Parenting in the UK

To what extent do different parenting styles
affect children's growth in the UK?

Common styles of parenting (Baumrind's Parenting Typology)

The 4 parenting styles categorised by

demandingness and responsiveness

authoritative

Authoritative parenting respect the autonomy and feelings of their child as an individual, while devoting time into nurturing and communicating with them. Parents maintain a relationship of mutual respect with appropriate boundaries with their children.

Parents tend to respect and encourage their children in decision-making, e.g. on life choices. However, parents still advise expectations and standards for their children. When children misbehave, parents tell their children the reasons and educate them the consequences might have brought to others.

authoritarian

Authoritarian parenting is rigid and controlling. Parents set up strict rules, with children expected to follow them entirely and receive punishment when disobeying.

Authoritarian parents seldom make positive reinforcement and feedback to their children. They are thus more likely to be punished for failures than praised for successes. Parents often help to make decisions for their children and hold high expectations on their academics. For example, parents demand children to be the first in class or ask them to study medicine in university.

permissive

Permissive parenting is the opposite of authoritarian. These parents value independence, practise positive reinforcement and care for their child’s emotions. They do not discipline their children with expectations and guidance but maintain a relationship more as a guiding friend.

Parents support their decisions and give room for them to make mistakes. They tend to accept their children as who they are, and allow them to be responsible for their own behaviours and choices.

How do different parenting styles affect children's growth in the UK

Subjective well-being and self-esteem

Research shows that youths growing up with authoritative or permissive parents are seen to have lower self-esteem and worry more easily, while those with authoritative parents have more positive image of themselves.

Health and behaviours

Risky behaviours such as smoking, using illegal drugs and involving in a violent fight are more common with teens with authoritarian or permissive parents. From statistics of a research, compared with teens with authoritative parents, those with authoritarian parents have a chance of 89% higher in ever smoking a cigarette. Besides, for teens with permissive parents, their odds of having ever smoked are 5 times of those with authoritative parents.

Academic achievement and school enrollment

Children with authoritative parents are higher academic achievers. Teens growing up with authoritative parenting have a higher chance of attaining five good GCSE, which is 36% more than that is with authoritarian parenting and 49% more than that is with permissive parenting. It is also seen that teens brought up by authoritative parenting stay on in education beyond school-leaving age. The percentage is 5 times larger than that is with permissive parenting.

Chan and Koo (2011)

Children-led VS parent-led:

looking into different styles of parenting in the UK and HK

What are the common parenting styles in the UK and HK respectively? Why are they popular? How do these styles contribute to children's growth?

UK Parenting

In the UK, parents generally value children's autonomy and treat them as capable individuals. Children are encouraged to be responsible for themselves and learn to take up responsibilities. For example, it is common for teens to move out on their own when they reach 18 years old or when entering universities. Parents are seen to be less controlling and often respect individual differences. There are no strong expectations on their children's career or life choices. This is seen to align with the value of individualism that is commonplace in the Western society.

With children's higher autonomy in making decisions for themselves, it allows them to thrive in their own ways. Although parents seldom impose expectations on their children's achievement or school results, they tend to give advice and guide them in making informed decisions. This parenting style is more authoritative and makes a balance between the child-led and parent-led approach. Evidenced by the research in the last section, authoritative parenting leaves a more positive impact on children's growth in different aspects, which as well explains its increased popularity in the UK.

Results of a parenting trend survey in the UK shows that the recent top concerns are social media screen time and gender stereotypes. It is suggested that parents in the UK are more concerned with children's development in well-being, health and morale values.

Respect individual differences

Parents see each child as unique individual and value their effort. It is rare for parents to compare their children's performances with other children of similar age.

Not just academic success

Other than academics, parents in the UK support their children's development in many other aspects such as sports and arts. Also supported by the society that embraces diversity, parents welcome their children in exploring their own potentials.

HK Parenting

The average family unit of Hong Kong is nuclear family and most of the families have only one to two children. Influenced by the traditional values that children are assets of parents, together with the competitive culture in Hong Kong, children are often expected to achieve excellence in academics and other aspects such as sports and music. Many parents are controlling and demanding so as to ensure their success.

There is this recent discussion that children learning how to form and write Chinese and English sentences when they are in the first year of Kindergarten. While some schools in Hong Kong tend to teach ahead of the suggested curriculum, there is also this trend where parents hire private teachers for doing revisions with their children and providing extra opportunities for them to learn more. Parents focus on results, for example, the dictation and test scores. Efforts are seldom praised as a result.

With the high demand on children's achievement, parents in Hong Kong are sometimes regarded as monster parents, for their over control towards the choices and will of their children. This style of parenting is more parent-oriented and authoritarian.

Losing of patience

Some HK parents do not have patience with their children. If their children are not listening to their words, they may sometimes force their children to obey them.

"Win at the starting line"

There is this saying in Hong Kong "win at the starting line". For children's bright and prosperous future, parents in Hong Kong tend to enroll children in extra classes in order for them to stand out of the crowd.

Cultural Differences

Perceived maternal concern facilitates adolescents' self-perceptions (Hong Kong)

significant moderate positive correlations among adolescent-rated maternal concern, academic competence, and life satisfaction (Leung, 2001).

Adolescent-rated maternal restrictiveness (Hong Kong)

negatively related to academic competence and life satisfaction (Leung, 2001).

Authoritarianism

Negatively related to child outcomes in individualistic societies, but had no significant relations with child outcomes in collectivistic societies (Rudy, 2001).
The component of high restrictiveness in authoritarianism, which was expected to be negatively related to child outcomes, may, in fact, have no significant association with child development in collectivistic societies as shown in Leung's study in 2001. Therefore, the expected negative effects of authoritarianism on child development based on Western findings were not consistently found in collectivistic populations (e.g., Leung et al., 1998)
Parenting behaviours characterized by greater control and less warmth: fewer negative effects among Chinese children than Western children (Chao, 1994).
Zhang (1999): Authoritarian parenting styles did not lead to negative social and developmental outcomes among children from Chinese culture.
- - Due to the collective values and respect for family (Hou, Law, Yin & Fu, 2010)
  - Higher levels of optimism and gratitude -> moderate the negative effects of dysfunctional parenting among Hong Kong children (Tam et al., 2018)

Food for thoughts

Effects on children

What are effects on children with the different parenting styles?

Case study

What is this parenting style?

What are the expectations on Princess Merida?

How will this parenting style affect the growth of Princess Merida?

Do you prefer this parenting style? Why?

References

Chao, R. K. (1994). Beyond parental control and authoritarian parenting style: Understanding Chinese parenting through the cultural notion of training. Child development, 65(4), 1111-1119. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1994.tb00806.x

Hou, W. K., Law, C. C., Yin, J., & Fu, Y. T. (2010). Resource loss, resource gain, and psychological resilience and dysfunction following cancer diagnosis: a growth mixture modeling approach. Health Psychology, 29(5), 484. doi:10.1037/a0020809

Leung, P. W., & Kwan, K. S. F. (1998). Parenting styles, motivational orientations, and self-perceived academic competence: A mediational model. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 44(1), 1-19

Leung, Y.W. (2001). The relations of parenting style and academic competence to early adolescents’ life satisfaction: A longitudinal study in Hong Kong. Unpublished Master’s thesis, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Rudy, D. (2001, April). Parental authoritarianism in individualist and collectivist cultural groups: parental affect, cognition, and child outcomes. Paper presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Minneapolis, MN.

Tam, H. L., Kwok, S. Y., Ling, C. C., & Li, C. I. K. (2018). The moderating effects of positive psychological strengths on the relationship between tiger parenting and child anxiety. Children and Youth Services Review, 94, 207-215. doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.10.012

Tak Wing Chan, & Anita Koo. (2011). Parenting Style and Youth Outcomes in the UK. European Sociological Review, 27(3), 385-399.

Zhang, L. (1999). The relation of parenting practices and family social environment to prosocial and delinquent behavior of adolescents in mainland China and Hong Kong.

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