4 Types of Parenting Styles – A Guide to Raising Kids
Bringing kids into the world is an extremely easy job, but what comes after needs a lot of attention. Yes, we are talking about raising kids to be good humans and nice citizens of society. It's essential to focus on a parenting style because it can influence their behavior, academic success, and overall personality.
Irrespective of which parenting style you choose, it must be healthy and nurturing for your little ones. That's because how you talk to your kids and make them realize their mistakes will impact them their entire lives. So, if you are a new parent trying to figure out which parenting style you should adopt, we are sharing four types of parenting styles that will help you out!
Overview of Four Types of Parenting Styles
Authoritative Parenting
The Approach
Authoritative parenting is a nurturing and gentle style that maintains high standards. This type of parent is determined, confident, and consistent, but avoids being harsh. This parenting style ensures that children become independent, but they still need to adhere to certain limits, including their behavior.
Parental Approach
Contrary to common belief, authoritative parenting is not harsh. Parents set limits but they also teach their children about goals, values, and morals. This helps them ensure that their kids behave responsibly and they have critical thinking skills. On the other hand, these parents also don't invade the autonomy of their kids.
Parent-Child Relationship
In most cases, parents using this parenting style have a healthy relationship with their kids. Many people also think that there is diplomacy in this style because parents have healthy discussions and negotiations about the feelings of their kids.
Impact on Children
As far as the impact on kids is concerned, these kids have positive mental health and feel loved. Rarely any of them show any behavioral issues, and there is a sense of security in them. Last but not least, they are independent and confident.
Authoritarian Parenting
The Approach
This parenting style may appear harsh and cold, and the nurturing of young minds may be limited. It is often characterized by extremely high standards for achievement and maturity. These parents provide less support, warmth, and affection, but always set high standards. They even think that their children must obey no matter what they say.
Parental Approach
In most cases, if kids talk back, they just say, "Just because I am telling you to." There is no other reason or excuse for their actions. If there is a negotiation from the kids, parents see them as defying and disobeying. These parents tend to put a lot of restrictions, and their primary focus is maintaining their authority. Also, when the kids don't obey and say yes, the punishments can be very strict and harsh.
Parent-Child Relationship
The kids who grow up with such parents can be extremely sad and anxious. In addition, they show signs of emotional and mental withdrawal. According to research, these children are at higher risk for alcoholism and depression, and may even be more likely to attempt suicide or use drugs.
Impact on Children
The outcomes are pretty negative because the kids don't perform well in school and their self-esteem is very bad. Even when they grow up, they have unresolved anger and they don't have the necessary skills to make decisions. As a result, there are higher chances of making impulse decisions.
Permissive Parenting
The Approach
The permissive parenting style is often considered the most "calm" of the four parenting styles and demonstrates a tolerant and friend-like relationship between parents and children. Parents may set rules but seldom enforce them, rarely administering punishments even when rules are disregarded.
Parental Approach
Permissive parents believe that minimal parental intervention produces the best outcomes for their children, so they limit their authoritative role to serious situations. However, the downside of this leniency is a lack of discipline and consistency.
Parent-Child Relationship
In a permissive parenting environment, the relationship between parents and children often resembles that of friends rather than the traditional parent-child relationship. Parents are typically nurturing and warm, fostering open, communicative relationships. However, without consistent discipline and rules, children may have difficulty understanding boundaries and respecting authority, potentially affecting their development and future social interactions.
Impact on Children
This type of parenting can lead to children becoming accustomed to getting what they want and reacting negatively to restrictions. They often struggle with responsibility, decision-making, and impulses. Selfish behavior, entitlement, and lack of effort in personal and professional abilities are also evident because they are not used to putting in the effort at home.
Uninvolved Parenting
The Approach
Uninvolved parenting also known as neglectful parenting, is characterized by low levels of both demands and responsiveness. Of all parenting styles, this one involves the least parental involvement in the child's life. Parents who follow this style rarely set appropriate boundaries or standards and often fail to provide guidance or structure.
Parental Approach
Due to various reasons, these parents do not spend much time with their children and believe that their children will grow up on their own. In some extreme cases, they may neglect the basic needs of their children. What's more, it lacks emotional investment and attention for children, not just physical neglect.
Parent-Child Relationship
In uninvolved parenting, the parent-child relationship is typically distant and neglectful, with minimal emotional connection, communication, or involvement from the parent side.
Impact on Children
Children raised by uninvolved parents often struggle with self-control, have low self-esteem, and find it challenging to form or maintain relationships. They may exhibit immature behavior, feel neglected, and are at an increased risk for depression.
Comparisons among Different Parenting Styles
Now that you know about different parenting types, it's important to understand their differences. So, with this section, we are sharing the comparison between different kinds of parenting, making it easier to see what you should implement!
Authoritative Style
Unique features High in both demandingness and responsiveness. Set clear expectations and provide explanations for rules. Encourage open communication, independence, and responsibility.
Pros It is associated with positive child development in many areas, including self-esteem, social skills, academic achievement, and emotional well-being.
Cons It requires consistent effort and clear communication from parents, which can be challenging.
Authoritarian Style
Unique features High in demandingness, low in responsiveness. Emphasize strict rules, obedience, and unquestioning respect for authority.
Pros It fosters self-discipline and a strong work ethic. Children may excel in structured environments.
Cons It can stifle independence, creativity, and critical thinking. This may lead to low self-esteem, anxiety, and difficulty with relationships.
Permissive Style
Unique features Low in demandingness, high in responsiveness. Few rules and limits are set. Children have high freedom and control over their choices.
Pros It helps create close relationships, creativity, and self-confidence.
Cons It may lead to a lack of self-discipline and responsibility and difficulty following rules in other settings. Children may struggle with frustration tolerance and delayed gratification.
Uninvolved Style
Unique features Low in both demandingness and responsiveness. Disengaged from children's lives, providing minimal guidance and support.
Pros It's quite rare to find positive outcomes.
Cons It is associated with negative consequences, including poor academic achievement, social difficulties, emotional problems, and an increased risk of risky behaviors.
Finding Your Own Parenting Style
As a parent, we are sure that you want the best for your kids and you don't want to be the villain in their lives. However, we do think that parents can use a little bit of help in navigating this. So, to help you out, we are sharing a few pointers that will help you choose the best parenting style.
- First of all, you have to think about how you were raised and if you are content with how you turned out to be.
- Think about all the qualities that your kids should have. This can help you clarify the values that will eventually guide your parenting.
- You've to think about your own strengths and weaknesses, and then analyze how your parents'parenting style impacted you.
- Make sure you do your own research. For this purpose, you can talk to other parents in your circle or read books to educate yourself.
- Last but not least, don't forget to experiment because it's all about trial and error. You will have to practice different ways before you can finalize what works best for you. Also, if you need help, don't shy away from talking to a professional parenting expert.
Conclusion
The bottom line is that it can be challenging to navigate through different types of parenting styles because we all are doing it for the first time. Personally, we believe that authoritative parenting is the best option because such kids turn out to be responsible, happy, confident, independent, and successful. So, what do you think you will choose for raising your kids?
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