By Dolly Wu
According to a study conducted by the CDC, one in three children under the age of 18 had dealt with at least one adverse childhood experience, which is related to depression, anxiety, and suicide. This demonstrates how widespread and important the issue of poor parenting is. Poor parenting is when parents give insufficient emotional, psychological, or physical support to their child. If a child were to be born under the care of such parents, the negligence and abuse would inevitably lead to mental and physical damages inflicted upon the child. Below, we will examine the two most harmful (and extreme) types of parenting that can be classified as “poor parenting”, authoritarian and uninvolved parenting*, and evaluate the effects these methods impose on the child’s mental health and development.
The first type of parent we will look into is the authoritarian parent. Authoritarian parents demand their child to meet high standards but are cold and distant to the child’s emotional needs and wellbeing. Commonly interchanged with the term “tiger parenting”, this type of parenting, as shown in a research conducted by UC Berkeley, does not guarantee the production of the virtuous prodigy most would imagine and often only leads to poor mental health and lower success in life. Furthermore, it is highly associated with child abuse by physical mistreatment and emotional manipulation/negligence. When a child gets a test score below their expectations, authoritarian parents tell them that they are stupid and a disappointment and will fail in life. When a child expresses a dissenting opinion, they view it as talking back, creating one-way communication. Merely yelling and berating extensively doesn’t satisfy them sometimes, so many also incorporate punishments like physical abuse, such as hitting or throwing objects, or emotional manipulation, such as love withdrawal for a period of time or guilt-tripping.
Simply put, authoritarian parents want to take control of their children in all aspects. They utilize shaming, punishing (both physically and mentally), and fear to whatever extent they view as effective to control their child, not having a second thought about the damages this brings. Some say it’s “tough love” and that they just want their kids to be as successful as possible, but skeptics point to the coldness towards their children and the notorious bragging in front of others as reasons for doubt. Regardless of motives, this type of parenting is harmful to the mental health of children. As shown by many studies, authoritarian parenting results in their child being:
Less independent
Obedient to parents while hostile and aggressive to others
Bad at social skills and feel less socially accepted by peers
Unhappy and low self-esteemed
Less resilient and bad at handling failure
More likely to develop OCD, anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts.
The second type of poor parenting is uninvolved parenting. This is almost directly opposite to the authoritarian parent, as in they are bystanders in their child’s life with low expectations and impose no boundaries or discipline. However, they do have a common ground; they are distant and neglectful of their emotional duties towards their children. Uninvolved parenting is arguably as bad as authoritarian parenting and maybe even worse in the aspect of the damage this type of parenting inflicts on society. Studies from the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) have shown that there is a correlation between uninvolved parenting and delinquency such as vandalism and sexual assault. In addition, they also smoked, drank alcohol, and used drugs more than their peers with stricter parents. Another phenomenon worth mentioning is that often, this type of parenting originates from dysfunctional families and is passed on from generation to generation. Another research from Clinical Psychology Review found that up to 55% of uninvolved parents were also raised by parents who were neglectful and uninvolved. These events demonstrate how this type of parenting not only hurts the child’s growth and mental health but also increases crime rates in society.
Uninvolved parenting results in children being:
Emotionally withdrawn and fear being dependent on others
More impulsive and have less self-control
Undisciplined and exhibit more delinquency
Stressed and anxious due to being forced to provide for themselves at a young age
At higher risk of substance abuse
Likely to develop Borderline Personality Disorder and mood disorders.
In conclusion, parenting styles are immensely impactful on a child’s development and mental wellbeing. After all, children are with their parents during the stages of their lives where their thoughts and emotions are the most vulnerable to influences. Hence, this is also why poor parenting has such a significant and notable impact on a child’s growth and mental health. Parental negligence and abuse are leading forces driving adolescents into mental health disorders and suicide, so let’s inform the authoritarian and uninvolved parents of how their actions impact their child’s future.
* Based on the 4 types of parenting styles classified by Diana Baumrind and refined by Maccoby and Martin. The four types are authoritative parenting, authoritarian parenting, permissive parenting, and neglectful parenting. Authoritarian and neglectful/uninvolved parenting differs from authoritative and permissive parenting in that they are the toxic and harmful extremes of authoritative and permissive parenting. Read more.
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