Parenting over time: A developmental perspective

The purpose of the present investigation was to examine continuities and discontinuities in parenting behaviors over the course of three stages of child development: infancy, toddlerhood, and early childhood. Using data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development the components of parenting behaviors during each stage were examined first for their content and then in relation to stage-appropriate indicators of child competence; then, continuities and discontinuities in parenting behaviors across these three stages were examined. Several hypotheses were tested. First, it was expected that sensitive, responsive, and warm (SRW) parenting during each stage would be related to the development of child competence. In infancy, SRW parenting was expected to be related to attachment security; during toddlerhood SRW parenting was expected to be related to autonomy and self-regulation; and during early childhood SRW parenting was expected to be related to academic and social competence. Three models that explain continuity and discontinuity in parenting behaviors were introduced and tested: the heterotypic continuity model, the differentiation model, and the emergent model. It was expected that the differentiation model would receive support from the analyses of parenting behavior over time. The data showed that SRW parenting during infancy consisted of being sensitive and non-hostile, during toddlerhood SRW parenting consisted of being supportive, and during early childhood SRW parenting consisted of being supportive, demanding, and having a close relationship with the child. SRW parenting during each stage was associated with the development of age-appropriate competences, and specifically, supportive parenting during toddlerhood and early childhood was most strongly related to school readiness and academic competence. Evidence was found for both change and continuity in parenting behaviors over the three stages of childhood, supporting both the emergent and the heterotypic continuity models. Future research directions are discussed.