Comparison of maternal and parental parenting styles within the same Lithuanian family

Abstract

A wide range of national and international studies have shown that family is a base for child‘s development, and parents are the most important people for his or her values, behavior and thinking patterns as well (Navaitis, 1997; Chao, 2001; Baumrind, 2005). With the intent to answer the question which parenting practices are the most e-ective to increase the probability of development of psychologically healthy child, the maternal or paternal parenting techniques are usually explored in such studies (Jackson, Bentler, Franke, 2008; Williams, Wahler, 2009). However, little research has investigated the parenting styles of both mothers and fathers within the same families till now (Winsler, Madigan, Aquilino, 2005). This presentation aimed to explore the perceived similarities and di-erences in parenting styles between mothers and fathers in the same families. More speci,cally the research questions were as follows. First, are there any di-erences between parenting styles employed by mother and father within the same family? Second, are there any di-erences between parents perception of their own and spouse‘s parenting techniques? And ,nally, how accurate are mothers’ and fathers’ perceptions of their spouses’ parenting style? Methodology. The Parenting Styles & Dimensions Questionnaire – Short Version (PSDQ-Short Version) which was created by C. C. Robinson, B. Mandleco, S. F. Olsen and C. H. Hart (2001) was employed in this study. The 32-item instrument was designed to measure Baumrind’s (1971) well-known dimensions of authoritative, authoritarian and permissive parenting. Seventy-three families participated in this research. The sample consisted of 146 mothers and fathers which had children from 4 to 12 year old. The results of this study showed several di-erences in maternal and paternal parenting styles within the same family. [...] Tarptautinio simpoziumo „Aktualus tyrimai psichologijoje: tarptautine patirtis“, ivykusio 2011 m. lapkričio 30 d . Kaune, Kearney ir Spearfish, pranešimų santraukos.