The Importance of Parenting Styles: Essay Sample

Introduction

Parenting essentially shapes children into responsible adults by interacting with their world of influence. It is a means of reflection on the relationship between parents and their children. It is important to underscore that this is a complex activity that entails certain behaviors and attitudes and the collaboration of these aspects impact on a child's outcomes. The concept of parenting can be expounded using two elements which include a parent's demandingness and responsiveness. Parental responsiveness can be described as the extent a child is supported by their parents to ensure satisfaction of their needs. Demandingness, on the other hand, entails to the degree to which a parent outlines standards to be followed by the child, and the set guidelines inform the discipline aspect. These two elements interact, and the outcome is securing attachment in children. According to Baumrind, there exist three parenting styles and include authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive. This paper will be based on Baumrind's model in examining the authoritative parenting styles and why it is considered the most balanced and successful.

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Reviewing literature on parenting styles has evidenced that it is a critical element of how children and adolescents develop psychologically. Parenting styles significantly impact a child's life as a whole (Bibi et al., 2013). It has been suggested that of the different parenting styles, authoritative parenting styles is the most balanced and has a positive impact on different domains of the children and adolescents such as psychological development and education among others (Bibi et al., 2013). Authoritative parenting can be defined as a parenting style that effectively integrates demandingness and responsiveness. In this parenting styles, parents make demands which are logical, set limits and follow up on compliance. Also, they tend to be warm and accepting of the children's perspectives. It is also essential to know children are allowed to participate in the decision-making process and their views are taken into account. It means that parenting is adopting an authoritative parenting style to ensure children are monitored and appropriately discipline in addition to being supported (Rego, 2015). Due to this balance between responsiveness and demandingness, authoritative parenting style is considered the most appropriate.

The application of authoritative parenting styles has some favorable outcomes for the children. As earlier indicated, this parenting style features high degrees of both demandingness and responsiveness. The result is appropriate integration of guidance and consistent firmness. Children from this parenting style showcase increased proficiency, cheerfulness, and success. They usually develop the conviction that they can handle new problems and accomplished new tasks. They also have the understanding that if they do not make enough efforts, they can potentially get disappointed. In case of failure, they attribute it to insufficient efforts instead of lack of intelligence (Rego, 2015). This parenting style promotes self-assurance, and this means the person will have more conviction to learn and do more. Objectives usually lead to the learning for experience instead of showcasing to others. It promotes focusing on activities, and in schools, there is a tendency to earn better grades. Essentially, the authoritarian parenting style has a positive impact on children's academic performance (Rego, 2015). For adolescents, this parenting style promotes personal and social responsibilities and does not constrain the newly established autonomy and individuality. The analysis has indicated that the authoritarian parenting style is the most appropriate.

Research suggests that authoritative parenting styles are more appropriate showcasing higher levels of self-esteem, reduced rates of delinquency, and feeling of self-worth. Also, they tend to have better academic achievement (Ullrich, 2014). It is important to contrast this to contrast these with outcomes of other parenting styles such as authoritarian parenting, and permissive parenting style. The authoritarian parenting style is characterized by the situation the parent is demanding but lack responsiveness (Ullrich, 2014). Parents, in this case, use power-assertive techniques of socialization such as physical force, commands, and love withdrawal to control the self-expression and independence of the child. The inclination of these parents is setting high standards and guidelines. Obedience is demanded, and love is often associated with success (Alicia, 2018). Concerning the outcomes of authoritarian, it has been suggested that it is associated with reduced levels of self-reliance and feeling of self-worth. Also, there is heightened levels of anxiety and children having obsessive-compulsive signs. Despite this, it is essential to indicate, depending on culture, this parenting style has evidenced some improve child outcomes. For instance, it is popular in Chinese culture and has been associated with positive child outcomes in an academic context (Alicia, 2018). Lastly, there is a permissive parenting style associated with minimal clear and predictive guidelines since the need for compliance irregular and misconduct is not met with disciplinary actions. There is a high level of freedom accorded to children and behaviors are nor restrained unless they cause physical harm. Child outcomes in this parenting style are mixed since context and culture are important components. It has been reported to have positive child outcomes such as increased happiness, social esteem, and academic performance. For instance, research in Spain has indicated some positive outcomes such as emotional adjustment, self-esteem, and social competence among others (Alicia, 2018). On the other hand, there are some undesirable outcomes such as low self-reliance and self-esteem. This analysis has comparatively indicated the outcomes of the three parenting styles.

Studying available parenting styles is important. However, the most important thing is how to use this information to successful parenting and family life appropriately. Baumrind's model of parenting is based on establishing a balance between a parent's demandingness and responsiveness (Alicia, 2018). The examined information can help in determining the appropriate between these components to have the best relationship between parents and children. Also, it would inform on the best parenting style to promote positive child outcomes in terms of educational achievement and psychological wellbeing.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is important to underscore the importance of parenting styles in the development of children. The parenting style adopted by parents has a great implication on children domain such as psychological health and academic performance. For instance, it has been reported that the authoritative parenting style is the most appropriate due to its numerous positive outcomes such as academic performance and emotional well-being. Health family and school environment are based on positive parent-child relationship. This means that the appropriate parenting style needs to be selected considering other factors such as culture. It is important for the parents to support and care for the children in addition to having flexible attitudes. The outcome is often positive educational, psychological and mental health of the children.

References

Alicia, A. (2018). Parenting Styles, Academic Achievement and the Influence of Culture. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Research Study, 1(4). doi: 10.31031/pprs.2018.01.000518

Bibi, F., Chaudhry, A., Awan, E., & Tariq, B. (2013). The contribution of Parenting Style in the life domain of Children. IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 12(2), 91-95. doi: 10.9790/0837-1229195

Rego, T. (2015). The Concept of Authoritative Parenting and Its Effects on Academic Achievement. Journal of Psychology & Clinical Psychiatry, 3(6). doi: 10.15406/jpcpy.2015.03.00172

Ullrich, E. (2014). Parenting Style as a Moderator of Child Internalization of Parental Values. Retrieved from https://mountainscholar.org/bitstream/handle/10217/82573/Ullrich_colostate_0053N_12260.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y