Asian Journal of Pediatric Research

3(3): 32-36, 2020; Article no.AJPR.57362

ISSN: 2582-2950

Parenting: Types, Effects and Cultural Variation

S. M. Yasir Arafat1*, Hasina Akter2, Md Aminul Islam3, Md. Mohsin Ali Shah4
and Russell Kabir5
1
Department of Psychiatry, Enam Medical College and Hospital, Dhaka-1340, Bangladesh.
2
Department of Nursing, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Bangladesh.
3
University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB), Dhaka, Bangladesh.
4
Department of Psychiatry, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Bangladesh.
5
School of Allied Health, Anglia Ruskin University, Essex, UK.

Authors’ contributions

This work was carried out in collaboration among all authors. Author SMYA designed the study,
performed the statistical analysis, wrote the protocol and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. All
authors managed the analyses of the study and managed the literature searches. All authors read
and approved the final manuscript.

Article Information

DOI: 10.9734/AJPR/2020/v3i330130
Editor(s):
(1) Dr. Emiliana Cristina Melo, Universidade Estadual do Norte do Paraná, Brazil.
Reviewers:
(1) P. Moodley, Mpumalanga Department of Education, South Africa.
(2) Filgona Jacob, Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Nigeria.
Complete Peer review History: http://www.sdiarticle4.com/review-history/57362

Received 07 March 2020

Accepted 13 May 2020
Short Communication
Published 23 May 2020

ABSTRACT

Studies have been coming out exploring different aspects of parenting and how the child has been
shaped by parenting. Parenting is the emotional tone between parent and child. It is usually
conceptualized by two dimensions, namely demandingness and responsiveness. Based on these
dimensions, parenting has been conceptualized in four types mentioned as authoritative,
authoritarian, permissive, and neglectful. Parenting has immediate as well as enduring effects on a
child’s behavioral, emotional, personal, and cognitive development. However, parenting is deeply
influenced by the culture which decides the limits of behavior that to be controlled and praised.
This narrative review was aimed to discuss the dimensions, types, effect of parenting style on the
child’s development, and cultural variation of it.

Keywords: Parenting; culture; demandingness; responsiveness; authoritative; authoritarian;

permissive.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

*Corresponding author: Email: arafatdmc62@gmail.com;


1. INTRODUCTION
Parenting has an immense role on the
development of all the aspects of life of the child.
It is perceived differently in different culture thus,
cannot be defined easily. It is defined as the
rearing of the child; especially the care, love, and
guidance are given by the parent [1,2]. Other
authors defined it as a general child-rearing
pattern that characterizes parents' behaviors
toward their child [3]. It is the patterns of a child’s
training molded by the normative interaction of
parents and how they respond to child’s
performance [4]. Parenting has been perceived
as giving necessary support to a child to develop
physically, emotionally, socially, and intellectually
[1,5,6]. Darling and Steinberg (1997), defined
parenting as a constellation of attitudes towards
the child that are communicated to the child and
create an emotional climate in which the parent’s
behaviors are expressed [6].
2. DIMENSIONS AND TYPOLOGY OF
PARENTING
Parenting is most often conceptualized by two
dimensions, i.e., parental acceptance,
involvement, and strictness-supervision, which
creates four types of parenting styles mentioned
as authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and
neglectful [2]. Baumrind explained two
independent dimensions theoretically which are
able to predict a child's behavior [2]. The first
dimension, i.e. responsiveness, is the amount of
nutrition, warmth, emotional expression and
positive reinforcement associated with child’s
opinion. The second dimension, i.e.
demandingness, refers to the control application
method, level of demand, and expectations
[4,7,8]. Baumrind identified three parenting styles
viz: authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive
[5,7]. However, Maccoby and Martin expanded
the preceding three classifications into four
parenting styles; viz: authoritative, authoritarian,
permissive and neglectful [8]. The authoritative
parenting style is characterized by high parental
responsiveness, and high parental demands. In
the authoritarian parenting style, the parent is
demanding but not responsive. The parent is
responsive but not demanding in permissive
style. The parent is neither responsive nor
Table 1. Typology of parenting
Demandingness High
Low
Arafat et al.; AJPR, 3(3): 32-36, 2020; Article no.AJPR.57362
demanding in the neglectful style [5,7,8]. This
scenario is further illustrated in Table 1.
3. EFFECTS OF PARENTING
The nature of parenting has immediate and
enduring effects on the development of the child
[1,7,9]. Parents have critical influences on the
child’s behavioral, emotional, personal and
cognitive development [10]. Parenting styles and
techniques have consistently been shown to
relate to various outcomes such as child
psychological problems (e.g., aggression) and
academic performance. Parenting style has been
found to predict child wellbeing in the domains of
social competence, academic performance,
psychosocial development and problem behavior
[11]. Inadequate parenting based on harsh
punishment and very little positive reinforcement
(may be authoritarian parenting) have been
linked with behavioral and conduct disorders,
negative social adjustment, such as hostility and
low self-esteem and permissive parenting is
highly associated with physical aggression [10].
Previous studies revealed that the adolescents
who perceive their parents as being firm, warm,
involved and democratic (authoritative
parenting), they perform better at school. It was
revealed that the combination of the three factors
i.e. high levels of parental warmth, behavioral
control and granting parenting style is more
effective than any of the factors considered
individually [3]. Other studies found that the
authoritative parenting style significantly
predicted academic performance, and no relation
was found for permissive and authoritarian
parenting styles [12,13]. Another study found
children from the authoritative parenting style
have the highest number of school attendance,
while children from authoritarian parenting styles
have the lowest and children from permissive
parenting style fall within the class of low school
attendance [14]. Evidence from past studies
showed that the authoritative style brings good
outcomes among adolescents, while some other
researchers have found out that in some cultures
and ethnicities (Asian American families);
authoritarian style may be associated with more
positive child outcomes [1,3,4]. Children who
Responsiveness
High Low
Authoritative Authoritarian
Permissive Neglecting
33

have authoritative parents show the type of
behavior described by Baumrind as energetic-
friendly. Those children are very self-reliant and
cheerful, can cope well with stress and they are
achievement-oriented. Risky behaviors are more
common among teenagers with authoritarian or
permissive parents [15]. Effective parenting
styles can reduce the risk of childhood
overweight which is reported in Latin America
and found that authoritarian parenting behaviors
increase their children’s risk for overweight [16].
A recent review revealed that parents directly
influence a child’s access to healthy or unhealthy
foods and enable or inhibit physical activity and
sedentary behaviors at home and a more
permissive parenting style was associated with a
more obesogenic environment while a more
authoritative parenting style was associated with
a less obesogenic environment [17]. John Buri
found a strong positive relationship between
parental authoritativeness and adolescent self-
esteem, a strong inverse relationship between
parental authoritarianism and adolescent self-
esteem [18]. Adolescents with authoritative
parents tend to achieve higher grades, be more
self-reliant, less anxious, less likely to engage in
delinquent behaviors and more likely to adopt
positive coping strategies than are adolescents
with parents using other rearing styles [11,19,20].
Students of authoritative parents have shown
such values as a stronger work orientation,
greater engagement in classroom activities,
higher educational aspirations, more positive
feelings about school, greater time spent on
homework, more positive academic self-
conceptions and lower levels of school
misconduct, such as cheating or copying [12].
Authoritarian parenting is believed to have
adverse effects on children’s psychological
development. Empirical studies showed that
children with authoritarian parents tended to
exhibit anxious and withdrawn behaviors, lack
self-reliance, rely on authority figures to make
decisions diminishing their sense of personal
value and responsibility [12,20]. Additionally, the
high level of parental pressure incorporated
within the authoritarian style can often reduce
children’s intrinsic motivation, causing them to be
reliant on extrinsic sources, thus undermining the
process of learning. These types of behaviors
often trigger poor communication skills, an
essential component predictor of future success
[12,20]. Authoritarian parenting style has been
linked to low academic achievement, the
emergence of problems related to alcohol abuse
and high levels of frustration and criminal
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Arafat et al.; AJPR, 3(3): 32-36, 2020; Article no.AJPR.57362
behavior [19]. Despite the high provision of
warmth, the low levels of control that permissive
parents have over their children ultimately reduce
their social competence [12].
4. CULTURE AND PARENTING
Parenting behavior is deeply influenced by the
culture which decides the limits of behavior that
to be controlled and praised. Extant
conceptualization of the parental behavior largely
bases on studies conducted with majority white,
middle-class families’ values, cultural norms and
parental expectancies [21]. There is a common
perception that Asian American parents are
authoritarians regarding academic as well as
extracurricular activities, and exceedingly
demanding in both academic and home setting.
Recently, these parents have been termed “tiger
parents” for the ferocity with which they discipline
their children and for their emphasis on the
importance of family obligation and academic
achievement [1,22,23]. The common adage
“strict father, kind mother” in Chinese families
suggests that the mother may be responsible for
the daily upbringing and emotional guidance,
while the father may be responsible for discipline
and socialization outside the home [22].
Previous research on parenting practices in
ethnic minority groups indicates that cultural
values and practices may impact parenting styles
such that the western-derived profiles
established by Baumrind and expanded by
Maccoby and Martin are not as applicable to the
groups [22]. Evidence revealed that among white
American families and Asian-American families
and highlighted the differences between them
and pointed out that what is accepted by white
Americans as good parenting is ‘authoritative
parenting’ [14]. It is proved that the first-
generation Chinese youth from authoritarian
homes do just as well in school as those from
authoritative homes [14]. Chinese-American
youths think of support and control differently
than White or Filipino Americans. Chinese
adolescents reported that the parents show their
love by instrumental support (by the provision of
needs and sacrifice for children) than verbal for
example “I love you”. Chinese parents are
considered more authoritarian, controlling and
restrictive compared with their Western
counterparts [10,24]. American parenting seeks
to “nurture innate abilities,” whereas Chinese
parenting emphasizes “training” (guan) [10,24].
Guan in Chinese parenting is defined as the
willingness of parents to be directive and

controlling, with an emphasis on self-discipline
and hard work. This strong parental influence
may potentially affect a child’s participation in
daily activities, including physical activity. Since
Confucian philosophy specifies that the father is
responsible for indoctrination and discipline, it is
logical to examine the paternal and maternal
impact on Chinese children’s physical activity
separately [24]. Among Sri Lankan Tamil
families, family interests are prioritized over
individual interests. The advice on child-rearing is
obtained from older relatives and friends. The
Tamil family unit revolves around children who
are objects of love and affection. Parents make
decisions on behalf of their children who are
raised into obedience [25]. In Kenya,
authoritarian style is the dominant parenting style
hence a lot of emphases is put on physical
punishment where there is a saying, ‘Spare the
rod and spoil the child’ [26]. Parents and
teachers insist on the use of corporal punishment
and in so doing confuse discipline and
punishment in Kenya [26]. In Pakistani society,
obedience is valued as a virtue, both religiously
and culturally. Parents usually believe in harsh
disciplinary measures to reprimand children at
points where their actions or beliefs are in conflict
with parents’ expectations and religious values
[10].
Parenting style differs across family types where
parental authority structure is weaker in single-
parent or stepparent families. It is also possible
that some step-parents do not feel they have the
authority to discipline step-child. It can be seen
that, in proportional terms, authoritative parenting
is more common among two-parent families than
among single-parent families or step-families
[27]. Furthermore, research revealed differences
in perceived parenting style between spouses
where fathers perceive their spouses to be more
authoritative, more permissive and less
authoritarian than themselves, whereas mothers
only perceive themselves to be more
authoritative than fathers [11].
5. CONCLUSION
Among the parenting styles, authoritative
parenting is believed to be an adequate
parenting style, because it supports a balanced
use of warmth and control. All other parenting
styles, such as authoritarian, permissive-
indulgent and neglectful-uninvolved, are tagged
as inadequate, because they either lack warmth
but with too much control, as with the
authoritarian style; or they lack control yet with
excessive warmth, or they lack both warmth and
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Arafat et al.; AJPR, 3(3): 32-36, 2020; Article no.AJPR.57362
control, as with the neglectful-uninvolved style.
Further researches should be attempted to see
the variation of conceptualization, the cultural
variation of parenting style, the long-term effect
of different types of parenting styles, and to
develop culture-sensitive tools to promote
healthy parenting. Standard educational kits
could be included in the academic curricula
focusing the parenting. The development of
smartphone applications to make aware
regarding the dimensions and standard parenting
practices could be targeted in the resources
limited cultures. However, the issue demands to
be studied robustly especially in low- and middle-
income countries where there is a dearth of
researches. Stakeholders (such as parents,
schools, teachers, public health authorities, child
health services) should take the issue with
importance and approach holistically.
CONSENT
It is not applicable.
ETHICAL APPROVAL
As the data includes only the printed and
published information, no formal ethical
clearance was needed.
COMPETING INTERESTS
Authors have declared that no competing
interests exist.
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provided the original work is properly cited.
Peer-review history:
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