Poster #148 - Fathering Styles in Turkey: A Latent Profile Analysis based on a Representative Sample

• In Event: 1-005 - Poster Session 01
  In Poster Session: PS 01 Section - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Integrative Statement

Introduction: Parenting styles have been shown to be a major factor affecting children’s social, emotional, and cognitive development. However, the literature on parenting has mostly focused on mothers as they are usually the primary caregivers of children. This spotlight on maternal parenting has also led the research on parenting behavior dimensions to be mainly based on mothers’ practices. Yet, it remains unclear whether the widely accepted typologies of parenting styles are also valid for fathers’ behaviors. The aim of this study is to identify fathers’ parenting styles using a representative sample of fathers in a collectivistic country and examine whether they follow the well accepted typologies of parenting styles in the literature.
Method: The study used an urban representative sample of 1070 Turkish fathers (age range: 20-58) of 4-6 years old children (46.8% girls). Fathers reported on six parenting behavior variables: inductive reasoning, punishment, warmth, positive discipline, and time and talking together with their children. Latent profile analysis is used to explore the different fathering profiles among Turkish fathers.
Results and Discussion: The preliminary latent profile analysis results indicates three subtypes of parenting styles. The first class of fathers (30.15%) scored low in punishment and high on all other variables, specifically inductive reasoning, warmth, positive discipline, and time and talking together. The second class of fathers (53.48%) scored moderately on all variables. These two types of fathers were in line with the supportive (class 1) and easygoing (class 2) parenting styles identified by the Kim et al.’s (2014) latent profile analysis study conducted with Chinese American fathers. The third class of fathers had the lowest scores on all parenting variables (16.36%). We labeled this third class as the uninvolved/neglectful parenting following Baumrind (1971). Results highlight the importance of revisiting parenting styles across fathers and mothers and different cultures.

Authors

• Meryem Seyda Zayim, Koc University
  Presenting Author

• Yasemin Kisbu-Sakarya, Koc University
  Non-Presenting Author