Parenting styles used with preschool children among Arab immigrant parents in a U.S. context
Date
2013
Authors
Abu Al Rub, Majedh F., author
Carlson, Laurie, advisor
Biringen, Zeynep, committee member
Rosen, Lee, committee member
Jennings, Louise, committee member
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Abstract
The purpose of this research study was to examine whether there were statistically significant differences in parenting styles among Arab immigrant parents as a function of parent and child gender. Also this study was designed to examine experiences and perceptions of Arab immigrant parents in raising their children in the U.S., and how these differ from their experiences and perceptions in raising their children in their own countries. Quantitative data were collected first, from a convenience sample of such parents (49 families), using a paper-and pencil-structured questionnaire. The second part of the study was a qualitative exploration of parents' experiences and perceptions of raising their children in the U.S. The researcher conducted 5 one-on-one interviews with parents and used a systematic, coding process for analyzing and interpreting data from the interviews. Survey results showed that the most frequent parenting style reported by Arab fathers and mothers among the three subscales of parenting styles was authoritative followed by authoritarian and permissive. Mothers were reported higher ratings on the subscale of authoritarian parenting style than fathers. Also, results of the repeated measure ANOVA indicated a significant interaction of parent and child gender only for the use of the authoritarian parenting style, which suggesting a significant difference between mothers and fathers in regards to treatment of boys and girls for their scoring on the authoritarian subscale. Additionally, there were no statistically significant differences in parenting style based upon the child's gender, so there was no main effect found for child's gender. Interview results indicated that Arab parents changed their parenting practices from being strict and controlled in their country of origin, to being much more warm and nurturing in the U.S.