As a parent, you strive to be a good role model and provide the best for your child. However, good parenting looks different to different people. Have you ever wondered what your parenting style is and how it shapes your approach to raising your child? 

In this blog post, we will unpack the four different parenting styles and explain how each style affects the parent-child relationship. 

What Is a Parenting Style? 

A parenting style is a set of strategies or approaches parents use to raise and nurture their children. It encompasses the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors parents employ in raising and educating their children. 

Psychologists have identified different parenting styles based on two key factors: responsiveness and demandingness. 

• Responsiveness: This factor reflects the emotional warmth, support, and sensitivity that parents demonstrate to their children. Parents who are emotionally attuned to their children’s feelings have high responsiveness. Emotionally unavailable parents have low responsiveness.
  
• Demandingness: This factor reflects the expectations parents have for their children and the level of control they have in their households. Parents with high demandingness set high expectations and strict rules for their children. Lenient and permissive parents have low demandingness. 

What Type of Parent Are You? Take a Free Parenting Style Quiz

When it comes to parenting, small changes lead to big victories. To start making small but important changes in your relationship with your child, it’s essential to discover your parenting style and understand what kind of parent you are. 

🏈Take this free parenting style quiz to discover what’s in your parenting playbook, how you can use your parenting strengths to guide your family toward success, and what areas of your parenting you should work on this season. 

The Four Types of Parenting Styles

Psychologists and researchers have identified different parenting styles. Different theories exist, but the most well-known four types of parenting styles are authoritarian parenting, authoritative parenting, permissive parenting, and uninvolved parenting. 

You can take the parenting quiz to find out what your parenting style is!

1. Authoritarian Parenting

Authoritarian parents have high demandingness and low responsiveness. They have high expectations for their children’s behavior. Setting strict rules and standards, they expect their children to follow them without much room for negotiation. Authoritarian parents enforce rules consistently and discipline their children when they break them. 

At the same time, authoritarian parents are less responsive to their children’s emotional needs. They provide for their basic needs (especially physical) but typically don’t prioritize open communication about feelings, emotions, and concerns. 

Children with authoritarian parents follow rules but may struggle with independence, decision-making, and expressing their emotions. 

They may also have lower self-esteem and can potentially rebel against strict rules in adolescence. As they get older, their relationship with their parents may become strained. 

2. Authoritative Parenting

Authoritative parents rank high on both demandingness and responsiveness. They set clear and reasonable expectations for their children’s behavior and consistently enforce structure and consistency. 

However, while authoritative parents have clear rules in place, they are also willing to consider their children’s perspectives and provide guidance instead of relying exclusively on strict control. 

Moreover, authoritative parents are emotionally responsive to their children’s needs. They provide support, encouragement, and understanding, fostering a warm and nurturing environment. They explain the reasoning behind their rules and expectations and listen when their children express their thoughts and feelings. 

Authoritative parenting results in positive outcomes, including higher self-esteem, better social skills, and a more positive parent-child relationship.

At the same time, children of authoritative parents have strong self-discipline and independence. They learn to make responsible decisions and understand the consequences of their actions.

3. Permissive Parenting

Permissive parents have a high responsiveness but low demandingness. They have low expectations and few demands for their children’s behavior. They allow their children significant freedom, minimal structure, and more authority in decision-making. They are open, lenient, and accepting. 

Parents with a permissive parenting style are also highly emotionally responsive to their children. They are warm, loving, and nurturing. They often prioritize their children’s desires and preferences. In permissive households, children feel comfortable expressing themselves because there is typically little negative consequence for their opinions, behaviors, and choices. 

Children raised in permissive households have a good sense of independence, but they might lack the discipline and structure provided by other parenting styles.

They may struggle with authority figures outside of the home or experience challenges related to entitlement because they rarely experience consistent boundaries and consequences. 

4. Uninvolved Parenting

Uninvolved parenting, also known as uninvolved parenting, ranks low on both responsiveness and demandingness. Uninvolved parents have low expectations for their children and give them minimal guidance and structure. They may not actively participate in their children’s education, activities, or daily routines. 

Uninvolved parents are emotionally detached and unresponsive to their children’s needs. They may not provide the emotional support and nurturing that children require for healthy development. There is typically minimal communication in uninvolved households and children feel uncomfortable sharing their thoughts and emotions with their parents. 

Uninvolved parenting can have long-term consequences on a child’s emotional and psychological well-being, impacting their relationships, self-esteem, and overall life satisfaction.

Parenting Styles and Neurodivergent Children 

Developing the best parenting style for neurodivergent children requires a nuanced and individualized approach. As a parent of a neurodivergent child, you need to embrace your child’s unique strengths and challenges and show high levels of empathy, patience, and flexibility. 

Authoritative parenting that balances warmth and structure is often beneficial for neurodivergent children because it provides necessary guidance while fostering a supportive environment. 

Final Thoughts on Parenting Styles

Parenting styles are not set in stone. As a parent, you are adaptable and live in a constant state of evolution and growth. You can make positive changes in your approach to better meet your child’s needs.

Becoming aware of your parenting style is the first step toward fostering a healthy and dynamic parent-child relationship. 

📣Let’s Make Shift Happen™! Take this free parenting style quiz to discover what’s in your parenting playbook and how you can grow as a parent.