Parenting is a complicated activity comprised of numerous particular behaviors that separately and collectively impact child outcomes. Although individual parenting practices, such as slapping and reading aloud, may have an effect on child development, focusing on a single action may be deceptive. Numerous authors have observed that specific parenting methods are less predictive of child well-being than the overall pattern of parenting. The majority of studies that seek to characterize this expansive parental environment rely on Diana Baumrind’s parenting style idea.
Parenting style is used to describe normal variances in parental efforts to socialize and govern their children (Baumrind, 1991). Two factors are crucial to comprehending this term. First, parenting style is intended to describe normal parental variances. In other words, Baumrind’s taxonomy of parenting styles does not include aberrant parenting, such as that witnessed in abusive or neglectful households. Baumrind assumes that control difficulties are central to normal parenting. Although parents may vary in how they attempt to manage or socialize their children and the extent to which they do so, it is thought that the fundamental responsibility of all parents is to influence, instruct, and control their children.
Parents typically become less involved in their children’s lives as they enter middle school. However, adolescents must still maintain healthy relationships with their parents. Parents sustain relationships with their adolescents through displaying affection and a positive affect, listening and demonstrating empathic understanding, establishing trust, demonstrating acceptance, and expressing approval. A healthy relationship with caring adults is one of the finest defenses for a developing adolescent.
Emotional autonomy is an individual’s psychological detachment from his or her carers. It consists of a gradual decrease in dependence on their caretakers, individualization, parental de-idealization, and the perception of one’s parents as individuals (Steinberg & Silberberg, 1986). This is not the storm and stress of adolescent alienation from their family, as was previously believed; rather, it is the tranquil process of becoming an individual. Teenagers are not disconnecting from their parents, but their childhood perspectives and dependency on them are shifting. Teenagers will de-idolize their parents and view them more as individuals.
While establishing emotional autonomy is a normal, adaptive process throughout time, it can be painful at the time. Teenagers may experience a sense of loss as they lose these early notions of their parents (Hill & Holmbeck, 1986). This emotional distance will ultimately help adolescents to rely on themselves more and establish independence.
Behavioral autonomy, also known as decisional autonomy, is the capacity to choose one’s own behavior (Bosma et al., 1996). The correlation between emotional autonomy and behavioral autonomy is strong. As adolescents develop greater emotional autonomy, they wish to make more independent decisions. With maturity comes greater emotional and behavioral independence. However, excessive behavioral autonomy in young adolescents has been associated with poor adjustment. Early adolescent behavioral autonomy has been associated with an increased risk for delinquency and low academic achievement (Beyers & Goossens, 1999). Frequently, parents ask how much independence to grant their teenager and at what age.
Effective parents control their child’s conduct through supervision, appropriate boundaries, and discipline. Regulation teaches children self-restraint and rule-following. Depending on parenting style, discipline manifests differently.
We shall investigate two parenting approaches. Keep in mind that the majority of parents do not strictly adhere to any model. Typically, real people fall somewhere in between these two styles. In addition, parenting methods may vary from one child to the next or during periods when the parent has more or less time and energy. Parenting styles can also be influenced by the parent’s concerns in other areas. For instance, parenting styles tend to become more authoritarian when parents are exhausted and possibly more authoritative when they are energized. Occasionally, parents appear to alter their parenting style when others are present, perhaps because they become more self-conscious as parents or are worried about giving others the impression that they are a “tough” or “easy-going” parent. Obviously, parenting styles may reflect the type of parenting a person observed as a child.
Parenting style is a solid indication of parenting performance that predicts child well-being across a broad range of situations and various kid populations. Parental attentiveness and parental demandingness are both essential components of effective parenting. Authoritative parenting, which balances explicit, strong parental demands with emotional response and respect for child autonomy, is one of the most reliable family predictors of competence from infancy through adolescence. However, despite the lengthy and extensive history of research concerning parenting style, a number of questions remain unanswered.
