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https://doi.org/10.1080/00049530701449471

Intergenerational continuities and discontinuities in parenting 1

Published: Australian Journal of Psychology, 59(3), 140-150 (2007).

Intergenerational continuities and discontinuities in

parenting styles

Jennifer Campbell, Ph.D.

School of Learning and Professional Studies

Queensland University of Technology

Brisbane, Australia

Linda Gilmore, Ph.D



Brisbane, Australia

Address correspondence to:

Dr Linda Gilmore



Victoria Park Road

Kelvin Grove, QLD 4059

Phone: 07 3864 9617

Email: [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]



parenting styles

Abstract

In the present research 286 mothers and 274 fathers were surveyed

regarding perceptions of their own parenting styles, and recollections of the

parenting styles used by their parents. Perceived intergenerational

continuities were established for authoritarian and permissive parenting and,

while same gender continuities were stronger than cross-gender continuities,

significant independent cross-gender similarities were found between both

fathers and daughters, and mothers and sons. Perceptions of

intergenerational similarities were stronger between fathers and sons than

mothers and daughters, emphasising fathers’ important parenting role with

their sons. Intergenerational discontinuities were found for authoritative

parenting, with results suggesting that the meaning and interpretation of

authoritative parenting may vary between parents and children. Current

parents also perceived themselves to be less authoritarian and more

authoritative and permissive than their own parents, indicating that

intergenerational transmission of parenting characteristics may be

moderated by a socio-cultural shift from more authoritarian to more

democratic child rearing practices.



parenting styles

A growing body of research evidence indicates that not only do parents play

a formative role in determining their children’s development (Collins,

Maccoby, Steinberg, Hetherington, & Bornstein, 2000; Grusec, 2002;

Patterson & Fisher, 2002), but they also have a significant influence on how

their children will, in turn, parent their own children (Van Ijzendoorn,

1992). Thus intergenerational continuities have been established for both

parenting practices and consequent child development outcomes (Putallaz,

Costanzo, Grimes, & Sherman, 1998; Thornberry, Hops, Conger, &

Capaldi, 2003). Typologies which characterise parenting styles as varying

along two orthogonal dimensions of responsiveness and demandingness

have been particularly influential in research investigating the relationship

between parenting, and child and adolescent development (Baumrind, 1967,

1971; Maccoby & Martin, 1983). Authoritative parenting, which

emphasises both responsiveness and demandingness by combining high

levels of warmth with inductive reasoning, reasonable demands for

maturity and self regulation, firmness in setting rules, and consultation with

the child regarding decisions, has been linked to the best social, emotional

and academic outcomes, particularly among Caucasian middle class samples

(Chao, 2001), in both preschool years (Baumrind & Black, 1967; Denham,


Renwick, & Holt, 1991) and at older ages (Eccles, Early, Frasier, Belansky,

& McCarthy, 1997; Herman, Dornbusch, Herron, & Herting, 1997).

Conversely, parental authoritarianism, which is low in parental warmth and

responsiveness, but which places a high value on conformity, obedience and

power assertive methods of control, has been significantly correlated with

lower levels of child competence (Schaefer, 1990, 1991). Children with

authoritarian parents also tend to be more anxious, withdrawn and unhappy

in preschool (Baumrind, 1967, 1971) and to continue to be less well

adjusted in adolescence, than those reared with an authoritative parenting

style (Steinberg, Lamborn, Darling, Mounts, & Dornbusch, 1994). They do,

however, tend to fare better than those raised by undemanding parents, who

are either permissive (high warmth but low control) or neglectful (low

warmth and low control) (Baumrind, 1991).

Given that parenting has been increasingly recognised as an important

variable in child development, and research has established significant

intergenerational continuities in a range of adverse behavioural dispositions

(Patterson, 1998; Serbin & Stack, 1998), attention has focused on the

antecedents of parenting practices, and the causal mechanisms by which risk

may be transferred across generations. Intergenerational continuity in

parenting has been hypothesised to be an important mediating mechanism in

the transfer of risk between generations (Conger, Neppl, Kim, &


Scaramella, 2003; Patterson, 1998), and research has established significant

continuities in parenting (Putallaz et al., 1998; Van Ijzendoorn, 1992). In

four recently published longitudinal studies involving data from three

generations (G1, G2 and G3), and focusing primarily on antisocial

behaviour in at-risk populations (Capaldi, Pears, Patterson, & Owen, 2003;

Conger et al., 2003; Hops, Davis, Leve, & Sheeber, 2003; Thornberry,

Freeman-Gallant, Lizotte, Krohn, & Smith, 2003), intergenerational

continuity between G1 and G2 poor parenting practices was the rule rather

than the exception, as was similarity between G2 and G3 childhood

antisocial behaviour. Intergenerational continuities in constructive parenting

practices have also been documented (Chen & Kaplan, 2001). In many

research studies, however, substantial levels of discontinuity have also been

found alongside evidence of intergenerational continuity (Rutter, 1998;

Thornberry, Hops, et al., 2003), and as Rutter (1998) points out, it is as

important to consider mechanisms for discontinuities as it is to consider

those for continuities.

Research has identified several factors which may shape parenting

behaviours and contribute to observed intergenerational discontinuities.

Olsen, Martin, and Halverson (1999), for instance, found that similarities in

parenting styles between mother-grandmother pairs were modified by the

quality of women’s marital relationships, and by personality variables

related to neuroticism and conscientiousness. Similarly, Snarey (1993), in


his longitudinal study of successive generations of fathers, found that men

tended to replicate specific positive aspects of their own fathers’ parenting,

and rework more unsatisfactory paternal practices. Marital affinity and level

of education were important contributing variables. Indeed, across many

studies, increasing levels of education, together with social and cultural

change, appear to be influential in engendering changes in parenting

(Goodnow, 1995; Holden, 1995; Schaefer, 1990, 1991).

Such findings emphasise the importance of analysing aspects of difference,

as well as similarity, when making intergenerational comparisons. Thus

Vermulst, de Brock, and van Zupten (1991), in their study of grandmother-

mother dyads in Holland, found that while mothers were less controlling

than grandmothers, a mother’s level of restrictive parenting was influenced

by the conformity orientation of her own mother. It was also influenced by

the mother’s and grandmother’s level of education. Vermulst et al. (1991)

therefore argued for the relative, rather than absolute, transmission of

parental characteristics, whereby intergenerational continuity of parenting is

moderated by a socio-cultural shift from conformist, authoritarian parenting,

to more child-centred, democratic approaches. This shift appears to be at

least partially mediated by level of education. A similar mix of

intergenerational similarities and differences has been reported for mothers

in several different cultures (Honig & Deters, 1996; Overbey & Pollina,


1996; Sistler & Gottfried, 1990; Sever, 1989), and between father-

grandfather pairs (Jung & Honig, 2000).

Gender differences may also influence intergenerational continuities in

parenting. Mothers are generally perceived by their children to be more

authoritative and less authoritarian than fathers (Conrade & Ho, 2001;

Russell, Aloa, Feder, Glover, Miller, & Palmer, 1998), and mothers also rate

themselves as more authoritative and less authoritarian than do fathers

(Smetana, 1995). Furthermore, sons are likely to experience more

authoritarian and less authoritative parenting than daughters (Conrade &

Ho, 2001; Russell et al., 1998). These results suggest that gender may be an

important variable in explaining intergenerational processes in the

transmission of parenting styles, and that pathways of influence between

same gender and opposite gender parents and children may show different

profiles for males and females.

Because fathers and grandfathers are under-represented in studies of

parenting, there is little research which can comment on the separate

influences of mothers and fathers on the subsequent parenting practices of

their sons and daughters. Furthermore, those studies that do examine such

gender of parent and gender of child influences have tended to focus on the

transmission of poor parenting practices in at risk families (Simons,


Whitbeck, Conger, & Wu, 1991; Thornberry, Freeman-Gallant, et al., 2003).

Additionally, the results of such studies are inconclusive. Thus, while

Simons et al. (1991) found that both sons and daughters were more likely to

acquire parenting scripts from their mothers than their fathers, Thornberry,

Freeman-Gallant, et al. (2003) failed to establish significant continuities in

parenting practices between mothers and sons, and so argued for gender

specificity in the intergenerational transfer of parenting styles. While they

were not able to fully test this hypothesis because of limited data from first

generation fathers, it does accord with Snarey’s (1993) findings that

childhood mother-son relationships were not predictive of men’s parenting.

Thus while a considerable body of research demonstrates significant

intergenerational continuities in maternal parenting, the relative influences

of fathers on their daughters’ parenting practices, and of mothers and fathers

on their sons’ parenting practices, have not been well established. The

present study was designed to address this gap in the research literature and

provide a systematic investigation of same gender and cross-gender

intergenerational similarities and differences in reported parenting styles, for

both mothers and fathers. It was also designed to investigate such

intergenerational relationships in a sample of typical families, exhibiting a

normal range of parenting styles, rather than studying negative parenting

practices in at-risk populations, as has tended to be the focus of previous


studies. To do this, data were collected on current mothers’ and fathers’

perceptions of their own parenting styles, together with their recollections of

the parenting styles used by each of their own mothers and fathers. The

following hypothesises guided the research.

1. Based on the research literature reviewed above concerning

intergenerational continuities in parenting practices, and because

research generally indicates that both mothers and fathers are

influential in the development of both their sons and daughters

(Hosley & Montemayor, 1997; Russell & Saebel, 1997; Simons et

al., 1991), it was hypothesised that independent same gender and

cross-gender intergenerational continuities in parenting styles would

be evident in the reports of both current mothers and fathers, but that

same gender similarities would be stronger than cross-gender ones,

for both males and females.

2. In addition, because of the usual primacy of the maternal parenting

role (Putallaz et al., 1998; Simons et al., 1991), together with the

hypothesised greater strength of same gender continuities, it was

further hypothesised that reported intergenerational similarities

would be strongest between mothers and daughters.


3. Finally, because the research literature also indicates the importance

of intergenerational discontinuities (Rutter, 1998), it was further

hypothesised that reported intergenerational similarities in parenting

would be moderated by the socio-cultural shift between generations,

such that current parents would perceive themselves to be less

authoritarian and more authoritative than their own parents.

Method

Participants

The participants comprised 560 members of the Australian community, all

of whom were parents with at least one child aged between 3 and 16 years

living with them. There were approximately equal numbers of mothers

(286) and fathers (274), and 89% of the sample (83% of mothers and 94%

of fathers) reported that they were currently married or living in a de facto

relationship. The sample contained both mothers and fathers who were

partners and individual parents from separate families. Respondents had an

average of 2.5 children. Seventy seven per cent of mothers and 81% of

fathers had at least one son, and 79% of mothers and 76% of fathers had at

least one daughter. The distribution of the sample by age and education is

presented in Table 1. Fathers in the sample tended to be slightly older and

better educated than mothers, and comparisons with the Australian Bureau


of Statistics (ABS) 2001 data detailed in Table 1 indicate that the sample

had higher levels of education than the general adult Australian population.

INSERT TABLE 1 ABOUT HERE

Instrument

The questionnaire compiled for the current study had three main

components, in addition to preliminary questions regarding basic

demographic data which are reported in the previous section. The Parental

Authority Questionnaire – Revised (PAQ-R), developed by Reitman,

Rhode, Hupp, and Altobello (2002), formed the first component, and

measured current parents’ self-reported parenting style. The second and

third components involved the two versions of Buri’s (1991) original

Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ), worded to elicit information about

current parents’ perceptions first of the parenting style of their own mother,

and second, of their own father. The 30 item PAQ is designed to measure

Baumrind’s (1971) permissive, authoritarian and authoritative parenting

styles. When revising the PAQ to provide a parent self-report, Reitman et al.

(2002) retained the same 10 items for each parenting style, but converted the

wording to first-person statements. Examples of PAQ and PAQ-R items,

which are rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree)

to 5 (strongly agree), include: While I was growing up my mother felt that in

a well-run home the children should have their way in the family as often as

the parents do (PAQ: Permissive); As I was growing up my father let me


know what behaviour he expected of me, and if I didn’t meet those

expectations, he punished me (PAQ: Authoritarian); I always encourage

discussion when my children feel family rules and restrictions are unfair

(PAQ-R: Authoritative). Copies of the PAQ and PAQ-R are provided in

Buri (1991) and Reitman et al. (2002) respectively.

Buri’s (1991) statistical analyses indicated that the PAQ provides a

psychometrically reliable measure of each of Baumrind’s three parental

typologies, with test-retest reliability coefficients ranging from .77 to .92,

and internal consistency reliability coefficients ranging from .74 to .87, for

the three subscales calculated for mothers and fathers separately. Similarly,

Reitman et al. (2002) reported alpha coefficients ranging from .72 to .77 for

the Authoritarian and Permissive subscales across all three of their

ethnically and socioeconomically diverse samples, and for the Authoritative

subscale for their predominantly Caucasian higher SES sample. Both Buri

(1991) and Reitman et al. (2002) established validity through

multidisciplinary expert review, and a series of correlational studies which

confirmed hypothesised relationships with other parenting variables.

Additionally, Buri (1991) demonstrated that the PAQ was not vulnerable to

social desirability response biases.


Procedure

As part of a fieldwork assignment for a developmental psychology subject,

pre-service education students at a large Australian university each

administered the questionnaire to approximately six parents, three mothers

and three fathers, who were known to them, and who had at least one child

aged between three and sixteen years living with them. Students were given

a standard protocol of directions for administering the questionnaires, and

were instructed not to discuss answers, or provide information about

parenting styles, prior to completion of the whole questionnaire. University

ethical clearance was obtained to use completed questionnaires for research

purposes in cases where both the parent and the student signed a consent

form.

Results

Psychometric properties of the parenting scales

Three confirmatory factor analyses, using LISREL 7 (version 7.17, Joreskog

& Sorbom, 1991), were conducted, to establish whether the three factor

structure, identified by Buri (1991) for the PAQ, and by Reitman et al.

(2002) for the PAQ-R, fitted the current data and could be used for

subsequent analyses. The results are reported in Table 2. Tabachnick and

Fidell (2001) suggest that goodness of fit indices greater than .90 indicate a

good fitting model, and root mean square residual values of .08 or less are


desirable. According to these criteria, the PAQ-R demonstrates an

acceptable, if not high, concordance with the three factor structure, while

results for the two versions of the PAQ indicate a more modest fit.


The relative psychometric strengths of the three scales, however, were

reversed when internal consistency reliability indices (using Cronbach’s

(1951) coefficient alpha) were calculated for the three subscales of the

PAQ-R and the two versions of the PAQ. These are reported in Table 2.

Here, the PAQ is revealed to have stronger psychometric properties than the

PAQ-R. Coefficient alpha indicates the degree to which items comprising a

particular inventory are homogenous in content, and coefficients of .80 or

higher are considered desirable (Anastasi & Urbina, 1997). The six alpha

coefficients reported for the subscales of the PAQ are all above .80, and in

each case are slightly higher than the equivalent ones obtained by Buri

(1991). The alpha coefficients for the PAQ-R are similar to, or higher than

those found by Reitman et al. (2002), who argue for the acceptability of

more modest alpha coefficients in the .7 range, citing Clark and Watson

(1995).

While there is some discrepancy in the relative psychometric strengths of

the three scales as assessed by confirmatory factor analysis and coefficient


alpha indices, Tabachnick and Fidell (2001) indicate that some variability

among indices of fit is not uncommon. Taken together, and considered in

the context of the scale development undertaken by Buri (1991) and

Reitman et al. (2002) on the PAQ and PAQ-R, respectively, these findings

support use of the same three factor structure for both the PAQ and PAQ-R,

when undertaking further data analysis in the current study.

Authoritarian, Permissive and Authoritative subscale scores were therefore

calculated for each parent, for each of the three scales: the PAQ-R, and the

PAQ for own mother and own father, respectively, providing a total of nine

scores per parent. Subscale scores, totalling responses to the 10 relevant

items, potentially ranged from 10 to 50, with progressively lower scores

below 30 indicating increasing disagreement with the sentiments of the

subscale, while progressively higher scores above 30 indicated increasing

agreement with the values of the subscale. Table 3 presents the subscale

means and standard deviations for each of the subscales of the PAQ-R and

PAQ, for current mothers and current fathers separately, as well as for the

total sample. Mean scores in the low 20s on the Permissive items suggest

that, in general, parents disagree with the Permissive items. Mean scores in

the low to mid 30s on the Authoritarian items suggest neutral responses or

low levels of agreement with these items, while scores approaching 40 on

the Authoritative items for current parents suggest general agreement with


those items. Current mothers’ mean scores on each of the PAQ-R subscales

are of a similar order to those found by Reitman et al. (2002) for American

mothers. For instance, the means (and standard deviations) for the three

subscales in Reitman et al.’s predominantly Caucasian sample were:

Authoritarian 34.5 (4.8), Permissive 21.6 (4.8), and Authoritative 40.5 (4.2).


In the research literature reviewed previously, level of education contributed

to gender, generational and cross-cultural differences in parenting. Bivariate

correlations were therefore conducted between current parents’ level of

education and their PAQ-R and PAQ subscale scores. Significant positive

correlations were found between current parents’ level of education and

their own Authoritativeness (r = .09, p < .04), and also their own mother’s

Authoritativeness (r = .13, p < .002). Significant negative correlations were

found between current parents’ level of education and their own

Authoritarianism (r = -.28, p < .001), their own mother’s Authoritarianism

(r = -.19, p < .001), and their own father’s Authoritarianism (r = -.10, p <

.02). Consequently, current parents’ level of education was used as a

covariate in subsequent analyses.


Intergenerational continuities in reported parenting styles

In order to test the first two research hypotheses regarding possible

intergenerational continuities in parenting practices, correlations were

examined between current parents’ own parenting styles, and those they

reported for their own mothers and fathers. Correlations for current mothers

and fathers were evaluated separately. Partial correlations were calculated,

controlling for current parents’ level of education, and a Bonferroni-type

adjustment was made for examining 36 correlations, setting new

significance levels of p < .001. Table 4 reports all correlations, indicating

those with p < .001 levels of significance. For both Authoritarian and

Permissive parenting styles, current parents’ own style for the given

subscale was most strongly related to (i.e. had the highest significant

correlation with) that same parenting style reported for their same gender

parent, and was secondly significantly correlated with that same parenting

style reported for their opposite gender parent. There were no correlations

significant at p < .001 between current parents’ Authoritativeness, and the

reported parenting styles of their own parents.


To examine the extent to which the parent of the opposite gender made a

unique contribution to current parents’ parenting styles, in addition to that of

the same gender parent, individual hierarchical regression analyses were

conducted for each PAQ-R parenting style, for current mothers and fathers


separately. Parents’ level of education was entered first, the same parenting

style for the same gender parent was entered second, and the same parenting

style for the opposite gender parent was entered third. The results are

reported in Table 5. All three variables entered made significant

independent contributions to both current mothers’ and current fathers’

Authoritarianism. Current parents’ Authoritarianism decreased with

increasing levels of education (step 1), and the reported Authoritarianism of

their opposite gender parent had a significant independent influence, in

addition to the Authoritarianism of their same gender parent (step 3). The

variance explained by level of education (step 1) was similar for current

mothers and fathers, as was the variance explained by the Authoritarianism

of the opposite gender parent (step 3). The variance explained by the same

gender parents’ Authoritarianism (step 2), however, was much higher for

current fathers (22.4% of the variance) than mothers (9.6% of the variance).


Level of education was not related to current parents’ Permissiveness, but

once again the reported Permissiveness of their opposite gender parent had a

significant independent effect, in addition to the Permissiveness of their

same gender parent. Furthermore, the reported Permissiveness of the same

gender parent explained more of the variance of current fathers’ (25.8% of

the variance) than current mothers’ (22.5% of the variance) Permissiveness.


The results are somewhat different for parents’ Authoritativeness. For

current mothers, their mother’s reported Authoritativeness was the only

significantly influencing variable, while for current fathers, their level of

education was the only significant predictor. The first hypothesis regarding

independent same gender and cross-gender continuities in reported

parenting styles, with same gender similarities being the stronger, was thus

supported for both Authoritarian and Permissive parenting styles, but not for

Authoritative parenting. The second hypothesis, that reported

intergenerational continuities would be stronger between mothers and

daughters than fathers and sons, was not supported.

Intergenerational discontinuities in reported parenting styles

To test the third hypothesis regarding perceived discontinuities between

generations, on each of the three parenting styles, three separate two-way

mixed design Analyses of Covariance were conducted. In each case, the

dependent variable was the subscale score of one of the three parenting

styles, Authoritarian, Permissive, or Authoritative, while current mothers or

fathers provided a between groups independent variable, and ratings of self

(PAQ-R), own mother (PAQ) or own father (PAQ), on the parenting style in

question, were entered as a repeated measures independent variable. Current

parents’ level of education was the covariate. In each of the three

ANCOVAs, Mauchly’s test of sphericity was significant at p < .05, and so


degrees of freedom for interpreting the F-ratio were adjusted using the

Huynh-Feldt Epsilon.

On the Authoritarian parenting subscales, there was a significant within-

subjects effect (F(2.0, 1013.6) = 3.26, p < .04). Tests of within-subjects

contrasts revealed that current parents had significantly lower mean

Authoritarian scores than those reported for either their own mothers (F(1,

515) = 5.88, p < .02), or their own fathers (F(1, 515) = 4.45, p < .04). There

was also a significant interaction effect (F(2.0, 1013.6) = 3.21, p < .02).

Tests of within-subjects contrasts revealed that current mothers rated

themselves as less Authoritarian than did current fathers, but rated their own

mothers as more Authoritarian than did current fathers (F(1, 515) = 4.64, p

< .03). A similarly significant interaction effect was found between current

mothers’ and fathers’ Authoritarian ratings of themselves and those of their

own fathers (F(1, 515) = 5.16, p < .02).

There were also significant differences between how current parents rated

themselves and their own parents on the Permissive subscales of the PAQ-R

and PAQ (F(2.0, 1036.8) = 4.25, p < .02). Tests of within-subjects contrasts

revealed that current parents had significantly higher mean Permissive

scores than either their own mothers (F(1, 521) = 8.42, p < .004), or their


own fathers (F(1, 521) = 4.70, p < .03). There were no other significant

differences between mothers and fathers.

Finally significant differences were found between how current parents

rated themselves and their own parents on the Authoritative subscales of the

PAQ-R and PAQ (F(2.0, 1025.6) = 58.65, p < .001). Tests of within-

subjects contrasts revealed that current parents had significantly higher

mean Authoritative scores than either their own mothers (F(1, 520) = 90.68,

p < .001), or their own fathers (F(1, 520) = 84.91, p < .001). There was also

a significant interaction effect (F(2.0, 1025.6) = 12.50, p < .001). Tests of

within-subjects contrasts revealed that current mothers rated themselves as

more Authoritative than did current fathers, but rated their own mothers as

less Authoritative than did current fathers (F(1, 520) = 19.41, p < .001). A

similarly significant interaction effect was found between current mothers’

and fathers’ Authoritative ratings of themselves and those of their own

fathers (F(1, 520) = 18.03, p < .001).

The above results support the third hypothesis in that there are significant

intergenerational variations in reported parenting styles, particularly with

respect to Authoritative parenting, where, as seen in Table 3, the differences

in how current parents rate themselves compared with their own parents are

much larger than for the other two subscales.


Additional intergenerational differences related to Authoritative parenting

were also revealed when relationships between parenting styles were

examined by conducting partial correlations, controlling for current parents’

level of education, first between the three subscale scores of the PAQ-R,

and then between the three subscale scores, for each of the two PAQ scales.

Because nine different correlation coefficients were examined for

significance, a Bonferroni-type adjustment was made for inflated type I

error, and new significance levels of p < .006 were set. The results are

provided in Table 6, together with equivalent correlations reported by

Smetana (1995).


In both the present study, and Smetana’s, parents’ Permissiveness was

significantly inversely related to their Authoritarianism for all parent ratings

(PAQ-R and PAQ). Parents’ Authoritativeness, however, appeared to bear a

different relationship to the other two subscales, depending on whether

individuals were reporting on their own parenting styles, or were reflecting

on the parenting they received. When parents reflected on their own

parenting styles, on the PAQ-R, Authoritative parenting was significantly

negatively associated with Permissiveness, and unrelated to

Authoritarianism. On the PAQ, however, Authoritative parenting was


significantly positively associated with Permissiveness, and negatively

related to Authoritarianism, in both the current study, where present day

parents rated the parenting they had previously received, and in Smetana

(1995), where adolescents rated the parenting they were currently receiving.

Discussion

The results of this study indicate both continuities and discontinuities

between current parents’ parenting styles and those they perceive their own

parents to have used. As predicted, there are significant continuities in

authoritarian and permissive parenting styles even though today’s parents

report being less authoritarian and more permissive than their own parents.

Interestingly, authoritative parenting is not strongly related across the

generations. In this respect, current parents see themselves as quite different

from their own parents.

These findings are congruent with those of many previous studies which

have demonstrated both the transmission of parental characteristics across

generations, as well as the influence of a socio-cultural shift from more

authoritarian to more democratic child-rearing practices (Honig & Deters,

1996; Jung & Honig, 2000; Overbey & Pollina, 1996; Sever, 1989;

Vermulst et al., 1991). In line with previous research (Schaefer, 1990,

1991), this process of generational change appears to be at least partially


mediated by education. In the current study, parents with higher levels of

education reported being less authoritarian.

The relative lack of continuity in authoritative parenting may simply be due

to the socio-cultural shift towards more democratic child-rearing, however

the explanation may be more complex. It is possible that authoritative

parenting practices are interpreted differently by parents and children.

Authoritative parents may see themselves as trying to uphold rules,

standards and values in a democratic, child-friendly way, while children or

adolescents may view such authoritative discussions with parents as

evidence of parental leniency, akin to permissiveness. This explanation is

supported by the correlations reported in Table 6. When parents report their

own parenting styles, authoritativeness is negatively associated with

permissiveness, and unrelated to authoritarianism. However, when they rate

the parenting they received from their own parents, authoritativeness is

associated positively with permissiveness and negatively with

authoritarianism. Although this may simply reflect an intergenerational

change in the nature of authoritative parenting, exactly the same pattern of

correlations was obtained by Smetana (1995) with parents’ self-ratings and

those of their adolescent children (see Table 6).


In comparison with the large body of research on maternal parenting style,

much less attention has been given to fathers, particularly in normative

samples. In the current study, there are some interesting findings relating to

gender. Fathers rated themselves as more authoritarian and less authoritative

than did mothers although this difference existed within the general finding

that fathers still perceived themselves as authoritative rather than either

authoritarian or permissive (see Table 3). These results are consistent with

previous studies of father self-report (Smetana, 1990) and children’s ratings

of their fathers (Conrade & Ho, 2001).

The present results, however, depart from the pattern often found in the

research literature whereby sons are more likely to receive higher levels of

authoritarian parenting and lower levels of authoritative parenting than

daughters (Conrade & Ho, 2001; Russell et al., 1998). In the present study,

current mothers rated their own mothers and fathers as significantly more

authoritarian and less authoritative than did current fathers. This may reflect

historical changes in the way sons and daughters are parented, since the first

generation of parents in the present study would be considerably older than

parents in the samples used by Conrade and Ho (2001) and Russell et al.

(1998).


Gender influences are also apparent in the way in which intergenerational

continuities were expressed. A pattern of same sex continuity, in line with

the first research hypothesis, is clearly evident for both authoritarian and

permissive parenting styles but, contrary to predictions detailed in the

second research hypothesis, intergenerational similarities in reported

parenting styles are stronger between fathers and sons, than mothers and

daughters, for authoritarian and, to a lesser extent, permissive parenting.

This finding emphasises the important parenting role that fathers play,

particularly with their sons. This role has not been sufficiently considered

within the parenting research where mothers tend to be cast as the primary

parent (Putallaz et al., 1998; Simons et al., 1991; Thornberry, Freeman-

Gallant, et al., 2003). The findings of independent continuities in reported

parenting between fathers and daughters, as well as mothers and sons,

further emphasise the important role played by fathers.

Compared with authoritarian and permissive parenting, the findings are less

straightforward for authoritative parenting where weak or non-significant

intergenerational continuities were found. This divergence in the pattern of

authoritative, compared with authoritarian and permissive, subscale results

is also evident elsewhere in the findings of this study. The differences in

how today’s parents rate themselves compared with their parents are much

larger on the authoritative subscale than on the other two subscales.


Furthermore, there appear to be variations in interpretation of this parenting

style by parents and their children. These results, combined with evidence

from cross-cultural studies concerning the cultural specificity of the

meaning and effects of authoritative parenting (Chao, 2001; Reitman et al.,

2002), suggest that further research is required into this dimension of

parenting.

The present study has a number of limitations which suggest caution in

interpreting the results. First, multiple data collectors were used in the study

and, while the university students were given strict written and verbal

instructions regarding administration of the questionnaires, some

inconsistencies in data collection methods may have occurred. However, the

similarities of the results in this study compared with those of other studies

using the same instruments (Buri, 1991; Reitman et al., 2002; Smetana,

1995), suggest that the data are reliable and valid. Second, assessment of

parenting styles for both current parents and their own parents relied on the

self report of a single informant, and the study was also retrospective, as are

most studies of intergenerational processes (Putallaz et al., 1998). In

general, however, recent prospective longitudinal studies, involving

multiple informants and observational data, have provided evidence that

supports retrospective single informant studies (Chen & Kaplan, 2001; Hops

et al., 2003; Putallaz et al., 1998; Thornberry, Hops, et al., 2003).


Additionally, the fact that a very different intergenerational pattern of results

emerged for authoritative parenting compared to authoritarian or permissive

parenting styles, suggests that current parents were not simply

reconstructing their own parents’ practices using the lens of their own

present day parenting strategies and behaviours.

This study has provided a systematic investigation of same gender and

cross-gender intergenerational continuities and discontinuities in reported

parenting styles in a normative Australian sample. Since parenting skills are

among the most powerful predictors of child developmental outcomes, it is

vital to understand the ways in which parenting practices may be transmitted

across generations. It is also important to develop this understanding for

normative populations prior to investigating mechanisms that may operate

in atypical or at-risk families. Future research should examine the

significant issues related to authoritative parenting that have been raised in

this paper, particularly since this parenting style has frequently been

associated with the most positive developmental outcomes. Further, since

the current research sample had higher levels of education than the general

Australian population, and since level of education has been shown to

influence parenting styles, in particular the expression of authoritative

parenting, future research needs to investigate the transmission of parenting

practices in normative, but lower socio-economic samples. Finally, current


findings regarding the important role that fathers play for both their

daughters and particularly their sons, emphasise the need to investigate

further the influence of fathers, a relatively neglected group in parenting

research.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the students and tutors who assisted in collecting the

data for this project, and Anne Hodgkiss for her unstinting efforts at data

entry.

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Table 1

Descriptive characteristics of the sample: age and education

Age Highest education completed

20-29

30-39

40-49

50-59

60-69

High

school

Diploma/

certificate

Bachelor’s

degree

Postgraduate

Mothers

n = 286

8.8%

45.6%

37.9%

7.7%

0%

36.8%

25.8%

23.3%

14.1%

Fathers

n = 274

6.6%

36.0%

42.6%

13.6%

1.1%

28.2%

20.5%

26.7%

24.5%

Total

sample

n = 560

7.7%

40.9%

40.2%

10.6%

0.5%

32.5%

(65.3%)*

23.2%

(21.8%)*

25.0%

(9.7%)*

19.2%

(3.2%)*

* ABS (2001) figures for the Australian population


Table 2

Results of confirmatory factor analysis, and internal consistency reliability

analysis, for the PAQ-R (self-report), and PAQ (own mother, and father)

PAQ-R:

self-report

PAQ:

own mother

PAQ:

own father

Confirmatory factor analysis

Goodness of fit index

Adjusted goodness of fit index

Root mean square residual

.861

.839

.063

.824

.796

.096

.772

.737

.129

Coefficient alpha

Authoritarian subscale

Permissive subscale

Authoritative subscale

.79

.71

.72

.86

.84

.87

.90

.83

.90


Table 3

PAQ-R (self-report), and PAQ (own mother, and father) subscale means and

standard deviations for current mothers and fathers

PAQ-R: self-report

mean (s.d.)

PAQ: own mother

mean (s.d.)

PAQ: own father

mean (s.d.)

Authoritarian

Current mothers

Current fathers

Total sample

30.9 (5.7)

31.3 (5.8)

31.1 (5.7)

34.6 (7.2)

33.7 (6.5)

34.2 (6.9)

36.1 (8.2)

35.1 (8.0)

35.6 (8.1)

Permissive

Current mothers

Current fathers

Total sample

23.5 (5.0)

24.2 (4.8)

23.8 (4.9)

22.0 (6.5)

22.5 (5.4)

22.3 (6.0)

22.0 (6.7)

22.6 (6.1)

22.3 (6.4)

Authoritative

Current mothers

Current fathers

Total sample

40.6 (3.6)

39.1 (4.1)

39.9 (4.0)

31.5 (7.8)

33.1 (6.5)

32.3 (7.2)

29.0 (8.8)

30.7 (7.3)

29.8 (8.1)


Table 4

Partial correlations (controlling for current parents’ level of education) between current mothers’ and fathers’ own parenting

styles and those of their own mothers and fathers

Correlations between PAQ-R and PAQ subscale scores

PAQ: own mother PAQ: own father Authoritarian Permissive Authoritative Authoritarian Permissive Authoritative

PAQ-R:

Authoritarian Current mothers

Current fathers

r = .31*

r = .44*

r = -.08

r = -.13

r = .09

r = -.01

r = .28*

r = .49*

r = -.19

r = -.26*

r = .09

r = -.06

PAQ-R:

Permissive

Current mothers

Current fathers

r = -.13

r = -.11

r = .45*

r = .48*

r = .04

r = -.04

r = -.15

r = -.19

r = .36*

r = .51*

r = .08

r = .07

PAQ-R:

Authoritative

Current mothers

Current fathers

r = -.06

r = .10

r = .02

r = -.09

r = .18

r = .17

r = .15

r = .05

r = -.12

r = -.05

r = .08

r = .07

* Significance level: p < .001


Table 5

Hierarchical regression analyses to determine the separate contributions made to current

parents’ parenting styles by their level of education, and by the parenting of their same gender

and opposite gender parents.

Current Mothers’ Authoritarianism Current Father’s Authoritarianism

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 1 Step 2 Step 3

Beta coefficients -Education -.270** -.218** -.209** -.308** -.278** -.240** -Same gender parent .313** .243** .474** .349** -Opposite gender parent

Authoritarianism .189* .222**

Adjusted R-squared .069 .162 .190 .091 .313 .343

R-square change .073 .096 .031 .095 .224 .032

Sig. F change p< .001 p< .001 p< .002 p< .001 p< .001 p< .001

Current Mothers’ Permissiveness Current Fathers’ Permissiveness


Beta coefficients -Education -.045 -.037 -.036 -.047 -.020 -.027 -Same gender parent .475** .395** .509** .346** -Opposite gender parent

Permissiveness .168* .281**

Adjusted R-squared -.002 .221 .240 -.002 .254 .305

R-square change .002 .225 .022 .002 .258 .053

Sig. F change n.s. p< .001 p< .006 n.s. p< .001 p< .001

Current Mothers’ Authoritativeness Current Fathers’ Authoritativeness


Beta coefficients -Education -.016 -.029 -.029 .188* .181* .168* -Same gender parent .171* .174* .102 .062 -Opposite gender parent

Authoritativeness -.005 .095

Adjusted R-squared -.004 .022 .018 .032 .038 .042

R-square change .000 .029 .000 .035 .010 .007

Sig. F change n.s. p< .005 n.s. p< .002 n.s. n.s.

Significance levels: *p<.01, **p<.001


Table 6

Partial correlations (controlling for current parents’ level of education) between the three

subscale scores within the PAQ-R (self-report), and PAQ (own mother, and own father)

Correlations between parenting styles

Permissive and

Authoritarian

Permissive and

Authoritative

Authoritarian and

Authoritative

PAQ-R: self report

r = -.32 (p <.001)

(r=-.42, p<.001)*

r = -.12 (p <.006)

(r=-.28, p<.01)*

r = -.02 (n.s.)

(r=-.03, n.s.)*

PAQ: own mother

r = -.53 (p <.001)

r = .23 (p <.001)

r = -.44 (p <.001)

PAQ: own father

r = -.64 (p <.001)

r = .29 (p <.001)

r = -.49 (p <.001)

(PAQ: adolescents’

ratings of parents)*

(r=-.44, p<.001)* (r=.29, p<.01)* (r=-.31, p<.001)*

* Correlations reported by Smetana (1995)

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