The Relationship Between Parenting Style and Emergence of Violence in Adolescence

Although there is extensive research into parenting styles and outcomes, few studies focus on the relation between parenting style and violence among adolescents. Levels of warmth and control shown by parents greatly impacts an adolescents’ attitudes toward violence. We used data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, an ongoing longitudinal study that surveyed parents and children from birth to age 15. Using reports by parents reflecting two dimensions, warmth (e.g., spending time together) and control (e.g., imposing a curfew), parents were categorized into four styles: authoritative (high warmth, high control), authoritarian (low warmth, high control), permissive (high warmth, low control), and neglectful (low warmth, low control). Violence at age 15 (e.g. physical fights) was reported by parents. Of 3,579 parents surveyed when the child was 15, 70.9% were categorized authoritative, 16.1% as authoritarian, 9.2% as permissive, and 3.8% as neglectful. Overall, 21.6% of adolescents had engaged in violent behavior. We observed a strong association between parenting style and violence: of adolescents raised by authoritative parents, 16.2% engaged in violent behaviors, compared to 40.3% among children of authoritarian, 20.6% among children of permissive, and 46.7% among children of neglectful parents (Chi-square p \u3c 0.0001). Low warmth parenting styles, authoritarian and neglectful, were associated with high rates of violence among adolescents, (about double the prevalence than those of authoritative and permissive parents). Further analysis should be conducted to examine the relations between warmth and control violence outcomes and how these relations may differ by sex