Helping Your Child Succeed – Three Parenting Styles

In this session featuring insights by marriage and family therapist Dr. Kevin Skinner on “Helping Your Child Succeed – Three Parenting Styles,” we delve into the three critical dimensions of parenting: Parental Warmth, Behavioral Control, and Psychological Control, offering practical insights and reflective exercises to enhance your parenting approach.

We explore how Parental Warmth fosters your child’s social and emotional development, the balance needed in Behavioral Control to effectively guide without overstepping, and strategies to minimize Psychological Control, ensuring your child feels respected and supported. Dr. Skinner’s expertise and research-backed guidance will help you navigate these dimensions, fostering a nurturing and balanced relationship with your child.

Instant Insights

Deep Dive

Key Takeaways

Know Three Dimensions of Parenting Styles

There are three dimensions of parenting styles: Parental Warmth, Behavioral Control, and Psychological Control. These three dimensions are discussed in greater detail below.

Increase Parental Warmth

Engage in actions like sharing more smiles, having meaningful conversations, and allocating quality time to strengthen your bond with your child.

Evaluate Behavioral Control

Reflect on your approach to behavioral control and find a balance between being involved and allowing your child to learn through their own experiences.

Empower through Choices

Provide your child with choices to give them a sense of control, fostering independence while guiding their decisions.

Reduce Mind Games

Avoid manipulative tactics and excessive blame. Focus on guiding and teaching with respect and love, without dwelling on past mistakes.

Focus on Positive Change

Continuously evaluate your parenting methods. If something isn't working, be open to making changes to better support your child's development.

Understand Developmental Stages

Recognize that children's needs change as they grow. Stay informed about their developmental stages to better understand and support them.

Use a Comprehensive Parenting Approach

Combining dimensions by integrating high Parental Warmth, balanced behavioral monitoring, and minimal psychological control to foster a strong, resilient, and thriving child-parent relationship.

Understanding the Three Dimensions of Parenting Styles

The three dimensions highlight the importance of balancing affection, appropriate control, and respectful guidance to foster a supportive and nurturing environment for children.

Parental Warmth
Parental Warmth involves showing care, affection, and support to your child, which is crucial for their social and emotional development. Assess your own level of Parental Warmth by reflecting on specific behaviors such as making your child feel better, enjoying activities together, and being easy to talk to.

Importance: High Parental Warmth fosters emotional security, social skills, and overall well-being in children.
Balance: Balancing Parental Warmth involves providing consistent affection and support while also maintaining appropriate boundaries and expectations. Be responsive, set boundaries with love, and encourage independence.
Practical Actions: Share smiles, engage in meaningful conversations, and spend quality time with your child.

Behavioral Control
Understand the importance of monitoring your child’s activities without being overly controlling, to positively influence their behavior and reduce delinquency. Know your child’s friends, nighttime activities, spending habits, leisure activities, and afternoon whereabouts to stay informed about their life.

Importance: Appropriate behavioral control helps reduce the likelihood of delinquency and promotes responsible behavior.
Balance: It’s crucial to find a balance between being involved and allowing your child some autonomy. Over-control can lead to rebellion, while appropriate monitoring can positively influence their decision-making.
Practical Actions: Know your child’s friends, nighttime activities, spending habits, leisure activities, and typical afternoon whereabouts.

Psychological Control
Psychological control involves using manipulative tactics that undermine a child’s psychological and emotional development, such as guilt-tripping, blaming, or excessive criticism.

Importance: Reducing psychological control promotes a healthier and more respectful parent-child relationship.
Balance: Balancing psychological control involves guiding your child’s behavior and decision-making without using manipulative tactics or undermining their autonomy. Parents can guide their children effectively while respecting their individuality and fostering a healthy parent-child relationship.
Practical Actions: Encourage open communication, focus on positive reinforcement, set clear and consistent boundaries, avoid blaming and shaming, and model respectful behavior.