Child Rearing Methods and Children's Health Behavior

Abstract

A pattern of child rearing was found to be associated with better health care practices by children than a pattern of child rearing. The methods included substantial use of reasons and information, rewards, and granting of autonomy. Based on these findings and a review of previous research, the higher level of health practices of children reared by than of those reared by methods is interpreted as an expression of the differential effectiveness of these contrasting child rearing approaches in developing the child's resources and capacities for coping and taking care of himself. THIS paper examines the relationship between methods of child rearing used by parents and their children's personal health care practices. The child rearing methods to be examined are the tendency to grant autonomy or to control, the extent to which reasons and information are supplied, and the tendency to reward good behavior or to punish misbehavior. It was hypothesized that children whose parents encouraged autonomy and responsibility, supplied reasons and information, and rewarded good behavior to a greater extent than they punished misbehavior would have better health practices than children whose parents made little attempt to develop informed, independent performance by the child, and who emphasized punishment to enforce behavior standards. The first group of methods are consistent with a developmental approach to child rearing in that they focus on developing in the child the capacities needed to care for himself. The second group are labelled here disciplinary methods because they focus on obtaining unquestioning obedience to the parents' specifications. The distinction made here is rooted in that made by Duvall (1946) between the developmental approach to motherhood that

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