The latest study has found that strict parenting or tiger mom type parenting may result in low self-esteem in children.
Researchers at the University of California, Riverside, suggest that too strict an upbringing of children may lead to difficulties adjusting in school, development of low self-esteem and also make a child susceptible to depression.
"Our research shows that Tiger Mother type of parenting, specifically controlling, punitive, and less supportive type of parenting, is really not working in this sample of Chinese adolescents," says Cixin Wang, an assistant professor at UC Riverside's Graduate School of Education, who is also the lead author of the study.
The research is built upon the data collected from a youth survey, which took place in the Chinese city of Hangzhou. The survey was conducted on 589 high-school and middle-school aged children. The survey included several questions that queried the children regarding their parent's behavior. The survey also asked the children to answer some questions related to their own self-esteem, any depression problems, issues in adjusting in school and any other problem behavior.
Wang suggests that previous studies on cultures of the Western world found that parents who try to have psychological control of their kids can lead them to have low grades in school, problem behavior and low self-esteem. The authors suggest that the findings of the latest research on Chinese children are very similar to that of the Western children.
The researchers suggest that parental monitoring and support were linked to progressive adolescent adjustment. However, punitiveness and permissiveness were associated with adverse adolescent adjustment.
The study also points out prior studies that suggest parents of Chinese origin express less support toward their children when it comes to affection, but they show supportive behavior by efforts to govern and control their children. Wang suggests that it is significant that Chinese parents understand the importance of expression of love, praise and support for better upbringing of their children.
The researchers say that the latest study has important implications for Chinese American as well as Asian American parents, who try to balance their traditional customs with parenting practice as followed in the current American society.
Wang reveals that she is very interested in further study in the field as she was brought up in Shanghai, China, and her parents did not praise for her achievements.
The study has been published in the Journal of Family Issues.
