The Relationship Between Parents' Demographic Factors and Parenting Styles: Effects on Children's Psychological Adjustment

The present study explored the extent to which parent’s demographic characteristics, such as age, gender, education, place of residence, and family income have an influence on the parental style they adopt and consequently on their perception of their children’s psychological adjustment in regards to their family relationships, peer relationships, school performance, and the development of their self-esteem. Various studies conducted in the past as well as in recent years indicate that parental demographic characteristics are significantly linked with parenting behavior (parental styles) and predict the way parents perceive their children’s adjustment, development, and school achievement. The present study was quantitative and we applied three different self-report questionnaires, namely, a Personal Information Form (PIF) for the demographic data, the Parental Authority Styles (PAQ) Questionnaire, and the Questionnaire of Children’s Family Relations, School Performance, Social Competence, and Self-Esteem. We administered the instruments to 336 Cypriot parents (23% fathers and 77% mothers). Our results showed that parent’s demographics are significantly related to the parenting styles they adopt. Furthermore, authoritative parenting is significantly correlated with positive parental perceptions of children’ school performance, family relationships, social skills, and self-esteem. On the contrary, authoritarian parenting is a significant negative predictor to parental perceptions of children’s adjustment in the aforementioned areas of development.

Barret, R. L., & Robinson, B. E. (1990). The role of adolescent fathers in parenting and childrearing. Advances in Adolescent Mental Health, 4, 189-200.

Baumrind, D. (1967). Effects of authoritative parental control on child behaviour. Child Development, 37(4), 887-907.

Baumrind, D. (1978). Parental disciplinary patterns and social competence in children. Youth and Society, 9(3), 239-276.

Baumrind, D. (1991). The influence of parenting style on adolescent competence and substance use. Journal of Early Adolescence, 11(1), 56-95.

Bayer, J. K., Hiscock, H., Ukoumunne, O. C., Price, A., & Wake, M. (2008). Early childhood aetiology of mental health problems: A longitudinal population-based study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 49(11), 1166-1174.

Bayer, J. K., Sanson, A. V., & Hemphill, S. A. (2006). Parent influences on early childhood internalizing difficulties. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 27(6), 542-559.

Belsky, J., Crnic, K., & Gable, S. (1995). The determinants of co-parenting in families with toddler boys: Spousal differences and daily hassles. Child Development, 66(3), 629-642.

Bezeveggis, Η. (2012). Family and child. Retrieved from http://blogs.sch.gr/kiourtsis/files/2012/10/8_meros.pdf

Bigner, J. J. (1994). Individual and family development: A life-span interdisciplinary approach. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Bloomfield, L., & Kendall, S. (2012). Parenting self-efficacy, parenting stress and child behaviour before and after a parenting programme. Primary Health Care Research & Development, 13(4), 364-372.

Brewer, B. M. (1991). The social self: On being the same and different at the same time. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 17(5), 475-482.

Buri, J. R. (1991). Parental authority questionnaire. Journal of Personality Assessment, 57(1), 110-119.

Buri, J., Louiselle, P., Misukanis, T., & Mueller, R. (1989). Effects of parental authoritarianism and authoritativeness on self-esteem. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 14, 271-282.

Canitz, H. (1980). Father: Man, new role into the family. Athens: Notos Publishing.

Carlo, G., White, R. M., Streit, C., Knight, G. P., & Zeiders, K. H. (2018). Longitudinal relations among parenting styles, prosocial behaviors, and academic outcomes in US Mexican adolescents. Child Development, 89(2), 577-592.

Chourdaki, Μ. (1992). Family psychology. Athens: Gregori Publishing.

Cole, M., & Cole, S. R. (2002). Child development: Cognitive and psychosocial development in infancy and middle childhood (Volume Β). Athens: Tupothito.

Coleman, P. K., & Karraker, K. H. (2000). Parenting self-efficacy among mothers of school-age children: Conceptualization, measurement, and correlates. Family Relations, 49(1), 13-24.

Cox, M. J., Paley, B., Payne, C., & Burchinal, M. (1999). The transition to parenthood: Marital conflict and withdrawal and parent-infant interactions. In M. Cox and J. Brooks-Gunn (Eds.), Conflict and cohesion in families (pp. 87-104). Mahwah, NJ: Laurence Erlbaum Associates.

Darling, N., & Steinberg, L. (1993). Parenting style aw context: An integrative model. Psychological Bulletin, 113(3), 487-496.

Demetriou, L., & Christodoulides, P. (2011). Personality and psychological adjustment of the Greek-Cypriot youth in the context of the Parental Acceptance-Rejection Theory. The Cyprus Review, 23(1), 81-97.

Dimitriou, L. (2001). The first 6 years of child’s life. Athens: Pedio.

Dreikurs, R. (1991). The challenge to be parents. Athens: Glaros Publishing.

Eysenck, M. W. (2013). The impact of parental psychological difficulties on their children. In A. S. Antoniou and B. D. Kirkcaldy (Eds.), Education, family and child and adolescent health (pp. 21-35). Athens: Diadrassi.

Florsheim, P., Sumida, E., McCann, C., Winstanley, M., Fukui, R., Seefeldt, T., & Moore, D. (2003). The transition to parenthood among young African American and Latino couples: Relational predictors of risk for parental dysfunction. Journal of Family Psychology, 17(1), 65-79.

Forward, S. (1989). Toxic parents: Overcoming their hurtful legacy and reclaiming your life. New York: Bantam Books.

Galani, Α. Χ. (2011). The effect of the characteristics of the large and non-large family on the psychosocial development of children and adolescents (Master thesis, Ioannina University, Greece).

Georgiou, S. (2002). Family-school relationship, child’s development. Athens: Ellinika Grammata.

Georgiou, S. (2005). Education: Lifespan. Athens: Kastanioti.

Ginsburg, G., & Bronstein, P. (1993). Family factors related to children’s intrinsic/extrinsic motivational orientation and academic performance. Child Development, 64(5), 1461-1474.

Gonzalez, M., Jones, D., & Parent, J. (2014). Co-parenting experiences in African American families: An examination of single mothers and their nonmarital co-parents. Family Process, 53(1), 33-54.

Grolnick, W., Benjet, C., Kurowski, C., & Apostoleris, N. (1997). Predictors of parent involvement in children’s schooling. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89(3), 538-548.

Gustafsson, H. C., Barnett, M. A., Towe-Goodman, N. R., Mills-Koonce, W. R., Cox, M. J., & Family Life Project Key Investigators. (2014). Family violence and children’s behaviour problems: Independent contributions of intimate partner and child-directed physical aggression. Journal of Family Violence, 29(7), 773-781.

Hadjicharalambous, D., & Demetriou, L. (2020). The quality of the parent-child relationship and children’s family, school and social competences in Cyprus. International Journal of Social Sciences Perspectives, 7(1), 22-33.

Heinrichs, N., Cronrath, A. L., Degen, M., & Snyder, D. K. (2010). The link between child emotional and behavioural problems and couple functioning. Family Science, 1(3-4), 152-172.

Hoff-Ginsberg, E. (1998). The relation of birth order and socioeconomic status to children’s language experience and language development. Applied Psycholinguistics, 19(4), 603-630.

Hoff, E., Laursen, B., & Tardif, T. (2002). Socioeconomic status and parenting. In Bornstein, M. H. (ed.), Handbook of Parenting: Second Addition, Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ.

Hudson, D. B., Elek, S. M., & Fleck, C. M. (2001). First-time mothers’ and fathers’ transition to parenthood: Infant care self-efficacy, parenting satisfaction, and infant sex. Issues in Comprehensive Pediatric Nursing, 24(1), 31-43.

Kontopoulou, M. (2008). Psychosocial criterion of school social competence. In The context of EPEAEK project psychometric―Differential evaluation of children and adolescents with learning difficulties (pp. 1-54). Greece Thessaloniki Aristotle University.

Kyazze, D. R., Maani, J. S., & Lubaale, G. (2020). Fathers’ parenting practices and the children’s approaches to learning from three through five years: A case of Mityana District, Uganda. Psychology, 10(2), 57-64.

Lansford, J. E., Bornstein, M. H., Dodge, K. A., Skinner, A. T., Putnick, D. L., & Deater-Deckard, K. (2011). Attributions and attitudes of mothers and fathers in the United States. Parenting: Science and Practice, 11(2-3), 199-213.

Leaper, C. (2002). Parenting boys and girls. In M. H. Bornstein (Ed.), Handbook of parenting, Vol. 2: Biology and ecology of parenting. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.

Maccoby, E., & Martin, J. (1983). Socialization in the context of the family: Parent-child interaction. In P. Mussen (Ed.), Handbook of child psychology (Vol. 4). New York: Wiley.

Martinson, V. K., Holman, T. B., Larson, J. H., & Jackson, J. B. (2010). The relationship between coming to terms with family-of-origin difficulties and adult relationship satisfaction. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 38(3), 207-217.

McKinney, C., & Renk, K. (2008a). Differential parenting between mothers and fathers: Implications for late adolescents. Journal of Family Issues, 29(6), 806-827.

Nova-Kaltsouni, C. (1995). Socialization, the birth of the social subject. Athens: Gutenberg.

Pappa, Β. (2006). Parental as profession: Psychological types of parents and behavior of children and adolescents. Athens: Kastanioti Publishing.

Phares, V., Fields, S., & Kamboukos, D. (2009). Fathers’ and mothers’ involvement with their adolescents. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 18(1), 1-9.

Radziszewska, B., Richardson, J. L., Dent, C. W., & Flay, B. R. (1996). Parenting style and adolescent depressive symptoms, smoking, and academic achievement: Ethnic, gender, and SES differences. Journal of Behavioural Medicine, 19(3), 289-305.

Ren, L., & Pope Edwards, C. (2015). Pathways of influence: Chinese parents’ expectations, parenting styles, and child social competence. Early Child Development and Care, 185(4), 614-630.

Rhein, L. M., Ginsburg, K. R., Schwarz, D. F., Pinto-Martin, J. A., Zhao, H., Morgan, A. P., & Slap, G. B. (1997). Teen father participation in child rearing: Family perspectives. Journal of Adolescent Health, 21(4), 244-252.

Ryan, R. M., Tolani, N., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2009). Relationship trajectories, parenting stress, and unwed mothers’ transition to a new baby. Parenting-Science and Practice, 9(1-2), 160-177.

Sang, M. L., Daniels, M. H., & Kissinger, D. B. (2006). Parental influences on adolescent adjustment: Parenting styles versus parenting practices. Family Journal, 14, 253-259.

Stewart-Brown, S. (2008). Improving parenting: The why and the how. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 93(2), 102-104.

Strauss, M. A., & Stewart, J. H. (1999). Corporal punishment by American parents: National data on prevalence, chronicity, severity and duration in relation to child and family characteristics. Child and Family Psychology Review, 2(2), 55-70.

Temiz, G. (2020). The relationship between mothers’ psychological well-being and their attitudes towards their children. Psychology, 10(1), 1-9.

Uji, M., Sakamoto, A., Adachi, K., & Kitamura, T. (2014). The impact of authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive parenting styles on children’s later mental health in Japan: Focusing on parent and child gender. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 23(2), 293-302.

Vander, J. (1993). Human development. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Vlachogianni, Α., & Aggeli Κ. (2014). Parental role enhancement programs. Cognitive-Behavioural Research & Therapy, 1(1), 41-53.

Wayland, J., & Rawlins, R. (1997). African American teen mothers’ perceptions of parenting. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 12(1), 13-20.

Whitfield, C. L. (1987). Healing the child within: Discovery and recovery for adult children of dysfunctional families. Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications.