Your parenting style can often be a good predictor of how well your teen will fair academically, assimilate with his/her peers, and develop key psycho-social competences to succeed in today’s world. Below are just a few of the possible behavioral consequences of the four typical parenting styles discussed in Part Two.
Firm but Affectionate: Your adolescent may show early signs of independence, social confidence, responsibility and contentment. Teens from these families tend to feel supported and see their parents as instrumental to their self-worth.
Easy Come – Easy Go: These teens might show signs of unruliness, aggression and insensitivity. Their impulsive nature could target them in the classroom as underachievers and behaviorally disruptive. Outside the classroom, however they are typically more socially adept and have better leadership qualities than their peers.
Strict and Unyielding: Teens from this parenting style may become irritable, moody and passive aggressive. They usually get by in the classroom, but outside have poor self-image, high levels of anxiety/depression and difficulty relating to others.
Out of Sight and Mind: This parenting style typically fosters teens who are rebellious, hostile and tend to lie just to get what they want. Their performance in all developmental areas is below par.
Again, these are just typical patterns to guide your thinking … were life so simple!
Your particular situation will most likely be a blend of these typical patterns and outcomes which are not known causative standards. They are typical results based solely on my clinical experience and observation.
It’s also important to keep in mind that there are many factors that contribute to the creation of a well-functioning future adult, and parenting style is just one component. For example, the child’s peer group has been found by researchers to be extremely important in character development.
Above all, finding balance in your parenting style is most important.
Finding Balance
Stay tuned for my next series of blogs on “finding life balance” through Mindfulness, which has applicability beyond just parenting skills.
To get started, see my Resources section for some reading materials on Mindfulness; also visit my website MindfulAffirmations.com. We’ll quickly review some of this material and then start to go beyond Affirmations (a tool) toward broader issues (a lifestyle).
Arlene K Unger PhD 