Aspects of parenting styles and the expressed fears of a selected group of pre-school children

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:The main aim of the present study was to explore the nature of pre-school parenting ina low to average socio-economic target suburb in the Goodwood Municipal area.Specific attention was given to the main parenting styles (authoritative, authoritarian orpermissive) utilized by the sample of parents of pre-school children included in thisresearch. Attention was also given to 11 specific parenting dimensions included in theparenting styles and to the levels of psychological control utilized by the sample parentsincluded. The relationship between parenting and certain biographical variables, suchas culture and gender of the child, as well as with the specific developmental outcomeof expressed fears in their pre-school children was also investigated. Data on theexpressed fears, with regard to number, as reported by the pre-school children, wasobtained in a related study (Keller, in press).Participants in the current study (N=91) included the fathers (n=43) and mothers (n=48)of the pre-school children (N=50) utilized in the related study (Keller, in press).Measures included a Biographical Questionnaire, the Parenting Styles & DimensionsQuestionnaire (PSD) and the Psychological Control Scale.The study revealed that the majority of pre-school parents in this low to average socioeconomicstatus area predominantly utilized an authoritative parenting style,complemented by high levels of responsiveness, warmth and support, and low levels ofpsychological control. Further exploration revealed that psychological controllingparenting style characteristic of parents in this target area, reflects non-reasoning orpunitive parenting in both fathers and mothers, while highly responsive mothers exhibitlow levels of psychological control.Consistent with previous South African research, similarities in parenting outweighedthe differences (Gerdes, Coetzee & Cronjé, 1996). Firstly, the study revealed asignificant positive correlation between paternal and maternal parenting. Secondly, thestudy revealed that no statistically significant cross-cultural differences exist betweenparenting utilized by the white and coloured pre-school parents included in thisresearch. Furthermore, besides mothers reporting higher democratic participation inparenting with the pre-school girls than boys, no other cross-gender differences existbetween paternal and maternal parenting style, the included dimensions andpsychological control.Contrary to previous research linking permissive parenting to internalizing behaviour inpre-school children (Hart et al., 1995), a positive relationship was found betweenmaternal authoritative parenting style and the amount of expressed fears (r=O.35;p

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University