Effects of Parenting Style on Normal and Dysfunctional Emotional Behaviors in Small Children.

BACKGROUND

The age of 3-6 years is a key period of rapid emotional and behavioral development of children. Family cohesion, adaptation, and parenting style are related to the emotions and behaviors of children. This study aims to discuss the correlations between parenting style and emotional behaviors of children aged 3-6 years.

SUBJECTS AND

METHODS

Children aged 3-6 years from kindergartens in Longting District, Kaifeng City, Henan Province, China were selected through cluster sampling method from February to July 2021. A total of 2058 children were collected. Investigation contents include general information of parents and children, emotional behaviors of children, and parenting style. The correlation between parenting style and emotional behaviors of children aged 3-6 years was analyzed using a logistic regression model.

RESULTS

Among 2058 children, the detection rate of abnormal emotional behaviors is 18.37% (378/2058), which is 22.57% (237/1050) in boys and 13.99% (141/1008) in girls, indicating statistically significant differences (c2=25.270, P<0.05). Boys exhibit significantly lower parent support/participation scores than girls (P<0.05), but significantly higher parent hostility/forcing scores (P<0.05). Children with abnormal emotional behaviors exhibit significantly lower parent support/participation scores than children without abnormal emotional behaviors (P<0.05), but significantly higher parent hostility/forcing scores (P<0.05). The results of the logistic regression analysis show that parent support/participation is beneficial to the emotional and social development of children ages 3-6 years (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Parental support/participation is conducive to decreasing abnormal emotional behaviors and improving the emotional social development of children ages 3-6 years. However, parent hostility/force increases the risk of abnormal behaviors. Hence, improving the bad parenting style is conducive to promoting the healthy social development of emotions of children.