Parent Age Group Differences in Self-Reported Praise and Criticism

Wanda Siqueira

Co-Presenters: Individual Presentation

College: College of Liberal Arts

Major: BA.PSYCHOLOGY

Faculty Research Mentor: Tabib, Shai  

Abstract:

The parent-child relationship is influenced by parental feedback, such as praise andcriticism, which can be beneficial in moderation, but counterproductive when excessive.Previous studies have found that parenting patterns characterized by more criticism than praiseare more common among older parents. However, these studies rely on limited samples and donot examine the excessive forms of praise and criticism. This study aimed to address this gap byexamining the association between parental age and excessive parenting tendencies in anationally representative sample. For the present study, archival survey data from Pew ResearchCenter’s American Trends Panel Wave 115 were obtained. Participants (N = 3,724) identifiedtheir age category and responded to items assessing their tendency to criticize or praise theirchildren excessively. A chi-square test of independence found a statistically significant, thoughsmall, association between the two variables. Parents in younger age groups endorsed excessivepraise at higher rates, but older age groups were not more likely to endorse excessive criticism.Because the data are cross-sectional, the findings cannot examine developmental changes overtime. Future research should employ sequential designs to examine longitudinal patterns inparenting tendencies across generations.