For over decades, researchers have witnessed various parenting styles being adopted by parents all across the globe for nurturing a healthy relationship with their children. What parenting style they opt for their children is significant as its effects remain with the children as they grow up into teens and then adults.

Different types of parenting styles have different effects on teens. From how developed your teens daily routine is to how they behave in public and private to how they feel about themselves, all of these aspects are a result of a certain parenting style you have adopted for them.  Therefore, it’s really vital to ensure your parenting style is providing healthy growth and development to your children.

Four different types of parenting styles have been researched so far. Each style defines what sort of a role parents would have in their teen’s life. Let’s find out more about these parenting styles in detail.

Authoritative Parenting

This type of parenting style has proved to be most healthy and beneficial for teen’s growth and development. Authoritative parents create clear rules for their teens and also allow for reasonable exceptions to those rules. They use logical consequences to teach their teens life lessons. Moreover, they also adopt a positive discipline at home to reinforce good behavior among their teens and also prevent them from adopting certain behavioral problems. This is usually done by creating a reward system to appreciate their good behavior. In case teens do something wrong, parents take them in their confidence and make them realize their mistakes in order to prevent them from not committing the same mistake in future. Teens raised with an authoritative parenting style tend to be content and successful in the long run. They become good decision makers and can evaluate safety risks on their own. In short, children who have authoritative parents tend to become responsible adults who feel confident and do not waver while expressing their opinions.  

Authoritarian Parenting

Unlike authoritative parents, authoritarian parents believe teens should follow the rules without being given any exceptions. Without regarding their teen’s opinions, they create and enforce rules on them as a result of which teens miss out on getting involved in any problem-solving challenges. Authoritarian parents only want to enforce rules on their teens and expect obedience from them in return. Instead of teaching discipline, such parents only punish their children to teach them a lesson. Children may follow rules while growing up with strict parents but they may also develop self-respect problems. They may become aggressive when they grow up or are likely to become good liars to avoid any kind of punishment. This type of parenting style can be harmful to the teen's growth and development.

Permissive Parenting

As the name suggests, permissive parents are quite lenient. They may set rules but rarely enforce them on their children. They only step in when teens are going through a serious problem. On otherwise occasions, they remain negligent. When children do something, they rarely give out any consequences, hence there is no reward or punishment system. Even if permissive parents do react, they usually give in too quickly when their child promises or begs to be good in future. Basically, they’re quite forgiving and friendly and allow kids to do whatever they may want. Children raised with a permissive parenting style start taking their parents as their friends. Parents encourage them to talk with them about their problems and life struggles but do not put much effort into dispiriting their bad choices. As a result, their bad behaviors are also not discouraged entirely. Growing up with such parents can be problematic for the teens as they not only struggle academically but also adopt behavioral problems. They may also be prone to developing health problems such as obesity, physical dormancy, and dental cavities because permissive parents find difficult to control their junk food intake.

Neglectful Parenting

Also, often termed as uninvolved parenting, this type of parenting style is notorious for being the most harmful for the children. Basically, neglectful parents tend to be negligent towards their child’s growth and development and expect them to raise themselves without offering any help from their end. They rarely devote any time or energy into meeting their kid’s basic or social needs. While some parents are neglectful towards their children deliberately, there are also uninvolved parents who happen to be like that unintentionally. For instance, a parent with some mental health issues or any other serious health related problem may not be able to look after a child’s physical or emotional needs consistently. Neglectful parents lack information about their child’s education, their social life, and even their whereabouts. At times they’re so engrossed in their own busy work schedules that they pay no heed towards their child’s development. In such cases, children may be subject to inferiority complex as they do not receive much parental attention. They struggle with self-esteem problems and perform poorly in academics. Neglectful parenting style can create behavioral problems in teens and make them unhappy and depressed.