Parenting

The term parenting refers to the process of raising a child, usually from birth up until adulthood. A child's biological parents typically assume the parenting role and the majority of responsibility associated with raising a child. However, other individuals including stepparents, grandparents, foster parents, older siblings, adoptive parents, and other relatives may also be involved or even assume the primary role in parenting. The process of parenting involves providing education to children to teach them right from wrong and to foster their growth and maturation.

Parenting has been a topic of interest to researchers for decades. In particular, researchers who study child development have examined the relationship between parenting and child behavior. Many of these researchers have determined that it is more helpful to look at overall parenting styles than individual behaviors such as yelling as a form of discipline or playing games with their children. Parenting styles refer to a set of similar practices and strategies that parents use when attending to and disciplining their child. These styles incorporate two important components, responsiveness and demandingness. Parental responsiveness, also known as parental warmth, refers to how parents nurture and support their child's growth, individuality, and specific needs. Parental demandingness, which can also be referred to as behavioral control, describes the nature of the responsibilities that parents place on their child. For instance, some parents set high standards and expectations for their children, while other parents have few standards and expectations.

The manner in which parents help their child develop is predictive of child behavior and emotional functioning. In particular, the four parenting styles of authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and uninvolved have been found to be related to specific outcomes in children. Therefore, numerous parent-training programs have been developed for diverse populations to target parenting styles. Research demonstrates that these programs are effective at improving parenting and reducing child behavior problems. As a result, parent-training programs are becoming more widely available and are used for prevention as well as early intervention in and treatment of child mental health problems.