Something to Consider Down the Road…

The Importance of Being a Parent

 

By: Kamille

     Parents play an essential role in our past, present, and future.  For most, parents are a source of guidance, stability, and warmth throughout our lives, which leads to children becoming healthy adults (Caballo & McLloyd, 2002).  Yet, the influence of parents can also be a negative one, as poor parenting can result is whole host of problems for both parent and child, specifically child problems include disruptions in normal and healthy social, academic, cognitive, and physical developmental trajectories. Poor parenting practices, such as harsh discipline tactics, overly controlling behaviors, and lax rules are related to negative outcomes for children (Bailey, Hill, Oesterle, & Hawkins, 2009; Roche, Esminger, & Cherline, 2007). 

Harsh discipline techniques used by parents, including corporal punishment/spanking, yelling, and threatening as a response to child misbehavior is related to poor child and adolescent outcomes (Bailey, Hill, Oesterle, & Hawkins, 2009).  Specifically, this form of discipline has been linked to the development of negative externalizing behaviors, such as general ‘acting out’ and being openly aggressive with family members, teachers and other adults in a child’s life, and their peers. This relationship, harsh discipline techniques associated with externalizing behaviors, has been shown to hold true for both children and adolescents (Bailey, Hill, Oesterle, & Hawkins, 2009).  This may be associated with the parents establishing an environment within the household that endorses aggression and violence as normal and accepted, thus the child is more likely to engage in negative externalizing behaviors that have been modeled by their parent(s) as a form of discipline (Bailey, Hill, Oesterle, & Hawkins, 2009).

This environment of an acceptance of aggression and violence may lead the child down a destructive path, one that does not foster healthy development in terms of academic and social aspects, but leads the child to have potential problems in the classroom and interactions with peers if the child is acting out in these different settings and the child’s externalizing behavior is related to the discipline techniques their parents use in the home and have modeled for the child.  Parents need to be aware that at times, their actions speak louder than their words, their discipline techniques are providing their child with an example of the types of behavior displayed in settings related to misbehavior, and the child takes this example and applies it to his or her dealing with teachers and other adults and peers (Bailey, Hill, Oesterle, & Hawkins, 2009). 

There has also been literature that supports these harsh parenting techniques can be passed down from generation to generation (Capaldi et al., 2003; Conger et al., 2003; Hops et al., 2003; Smith & Farrington, 2004; Thornberry et al., 2003).  It is possible the externalizing behaviors that were deemed appropriate in the environment the child grew up in will translate into how the child acts as an adult, perhaps continuing the cycle of harsh discipline with their own children. 

          Restrictive activities related to parenting have also been found to be linked to more emotional and behavioral issues for children.  Parents who are overly controlling with their children, parents who do not allow their child to have the experience of autonomy in some appropriate situations for the child to learn how to deal with situations independently of their parents while still having them their as a resource for guidance (Roche, Esminger, & Cherline, 2007).   Although, in some situations, such as a family living in a community with high crime rates and other dangerous living conditions, the literature has found parents’ of adolescents who use restrictive parenting techniques show overall more positive outcomes for their children (Baldwin, Baldwin, & Cole, 1990; Gonzales, Cauce, Friedman, & Mason, 1996).  There appears to be a responsibility on parents to take into account the overall community their child is living within and assess any risks within the community that may be related to their child’s safety.

          Permissive parenting techniques can also be a detrimental influence to the developmental trajectory of a child, parent(s) who are relatively uninvolved in their child’s life and the discipline and rules are loose, and possibly not established or discussed (Roche, Esminger, & Cherline, 2007).  This is especially true for adolescents, who during these years are already facing a struggle with autonomy and entering young adulthood where they are not as dependent on their parents to meet their needs.  Adolescents whose parents are uninvolved in their lives self-report more drug use, trouble with the law, academic issues, and mental health issues among all racial and ethnic groups (Roche, Esminger, & Cherline, 2007).

          As the above demonstrates, poor parenting, such as harsh, overly controlling, or lax/uninterested parenting techniques have negative influences on children and adolescents (Bailey, Hill, Oesterle, & Hawkins, 2009;  Capaldi et al., 2003; Conger et al., 2003; Hops et al., 2003; Roche, Esminger, & Cherline, 2007; Smith & Farrington, 2004; Thornberry et al., 2003; & Winter, Morawska, & Sanders, 2012).  Children and adolescents often look to their parents as examples and if their parents are showcasing examples of negative and detrimental behaviors, this is not going to allow the child to develop into a productive member of society. We know warm, responsive, and consistent parenting is related to a child having the optimal developmental trajectory in terms of social, cognitive, emotional, academic, and physical development (Winter, Morawska, & Sanders, 2012).  Children and adolescents exposed to harsh discipline, excessive parental monitoring, and lax/uninvolved parenting techniques are at risk for increased academic and mental health problems (Winter, Morawska, & Sanders, 2012).

 

References

 

Baldwin, A. L., Baldwin, C., & Cole, R. E. (1990). Stress-resistant families and stress-resistant children. In J. Rolf, A. S. Masten, D. Cicchetti, K. H. Nuechterlein, & S. Wintraub (Eds.), Risk and protective factors in the development of psychopathology (pp. 257-280).

Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

 

Bailey, J. A., Hill, K. G., Oesterle, S., & Hawkins, J. (2009). Parenting practices and problem behavior across three generations: Monitoring, harsh discipline, and drug use in the intergenerational transmission of externalizing behavior. Developmental Psychology, 45(5), 1214-1226.

 

Capaldi, D. M., Pears, K. C., Patterson, G. R., & Owen, L. D. (2003).Continuity of parenting practices across generations in an at-risk sample:A prospective comparison of direct and mediated associations. Journalof Abnormal Child Psychology, 31, 127–142.

 

Conger, R. D., Neppl, T., Kim, K. J., & Scaramella, L. (2003). Angry and aggressive behavior across three generations: A prospective, longitudinal study of parents and children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 31, 143–160.

 

Gadeyne, E., Ghesquière, P., & Onghena, P. (2004). Longitudinal Relations Between Parenting and Child Adjustment in Young Children. Journal Of Clinical Child And Adolescent Psychology, 33(2), 347-358.

 

Gonzales, N. A., Cauce, A. M., Friedman, R. J., & Mason, C. A. (1996). Family, peer, and neighborhood influences on academic achievement among African-American adolescents:

One-year prospective effects. American Journal of Community Psychology, 24, 365-387.

 

Hops, H., Davis, B., Leve, C., & Sheeber, L. (2003). Cross-generational transmission of aggressive parent behavior: A prospective, mediational

examination. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 31, 161–169.

Roche, K. M., Ensminger, M. E., & Cherlin, A. J. (2007). Variations in parenting and adolescent outcomes among African American and Latino families living in low-income, urban areas. Journal Of Family Issues, 28(7), 882-909.

 

Smith, C. A., & Farrington, D. P. (2004). Continuities in antisocial behavior and parenting across three generations. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45, 230–247.

 

Thornberry, T. P., Freeman-Gallant, A., Lizotte, A. J., Krohn, M. D., & Smith, C. A. (2003). Linked lives: The intergenerational transmission of antisocial behavior. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 31, 171–184.