Adolescence:
Change and Continuity
Adolescence:
Change and Continuity"Becky Horner rsh127@psu.edu
"What are parenting styles?
"A parenting style can be very simply defined as how a person parents. There are four distinct parenting styles: authoritarian, permissive, authoritative, and neglectful (Jacobsen, 1994).
"The four styles are determined by what emphasis a parent puts on responsiveness (amount of warmth and attention the parent gives to the adolescent), and demandingness (how much control the parent places on the adolescent's behavior) (Jacobsen, 1994).
"What are the outcomes of each style?
"Which parenting style is "best"?
"Obviously, authoritative parenting is generally the best style to use for adolescents. It produces well-rounded individuals with high confidence and self esteem. However, sometimes a mix of styles is appropriate to use under certain circumstances. For example, if a child is not responsive to discipline, a more authoritarian approach may be needed to solve the problem. Therefore, a child's personality or actions may determine whether to use one style over another (Jacobsen, 1994).
"See this site for additional information:
"Jennifer Tursic jrt120@psu.edu
"There are a variety of ways to characterize parents' behavior toward their children. Determining parenting style is a way to do this. Each parenting style carries with it consequences for the development of an adolescent's cognitive and behavioral development. According to psychologist Diana Baumrind, two critical aspects of parenting behavior are the degrees of responsiveness and demandingness that a parent exhibits (Ames, et al., 1987). To elaborate on these terms, responsiveness reflects one's ability to be accepting and supportive, yet encourage independence. On the other hand, demandingness entails inducing mature, responsible behavior in an adolescent.
"Specifically, I am going to outline the possible behavioral and cognitive consequences that permissive parenting can create. I am focusing on the risks of this parenting style because it can put an adolescent at high risk for delinquent behavior (Steinberg, 1996).
To clarify the four different types of parenting styles, a grid can be made based on high and low levels of responsiveness and demandingness:
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Demandingness
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Responsivenss
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high
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low
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high
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Authoritative
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Authoritarian
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low
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Indulgent
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Uninvolved
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Characteristics of Adolescents with Permissive Parents:
Behavioral
Cognitive
References
Suzanne Green sdg127@psu.edu
In the book Adolescence (Steinberg, 125) an authoritative parent is broadly defined as one who exercises warmth and firmness towards the child, and who also reacts rationally to the needs of the child. Though this is one definition of an authoritative parent, there are various qualities involved in this parenting style, many of them overlapping, and together all of these skills encompass what it is to be considered a “good” parent today.
Responsiveness is, according to Steinberg, the degree in which a parent reacts to the child in an appropriate manner that fits the situation. “Authoritative parents are more affectionate and pay closer attention to kids’ needs for attention and help” (Psychology Today, 17). These parents are more likely not to talk down to their children, or brush them off, but to respond to a child’s needs with the degree of attention that the child deserves. For example, if a child asks for help with homework, an authoritative parent is likely to encourage a child’s progression of the work without doing the assignment for them. Thus, this encourages the child to think for him or herself and will build confidence (Psychology Today, 17). Also, in this situation the parent is responding to the child’s need for help without being too indulgent and giving them the answers or refusing to help at all. It is likely that an authoritarian parent, one who encourages obedience in their child, many not encourage the child to think out the answer on their own. By responding accurately to the situation an authoritative parent can produce a positive chain reaction giving kids the tools to become more independent.
Demandingness is another aspect that is crucial to the authoritative parenting style. These parents have high expectations for their children. Demandingness is important to the success of the child because if a parent is responsive but not demanding the child is not as likely to succeed in school. “Past research has indicated that parental responsiveness and demandingness make independent contributions to the academic well-being of adolescents. The strength of having one authoritative parent appears to be so powerful that this parent compensates for the shortcomings of a nonauthoritative partner” (Fletcher, Steinberg, Sellers, 608). Thus, if a parent expects a child to do well academically and to behave a child is likely to match the parents demands.
Control is another factor that must be mastered for authoritative parenting. The important aspect about the degree of control is moderation, so not to be too dominating of a parent. “Although higher levels of both family acceptance and control were associated with improved psychosocial competence and favor self-regulation problems it was found that the effects of behavioral supervision on problems of self-regulation reached a plateau at moderate levels of control” (Roberts, Steinberg, 2). Kids who have high behavioral control from parents will exercise self-control and discipline (Roberts, Steinberg, 10). However, on the subject of academic achievement, moderate control is best to allow the child to succeed in the subject on their own. A parent should help guide a child, but it is imperative to know when this guiding becomes too dominating and when the parent is hindering the child’s ability to control their own life. It is also important to recognize if a parent is too flexible and is not guiding the child enough.
Involvement is an important part of parenthood that overlaps with control in some ways. Just like in control a parent needs to exercise moderation and should know how much involvement they should have in the child’s life. A parent can show their involvement by helping adolescents to “excel academically, form a healthy identity, and assume appropriate roles, while playing a smaller but still significant role in the avoidance of common pitfalls such as drug use, school misconduct, anxiety, and depression” (Roberts, Steinberg, 10). Parents who are involved in their children’s lives but are moderate about supervising them are likely to find that the two work well together. For example, if the child spends some time talking to his or her parent everyday about what is going on the parent will get a feeling of what is going on in their life with friends and school. Thus, they will not need to monitor their child as much because the parent will then be familiar with the child’s everyday activities and will be more likely to have built up a trust with their child.
So much is involved in the role of an authoritative parent and the qualities of responsiveness, demandingness, control and involvement are essential factors in this parenting style. It is important to tie these skills all together and balance them to be a positive parent for children today.
REFERENCES
Psychology Today, July 1993. “The Path To Popularity”. p. 17
Fletcher, Anne; Steinberg, Sellers 1999. “Adolescents’ Well-Being as a Function of Perceived Interparental Consistency” Journal of Marriage and the Family. vol. 61(3) 599-609
Roberts, Marjory; Steinberg, Laurence 1999. “Unpacking Authoritative Parenting: Reassuring a Multidimensional Construct” Journal of Marriage and the Family. vol. 61(3) 574-587
Steinberg, Laurence Adolescence 1999, McGraw-Hill College
For Further reading and helpful links
This site was produced by students taking HDFS 433: The Transition to Adulthood and HDFS 239: Adolescent Development at the Pennsylvania State University. Feedback can be sent to the individual authors or to Nancy Darling (darling@bard.edu).
Last updated 4/16/01.