ABSTRACT
A substantial proportion of the research on parent-child relationships focuses on the construct of authoritative parenting, a style of behavior that combines two central dimensions found in almost all parenting studies (Maccoby & Martin, 1983)—warmth and responsiveness and optimal control, or limit-setting. The results have consistently revealed correlations between authoritative parenting and both academic and social competence in schoolaged children (Baumrind, 1971, 1991; Dornbusch, Ritter, Leiderman, & Roberts, 1987; for extensive reviews, see Maccoby & Martin, 1983; Parke & Buriel, 1998; Steinberg, Elmen, & Mounts, 1989). Other combinations of parental warmth and structure-for example, lack of warmth and structuring behavior as in disengaged parenting, or cold, hostile, controlling behavior as in authoritarian parenting-have been associated with lower levels of social and academic competence and higher levels of problem behavior in the classroom (P.A.Cowan et al., 1994; Deater-Deckard & Dodge, 1997). As we pointed out in chapter 1, studies generally assess parenting styles and children’s outcomes at the same point in time. There is surprisingly little information about whether variations in parenting style during the preschool period predict variations in how children meet the early intellectual, social, and emotional challenges of their transition to elementary school. Exploring this question is the first goal of this chapter.
