| Summary: | Contemporary parenting strategies tend to involve
parent-child interactions in which the parent neither
repressively dominates the child nor follows a permissive
laissez-faire course but respects the child's dignity as a
person. This paper integrates several current theories of
parenting and parent education into the construct of
"respectful parenting," which is a new construct developed in
this study. Family research suggests that such parenting is
associated with the well-being of the child, including
prosocial behavior, positive academic behavior, and
physical, social, and emotional development.
This study tests two hypotheses: (a) that respectful
parenting facilitates effective family problem-solving
practices, and (b) that family problem-solving skills
learned in the family facilitate a child's success outside
the family in school and with peers. In addressing these
hypotheses key variables were measured, using instruments
developed both in previous research and as part of this
project. The study controlled for relevant background
variables, including family income, education of parents,
gender of child, and family size.
Eighty-two families with two biological-parents, of
which Forty-two had male target children and forty female
target children, were subjects in this study. Each target
child also had at least one sibling. Data was collected
through questionnaires and observations of video-recorded
family problem-solving sessions.
The results strongly confirmed the first hypothesis:
respectful parenting positively affected family problem
solving. Respectful parenting and family problem solving
were positively associated with children's well-being
outside the home through behavior with their peers.
Evidence for effects on performance at school was marginal.
Also important to this study was the finding that family
problem solving has mediating effects between respectful
parenting and outcome in children's behavior in terms of
peer relationships. === Graduation date: 1994
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