Parental Socialization and Adjustment Components in Adolescents and Middle-Aged Adults: How are They Related?

Purpose: Classic studies mainly of European-American families broadly identify the benefits of parental strictness combined with parental warmth. However, current research tends to identify parental warmth as positive for adjustment, even without parental strictness. In addition, less is known about the relationship between parenting and adjustment beyond adolescence. The present study examined warmth and strictness and its relationship with self, sexism, and stimulation values. Self-esteem, academic-professional self-concept, benevolent sexism, and stimulation values were used to capture adjustment. Patients and Methods: Participants (n = 1125) were adolescents and adult children of middle-age from Spain. The statistical analyses used were correlation analysis and multiple linear regression. Results: In general, the relationship between parenting and adjustment was found to have a similar pattern for adolescent and middle-aged adult children, although more marked in adolescents. Parental warmth and strictness were predictors of adjustment, but in a different direction. Specifically, parental warmth positively predicted academic-professional self-concept and self-esteem, whereas parental strictness was detrimental as a predictor of higher benevolent sexism. Conclusion: Overall, the present findings suggest that an effective socialization during the socialization years and even beyond can be positively predicted by parental warmth, whereas parental strictness might be unnecessary or even detrimental.

Parental Socialization and Its Impact across the Lifespan.

Classical studies have found that parental warmth combined with parental strictness is the best parental strategy to promote children's psychosocial development. Nevertheless, a growing set of emergent studies has questioned the benefits of parental strictness. The present study examined parental socialization and its short- and long-term impact on the psychosocial development of adolescents and adult children. The sample consisted of 2150 Spanish participants, 623 adolescents (12-18 years), 619 young adults (19-35 years), 502 middle-aged adults (35-59 years), and 406 older adults (60 years or older). Families were classified into one of four typologies (indulgent, authoritative, authoritarian, and neglectful). Psychosocial development was examined with five indicators (physical and family self-concept, nervousness, empathy, and internalization of social values of benevolence). The results show a common short- and long-term pattern between parenting styles and psychosocial development: the indulgent style equaled or even surpassed the authoritative style, whereas the neglectful and authoritarian styles were associated with low scores. The present findings were discussed by considering the importance of the cultural context in family socialization. Additionally, the long-term impact of parental socialization seems to be crucial, even in adulthood.

Estilos parentales y su contribución al ajuste personal y social de los hijos / Parenting styles and their contribution to children personal and social adjustment

INTRODUCCIÓN Y OBJETIVOS: Este estudio analiza la relación entre los estilos parentales (indulgente, autorizativo, autoritario y negligente) con el patrón de ajuste personal y social, a corto y largo plazo, en hijos adolescentes y adultos. MATERIAL Y MÉTODOS: La muestra fue de 2,119 hijos españoles (59.2% mujeres), 623 adolescentes (12-18 años), 591 jóvenes adultos (19-35 años), 509 adultos de mediana edad (36-59 años) y 396 adultos mayores (60 años o más). Las familias se clasificaron en una de las cuatro tipologías parentales (indulgente, autorizativa, autoritaria y negligente) según sus puntuaciones en las dos dimensiones principales (aceptación/implicación y severidad/imposición). El ajuste personal y social de los hijos se midió con autoconcepto familiar, autoestima, agresividad, prejuicio sexista e internalización de valores sociales de universalismo. RESULTADOS: Los resultados mostraron un patrón común a corto y largo plazo entre los estilos parentales y el ajuste personal y social. El estilo indulgente se relacionó con iguales o incluso mejores puntuaciones en ajuste personal y social que el estilo autorizativo, mientras que las puntuaciones más bajas correspondieron a los estilos parentales autoritario y negligente. CONCLUSIONES: Los resultados de este estudio se discuten considerando la relevancia del contexto cultural donde se produce la socialización parental

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: This study analyzes the relationship between parental styles (indulgent, authoritative, authoritarian, and neglectful) with the short- and long-term pattern of personal and social adjustment in children, teenagers and adults. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The sample consisted of 2,119 Spanish children (59.2% female), 623 adolescents (12-18 years), 591 young adults (19-35 years), 509 middle-aged adults (36-59 years) and 396 older adults (60 years or more). Families were classified into one of four parental typologies (indulgent, authoritative, authoritarian and neglectful) based on their scores in the two main dimensions (acceptance/implication and severity/imposition). Children's personal and social adjustment was measured with family self-concept, self-esteem, aggressiveness, sexist prejudice, and internalization of social values of universalism. RESULTS: The results showed a common short- and long-term pattern between parental styles and personal and social adjustment. The indulgent style was associated with equal or even better scores on personal and social adjustment than the authoritative style, while the lower scores corresponded to the authoritarian and neglectful parental styles. CONCLUSIONS: The findings are discussed considering the relevance of the cultural context in which parental socialization occurs