responsive parenting from either parent is universally beneficial for children.
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The Child's Influence on Parenting
Bidirectionality of parent–child interactions: parents and their children are mutually affected by one another’s characteristics and behaviors.
Contributing factors to parenting received by children:
Differential susceptibility to quality of parenting
Individual differences in behavior, personality
Temperaments
Attractiveness
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Sibling Relationships
Siblings have positive and negative effects on one another’s development
Sharing
Reciprocity
Rivalry: conflicting relationships
Teaching social skills
Quality of sibling relationships determined by families and culture (warmth of parents)
Nature of parent relationship with each other (better relationship)
When parents are warm, sibling relationships are less hostile.
Siblings get along with one another better when parents get along with each other.
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Applications: Should Parents Spank Their Children?
What is spanking?
Striking a child on the bottom with an open hand or object
Who spanks?
Although spanking has decreased, the majority of parents still spank their children at some point
Is spanking effective?
Spanking does not improve children’s behavior.
Spanking increases children’s risk for a range of negative outcomes.
Spanking is linked with negative outcomes equally across cultural groups.
Spanking does not improve children’s behavior.
Spanking increases children’s risk for a range of negative outcomes.
Spanking is linked with negative outcomes equally across cultural groups.
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Child Maltreatment1
Child Maltreatment
Defined by federal law as an action or a failure (inaction) to act on the part of a parent or caretaker that either results in physical or emotional harm to a child or puts the child at risk of serious harm (Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act [CAPTA] of 2010)
Perpetrator is most often parents
In 2017, 674,000 confirmed U.S. child victims; 1688 deaths; both genders affected equally; highest rate among infants > 1 year
Maltreatment includes action and inaction.
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Child Maltreatment2
Major maltreatment types
Neglect
Physical abuse
Emotional abuse
Sexual abuse
Most common form of maltreatment: neglect
Polyvictimization often occurs.
Information from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Children’s Bureau, 2019.
64% of maltreatment cases involve neglect, 16% involve physical abuse, 5% involve emotional abuse, 7% involve sexual abuse, and 8% involve some other form of maltreatment.
Maltreatment includes action and inaction.
Information from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Children’s Bureau, 2019.
64% of maltreatment cases involve neglect, 16% involve physical abuse, 5% involve emotional abuse, 7% involve sexual abuse, and 8% involve some other form of maltreatment.
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Child Maltreatment3
Risk factors for maltreatment:
Parental lack of knowledge about child needs and abilities
Range of limited resources
Alcohol and drug dependence
Social isolation
Consequences of maltreatment for children can be:
Immediate
Longer-term
More chronic or occur when child is older (worse outcomes)
Immediate outcomes
Longer-term outcomes
Attachment challenges; increased risk of cognitive and social struggles
Psychiatric disorders in adolescence and adulthood
Heightened anger cue response; increased negative emotions
More chronic abuse
Worse outcomes for a child later in life, higher rates of substance abuse, violent delinquency, and suicide
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Child Maltreatment4
Positive outcomes are more likely if:
Abused children have sources of resilience in their lives
Physical needs are met
Parents are otherwise nurturing and in stable relationship
Access available to medical care and social services
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Applications: Preventing Child Maltreatment
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has identified five general strategies to prevent both child abuse and neglect.
Strengthen the economic situation of families.
Change social norms to promote positive parenting.
Provide quality early education to children.
Enhance parenting skills.
Intervene to help children and prevent recurrence of maltreatment.
The Family as Context
Recall Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Model
The family is:
Child’s most proximal context
Most direct influence on development
Affected by the contexts in which it is embedded
Cultural
Economic
Work
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Cultural Contexts1
Culture reflects beliefs and practices linked with a family’s country, religion, ethnic group, race, group, or affiliation
Research foci
Degree to which parents in different cultures engage in specific disciplinary practices (see next slide)
e.g., spanking likelihood and frequency
Degree to which similar parental behaviors affect child outcomes across different cultures
Similarity of discipline methods with children
Cultural influence on discipline effectiveness
Taken together, the results of the research to date suggest that while there are cultural—and often cross-country—differences in which parenting behaviors are preferred by parents, there is strong evidence that for any given parenting behavior, strong cross-cultural similarities exist in the implications of those behaviors for children’s development.
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Cultural Contexts2
Mothers across all countries reported high rates of teaching about good and bad behavior and low rates of love withdrawal. However, some clear country-level differences are seen in how often parents reported yelling or scolding, threatening punishment, taking away privileges, and using physical punishment.
Mothers across all countries reported high rates of teaching about good and bad behavior and low rates of love withdrawal. However, some clear country-level differences are seen in how often parents reported yelling or scolding, threatening punishment, taking away privileges, and using physical punishment. (Data from Gershoff et al., 2010)
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Economic Contexts1
An average American family will spend $12,980 per child per year—less in low-income families but more in high-income families
In low-income families
Parents spend more hours at work and less time with their children
Parents experience higher stress leading to depression, irritability, harsh parenting practices
Parents find it more difficult to provide basic necessities: food, medical care, shelter, safe schools and neighborhoods
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Economic Contexts2
In high-income families
Children have more, better-quality goods and experiences
Parents pressure children to overachieve
Children experience psychological stress
Children experience comparable or higher rates of drug use, delinquent behavior, mental health problems than low-income peers
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A Closer Look: Homelessness
About 3% of all public school children and their parents were homeless in 2015–2016 school year.
Associated with a variety of risks
Lack of adequate food and medical care, and regular routine; frequent moving
Consequences
More internalizing problems (depression, social withdrawal, low self-esteem)
Chronic school absences and challenges to academic achievement
Children living on their own (street children) coerced into prostitution, sexual slavery, organized crime
Parents' Work Contexts
Parents’ sense of accomplishment at work enhances mental health and quality of parenting.
Work–family conflict related to higher levels of emotional and behavioral problems in their children.
However, research does not support negative effects for children of working mothers.
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Childcare Contexts1
In the U.S., 53% of children under age 5 (nearly 11 million) have mothers who work for pay.
More than half of these children are in care provided by centers or by nonrelatives in their homes or family childcare settings during the hours their mothers are at work.
Note that these categories are not mutually exclusive. (Data from Laughlin, 2013)
In United States, 53% of children under the age of 5 (nearly 11 million) have mothers who work for pay.
More than half of these children are in care provided by centers or by nonrelatives in their homes or family childcare settings during the hours their mothers are at work.
Note that these categories are not mutually exclusive. (Data from Laughlin, 2013)
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Childcare Contexts2
From Table on Slide 39:
In the U.S., approximately 35% of children with working mothers are in center-based childcare, and 18% are cared for by a nonrelative in a home environment
A majority of children of high-income working parents are cared for in organized childcare centers or preschools (66%), whereas the majority of children in low-income families are cared for by family members other than the parents (Pew Research Center, 2015).
Childcare Contexts3
Adjustment and Social Behavior:
Studies find no difference in problem behavior between children in day care and those reared at home.
Quality of care determines the behavior of children.
Longer hours in daycare lead to better adjustment.
Most children in day care never develop behavior issues.
Children’s background characteristics are important, especially SES.
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Childcare Contexts4
The Relation Between Attending Child Care and Cognitive and Language Development:
High-quality childcare has a modest to positive effect on cognitive and language development.
Language stimulation benefits children.
Children from lower SES benefit from good day cares.
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Availability and Quality of Child Care1
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Public Health Association recommend the following standards for childcare:
Child-to-caregiver ratio of
3:1 for children aged 12 months or less
4:1 for 13 to 35 months
7:1 for 3-year-olds
8:1 for 4- to 5-year-olds
Maximum group sizes
6 for 12-month-olds and younger
8 for 13- to 35-month-olds
14 for 3-year-olds
16 for 4- to 5-year-olds
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Availability and Quality of Child Care2
Recommendation:
Formal training for caregivers, with lead teachers having
A bachelor’s degree in early childhood education or related degree such as child development or social work, or an associate’s degree working on a bachelor’s degree
At least a year of on-the-job training
