Are mothers' child-liking levels an effective factor in shaping parenting styles? A cross-sectional study

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between the parenting styles of mothers with preschool-aged children and their levels of liking for children. This descriptive, cross-sectional study comprised 362 mothers with children aged 3-6 years. Data were collected between March and April 2023 using the 'Participant Information Form', the 'Barnett Liking of Children Scale' and the 'Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire'. The collected data were then analysed using a variety of statistical methods, including descriptive statistics, the Mann-Whitney U test, the Kruskal-Wallis H test and Spearman correlation analysis. The mean scores for parenting styles were 66.4 +/- 6.7 for authoritative, 16.7 +/- 4.1 for authoritarian and 11.7 +/- 3.5 for permissive styles. Parenting style scores differed significantly according to family structure, number of children, maternal education, marital status, employment status and income level (p < 0.05). Spearman correlation analysis demonstrated a positive association between authoritative parenting style scores and child-liking scores (r = 0.368, p < 0.001). In contrast, authoritarian and permissive parenting style scores were negatively associated with child-liking scores (r = -0.395, p < 0.001r = -0.209, p < 0.001, respectively). The findings indicate that maternal parenting styles scores are associated with a range of sociodemographic factors. Higher authoritative scores are associated with higher levels of child liking, so that a mother with a high authoritative score is likely to have high child liking.