Parenting

Parenting or child rearing promotes and supports the physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and educational development from infancy to adulthood.[13] Developmental psychologist Diana Baumrind proposed three main parenting styles in early child development: authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive.[25][26] These children score higher in terms of competence, mental health, and social development than those raised in permissive, authoritarian, or neglectful homes.[27][28] However, Dr. Wendy Grolnick has critiqued Baumrind's use of the term "firm control" in her description of authoritative parenting and argued that there should be clear differentiation between coercive power assertion (which is associated with negative effects on children) and the more positive practices of structure and high expectations.Children of permissive parents are generally happy but sometimes show low levels of self-control and self-reliance because they lack structure at home.[39][40] Children of uninvolved parents suffer in social competence, academic performance, psychosocial development, and problematic behavior.The cognitive potential, social skills, and behavioral functioning a child acquires during the early years are positively correlated with the quality of their interactions with their parents.Triple P focus on equipping parents with the information they need to increase confidence and self-sufficiency in managing their children's behavior.Courses are offered to families based on effective training to support additional needs, behavioral guidelines, communication and many others to give guidance throughout learning how to be a parent.[62] In some Indigenous American communities, child work provides children the opportunity to absorb cultural values of collaborative participation and prosocial behavior through observation and activity alongside adults.[61] For instance, European Americans prize intellectual understanding, especially in a narrow "book learning" sense, and believe that asking questions is a sign of intelligence.Italian parents value social and emotional competence and believe that curiosity demonstrates good interpersonal skills.Indigenous myths and folklore often personify animals and objects, reaffirming the belief that everything possesses a soul and deserves respect.[66] The playful form of teasing is a parenting method used in some Indigenous American communities to keep children out of danger and guide their behavior.This explanation can help keep the child safe because instilling that fear creates greater awareness and lessens the likelihood that they will wander alone into trouble.[68]Indigenous American parents often incorporate children into everyday life, including adult activities, allowing the child to learn through observation.[69] One notable example appears in some Mayan communities: young girls are not permitted around the hearth for an extended period of time, since corn is sacred.Mayan girls can only watch their mothers making tortillas for a few minutes at a time, but the sacredness of the activity captures their interest.[70] However, in many cases oppressive circumstances such as forced conversion, land loss, and displacement led to diminishment of traditional Native American parenting techniques.[71] Due to the increasing racial and ethnic diversity in the United States, ethnic-racial socialization research has gained some attention.[72] Parental ethnic-racial socialization is a way of passing down cultural resources to support children of color's psychosocial wellness.[72] The multiple ways these domains and competencies interact show small correlations between ethnic-racial socialization and psychosocial wellness, but this parenting practice needs further research.[72] In regard to developmental stages, ethnic-racial socialization had a small but positive correlation with self-perceptions during childhood and early adolescence.[72] Reporter differences between parents and children showed positive correlations between ethnic-racial socialization when associated with internalizing behavior and interpersonal relationships.Prospective parents may assess (among other matters) whether they have access to sufficient financial resources, whether their family situation is stable, and whether they want to undertake the responsibility of raising a child.Other mothers, especially if they are poor or abused, may be overworked and may not be able to eat enough, or may not be able to afford healthful foods with sufficient iron, vitamins, and protein, for the unborn child to develop properly.Studies show that children with secure attachments have the ability to form successful relationships, express themselves on an interpersonal basis, and have higher self-esteem.Some parents provide a small allowance that increases with age to help teach children the value of money and how to be responsible.[96] Adolescence can be a time of high risk for children, where newfound freedoms can result in decisions that drastically open up or close off life opportunities.[99] During adolescence children begin to form their identity and start to test and develop the interpersonal and occupational roles that they will assume as adults.