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Influence of Parental Styles on Child Development, a Literature Review

Parenting style has a quantifiable and enduring impact on children. Certain parenting styles in the literature have been associated with superior and inferior outcomes in terms of resiliency, mental health, happiness, self-efficacy, social skills, income levels and educational attainment than others. Juby and Joan (2004)defined resiliency as the ability to overcome adversity. Resiliency is a larger criterion than the other factors named above, in fact resiliency subsumes concepts such as self-efficacy and happiness, as those with higher degrees of those attributes have been shown to be more resilient when faced with crisis or change. Parenting style is the independent variable of this paper, with resiliency beingthe dependent variable. I mean to observe through published literature the relationship between these two.
In general, there are three broad varieties of parenting style that are discussed in the literature. The three types of parenting were first identified by Barimund (1971; 1973) and described systems of interactions between mother, father and child. The family system in general was analyzedaccording to the following epistemological framework: How demanding is the parent of the child? and How responsive is the parent to the needs of the child? Interactions were observed and characterized within the cultural context of white 1960s and 1970s America. For his initial survey of youth and parenting modalities, 7,836 individuals in the San Francisco area were surveyed. Based on these data,Barimund (1971; 1973) concluded that three styles of parenting could be described in broad categories: (1) an authoritarian style, (2) an authoritative style and (3) a permissive style. Barimund’s original goal of identifying these styles was to understand what, if any, relevance a given parenting style of a student might have towards their scholastic achievement.
The authoritarian style ofparenting was characterized as a system of communication that was one-way (1), required much of the child (2) and featured low parent responsiveness to the child’s needs (3). Children in authoritarian households were expected to adhere strictly to inflexible rules. Authoritarian parenting emphasized ideas such as tradition, order, propriety, obedience and respect for authority. Arguments andnegotiations between parent and child were discouraged actively. Barimund (as cited in Dornbusch et al., 1987) concluded that children from authoritarian households featured lowered independence, social responsibility and academic achievement. A gender difference was revealed in the data as well, showing that girls had increased social assertiveness, though boys did not (Barimund, as cited in Dornbusch etal., 1987).
The second style identified by Barimund (1971;1973) was the permissive parenting style. The permissive parenting style is best stereotyped as one where few boundaries are set, and fewer are enforced. Permissive parents generally refrain from imposing punishments, and are tolerant of many kinds of activities on the part of children, such as acting out, staying out late, or showingimmaturity. Barimund (as cited in Dornbusch et al., 1987) described these children as not displaying optimal levels of self-control, academic achievement or social adjustment.
The authoritative style is best described as a mixture between authoritarian and permissive styles. Parents value communication with children, but set boundaries. Rules are established, but exceptions can be made. Powerexists, but becomes rational and humane. Parents both punish and help their children and children are actively involved in the process of parenting. The authoritative style of parenting can be described as a balance between parental demands of obedience and parental supply of support for needs. Barimund (1971; 1973) concluded from data collected that this style of parenting produced superior cognitive...