ABSTRACT
Research on parenting has been central to efforts in psychology and other related sciences to understand how children become adults who are able to function well as members of society. In modern society, it is widely accepted that childhood socialization takes place in at least three major contexts: families, out-of-home contexts like day care centers or schools, and peer groups. Although evidence suggests the contribution of all these contexts in shaping children’s development, an enormous body of theoretical and empirical literature supports the significant role of parents (Collins, Maccoby, Steinberg, Hetherington, & Bornstein, 2000; Maccoby, 2000). In particular, research is converging on the idea that it is the quality of the parent–child relationship that seems particularly important in understanding the course of the child’s emotional and social development. In this chapter, we review major work on the links between parent–child relationships and child emotional and social well-being. We address issues of definition and measurement. We provide a brief theoretical and empirical review of the literature. We extract from this review a description of the characteristics of positive parent–child relationships and consider whether these characteristics change over time and with development. Finally, we conclude with a discussion of the factors that affect the development of relationships between parents and children.
