Intergenerational Parenting Styles: The Consistency Of Parenting Styles Across Generations In A Rural Community

In the past half-century, research linking parenting styles with various child outcomes has led to a desire to understand how parents acquire the skills and behaviors they use towards their children. Research on intergenerational continuity of parenting practices/styles has produced varied results, such that multiple studies have found evidence of intergenerational continuity, whereas others have not. Accordingly, the purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship between the parenting style that parents report using with their own children and those they report their parents to have employed. In the present research, 22 participants (16 females, 6 males) were surveyed regarding perceptions of their own parenting styles and their perceptions of their parents’ parenting behaviors. Low return rate and sample size impact the generalizability of the results; nonetheless, the data suggests that perceived intergenerational continuity from mothers to daughters may exist for permissive parenting. However, same-gender continuities in parenting styles were not evident among men and cross-gender continuities in parenting styles were not observed for men or women. Although the data obtained is not generalizable and may not add to the existing literature on intergenerational continuity, this study highlights a key barrier to conducting research in rural communities: participation.