The Role of Child-Rearing Beliefs in Parenting: A Study among Spanish Parents

Abstract

According to self-determination theory, children’s development is shaped by three dimensions of parental behavior: autonomy support vs. control, structure vs. chaos, and warmth vs. rejection. The main goals of the study were: a) to investigate the associations between parents’ beliefs about parenting and the dimensions of parenting, and b) to analyze differences based on parents’ gender. This cross-sectional, descriptive, correlational study assessed 2,144 Spanish fathers and mothers with a mean age of 44.33 years (SD = 5.50). The probability-proportional-tosize (PPS) sampling technique was used. Several scales were used to assess different parental beliefs considered antecedents of child-rearing practices. The results suggest that intrinsic motivation for parenting and parental mastery goals promote supportive parenting practices. Extrinsic motivation for parenting, unfulfilled dreams, parental avoidance goals, parental separation anxiety, and child-invested contingent self-esteem influence negative parenting behaviors. Some gender differences were examined. Fathers’ mastery goals were positively correlated with parental autonomy support, whereas maternal avoidance goals, paternal performance goals, and paternal unfulfilled dreams were negatively correlated with autonomy-supportive parenting. In fathers, extrinsic motivation for parenting and in mothers, avoidance-approach goals were both negatively related to structure. Maternal separation anxiety and paternal extrinsic motivation were positively correlated with negative parenting behaviors. The findings confirm the principle of universalism in self-determination theory and advance knowledge in parenting by extending previous research to a country with a specific cultural background (Spain). They also demonstrate the association between certain parental beliefs and behaviors, thereby expanding scientific knowledge in family studies.