The Relationship Between Parenting Style and Self-Regulation in Early Childhood

Research demonstrates the significance of the quality and quantity of caregiver guidance in the rearing of children. Many empirical studies find the correlation between social and developmental psychology, and child rearing (Uji et al., 2014). Recent findings have linked high quality preschool services to later academic and life success (Ramey & Ramey, 2004). During this age, social-emotional development escalates, and is just as susceptible to parenting style influence. An important component of social-emotional development is a child’s ability to self-regulate––controlling bodily impulses, managing strong emotions, and maintaining focus and attention (Eisenberg, 2005). Children of authoritative parents have well-regulated emotions, respond well to difficult tasks, and exhibit developed social skills as well as happy and spirited dispositions (Baumrind, 1971). Given that parenting styles are instrumental in early childhood development, I hypothesized that in comparison to other parenting styles, the authoritative parenting style would positively affect the self-regulatory development of young children aged three to seven. Approximately 60 parents will complete the Parenting Style and Dimensions Questionnaire and the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire. Expected participants are from the Northern Bay Area, primarily Marin County, and have moderate to high socio-economic status. Expected results indicate that authoritative parenting is positively correlated with enhanced self-regulation, and authoritarian and permissive parenting lends to decreased self-regulation. I expect that self-regulation will increase with age, and females will present higher regulation levels than males. Furthermore, I predict that there will be less significant correlations among ethnic minority families, with African-American and Asian-American children responding more positively to authoritarian parenting than other ethnic groups. With this research, alongside other recent findings linking high quality preschool services to later academic and life success, it becomes critical to emphasize quality care for children during early development. keywords: child development, parenting, self-regulation, social-emotional, children, early childhood, developmental psycholog