Key research themes
1. How do psychological and demographic factors shape parental rearing styles and their impact on child development?
This research theme examines the psychological attributes of parents (such as mental health, educational background, socioeconomic status), demographic variables (age, gender, family structure), and how these factors influence the adoption of specific parenting styles—authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and neglectful—and in turn, affect children's socio-emotional and cognitive development. Understanding these influences is key to tailoring effective parenting interventions and informing social policies that support child wellbeing.
2. What are the culturally contextualized typologies and multidimensional profiles of parenting styles and how do these profiles relate to child social-emotional and behavioral outcomes?
Focusing on the classification and profiling of parenting styles beyond traditional typologies, this theme explores multidimensional latent profiles combining authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive behaviors, recognizing cultural variability in parenting strategies and outcomes. It investigates how nuanced parenting style profiles correspond with children's externalizing/internalizing behavioral problems, prosocial behaviors, and internalization of social values, providing complex models for parental influence on child development.
3. How do measurement approaches and conceptual frameworks influence the assessment and theoretical understanding of parental attitudes and parenting practices?
This theme addresses the methodological and conceptual challenges in operationalizing parental rearing styles, particularly the use, psychometric quality, and interpretive validity of parental attitude questionnaires and practice inventories. It also considers integrative models blending evolutionary and cultural perspectives of parenting systems and styles, aiming to refine assessment tools and theoretical clarity to advance research reliability, validity, and cross-study comparability.