Controlling parents raise delinquents, study says

"My word is law parents" are more likely to raise disrespectful, delinquent kids than parents who listen to their children, explain their reasoning and foster respect and trust, according to a new study from the University of New Hampshire.

It's the first time researchers have examined parenting styles as a framework in which to examine children's beliefs about whether a parent's authority is legitimate and whether it affects delinquency. The research is published in the February Journal of Adolescence.

"When children consider their parents to be legitimate authority figures, they trust the parent and feel they have an obligation to do what the parent tells them to do," said Rick Trinkner, doctroal candidate at the university and lead researcher, in a written statement announcing the study. "This is an important attribute for any authority figure to possess, as the parent does not have to rely on a system of rewards and punishments to control behavior, and the child is more likely to follow the rules when the parent is not physically present."

The researchers used data from the New Hampshire Youth Study, which is a longitudinal survey of students in middle school and high school. It looks at many factors that can influence delinquency, including psychological, sociological, developmental and legal ones. This particular set of data was collected in 2007 and 2008 from students at eight middle schools and five high schools.

Authoritative, authoritarian and permissive parenting styles were all considered and compared.

Authoritative parents are "both demanding and controlling, but they are also warm and receptive to their children's needs," the researchers wrote. They have give-and-take discussions of the rules and the reasons behind the rules. Their children tend to be "self-reliant, self-controlled and content."

Authoritarian parents are "demanding and highly controlling, but detached and unreceptive to their children's needs." They set the rules and the kids are expected to follow. Those kids exhibit signs of discontent and are "withdrawn and distrustful."

Permissive parents are those who place few boundaries on their children and are warm and receptive. Their children end up "the least self-reliant, explorative and self-controlled out of all the parenting styles," the researchers concluded.