Parenting Influences and Theories

This week our forum looks at the foundations of where we learn
to become parents. Please answer both parts within your initial
posting. Remember to review grading feedback from previous
week to improve your discussion this week. Follow the rubric
when you develop your posting.
As for all forum questions, please use the forum question to
guide your discussion and write your post in a paragraph(s)
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that correct APA format uses in-text citations.
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
1. We learn parenting skills from many places. Perhaps our
biggest influence on our attitude towards parenting is from our
parents and how we were raised. We also are influenced by
media, science, religion, and other sources. In your
observation, how have any of these sources influenced
parenting, in general, today
2. Pick a theory from this list (Erikson’s Lifespan Theory of
Development, Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Theory of
Development, Jean Piaget’s Constructivist Theory, or Socio-
Culture Theory of Lev Vygotsky) and apply it to either how you
were raised or how you will (would) raise your own children?
Initial posts are due by 11:59 PM on Wednesday
2 Reply posts are due by 11:59 PM on Sunday
https://edge.apus.edu/access/content/group/education-
common/Universal/CHFD/331/elf/lesson-2/elf_index.html

As we learnt in Lesson 1, a parent’s own childhood and
parenting experiences influence their parenting approach. In
fact, when surveyed, over half of all parents admitted that their
parenting style is greatly affected by the way they were
parented themselves (Lerner & Ciervo, 2010). However, 30
percent of surveyed parents indicated that the way they were
parented had a moderate impact on the personal parenting style.
Although that amounts to just over 80 percent of surveyed
parents, parents also have media, historical patterns, and
scientific research to inform their parenting style. This lesson
will first examine the influences on parental style and then will
explore the many different theories that exist (and have
historically evolved) regarding parenting.
Topics to be covered include:
· Influences on parenting style
· Theories on parenting style
· Theories on children’s growth and development
CONTINUE
Influences on Parental Style Besides Upbringing
· MEDIA
·
HISTORICAL ACCOUNTS
Media resources are a significant source of information for
parents. Increased access to and the speed of technology has put
a wide range of information within close reach of many

parents—especially ones who have disposable incomes that
permit internet access. Parents can easily look up parenting
websites that can advise on topics such as developmental stages,
how to soothe sick babies, and when to call the doctor. Websites
can also highlight issues in parenting and childcare and
encourage debates that make parents think.
Social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter allow
parents to maintain close contact with family, peers, and other
parents to seek advice or share updates. Parents can create blogs
where they chronicle their learnings as a parent and encourage
other parents to post comments. However, parents need to judge
the accuracy of the information placed on websites and be aware
that commercial sites are often trying to sell products rather
than educate. Besides what is now to be considered “traditional”
computer use, where the parent researches on his or her
personal computer or laptop, the advent and importance of the
smartphone impacts the number of parents that are able to
research using the World Wide Web. According to Smith’s
(2015) recent research, two-thirds (64 percent) of American
adults now own a smartphone. Other media such as radio,
television, magazines, and newspapers are also resources for
parents to learn about current issues in parenting.
Media resources are a significant source of information for
parents. Increased access to and the speed of technology has put
a wide range of information within close reach of many
parents—especially ones who have disposable incomes that
permit internet access. Parents can easily look up parenting
websites that can advise on topics such as developmental stages,
how to soothe sick babies, and when to call the doctor. Websites
can also highlight issues in parenting and childcare and
encourage debates that make parents think.
Social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter allow
parents to maintain close contact with family, peers, and other

parents to seek advice or share updates. Parents can create blogs
where they chronicle their learnings as a parent and encourage
other parents to post comments. However, parents need to judge
the accuracy of the information placed on websites and be aware
that commercial sites are often trying to sell products rather
than educate. Besides what is now to be considered “traditional”
computer use, where the parent researches on his or her
personal computer or laptop, the advent and importance of the
smartphone impacts the number of parents that are able to
research using the World Wide Web. According to Smith’s
(2015) recent research, two-thirds (64 percent) of American
adults now own a smartphone. Other media such as radio,
television, magazines, and newspapers are also resources for
parents to learn about current issues in parenting.
Advances in Science and Technology
Advances in science and technology have shown the importance
of effective parenting techniques and strategies that help
children to grow. These advances have helped to understand the
parents' critical role as sensitive caregivers who not only
promote children's growth but buffer children from the effects
of negative genes and negative life experiences. They also help
to understand the complexity of the growth process and the need
for parental involvement in more areas and for longer times
than previously thought.
A parent’s daily interactions with a child can foster positive
self-esteem, intellectual growth, and self-regulation behaviors
that will help the child reach his or her full potential. Sensitive
parents who are observant and flexible to the innate needs of the
child’s temperament can help the child develop essential life
skills and qualities. Knowledge of genetics, neurobiology,
temperament, and cognitive development help parents
understand their child’s development better and help them
foster positive behaviors and self-esteem within the child.

To illustrate these points, let us look at advances in genetics,
neurobiology, and temperament.
Genetics
Genetic research has revealed that each human has up to 25,000
genes and each gene is more versatile than previously thought.
Genes can produce several proteins depending on messages they
receive from other cells, other genes, and hormones triggered by
the environment. Genes not only produce chemical changes in
their environment, the environment triggers changes in the ways
genes function and the proteins they produce. The focus now is
on the operations of the gene, and the dynamic interplay
between DNA and its environment (Brooks, 2013).
Scientists discovered that there are three influences on a gene—
a gene’s specific function, chemical changes in the body, and
the environmental effects of parenting. Research has
demonstrated that a child’s genetic make-up affects the way
they respond to parent’s behaviors. Certain insensitive or
negative parenting behaviors will increase behaviors like
aggression. Alternatively, positive and sensitive parenting
behaviors can reduce the impact of traumatic experiences on
children (Brooks, 2013).
Neurobiology
· NEW TECHNOLOGIES
·
BRAIN DEVELOPMENT
·
EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING (EF) SKILLS

·
SLEEP PATTERNS
Huttenlocher (2002) through his brain research revealed that
each skill or concept learned must continue with practice for the
child so that the connections in the brain are maintained and
eventually, matured. Much has been learned about the brain in
the last 25 years and it has been driven by neuroimaging brain
techniques. The most advanced neuroimaging technique is the
functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). It has been
studied and replicated that children can be introduced to a
concept over a course of a few days but if this concept is not
revisited within a short time frame, the brain will actually erase
(prune) those neural pathways. In essence, the child will have
no memory of the task or of the memory. In order to myelinate
(or harden) and neural pathway to the point of muscle memory,
a child must be exposed to a concept multiple times (anywhere
from 21-49 times) in a variety of settings and experiences to
truly learn a task. Beck, Kucan, and McKeown (2002) first cited
this research and understood it at a basic level, coining the term
as “fast mapping” but many researchers like Marzano (2005)
took the concept further and began to research and understand
what it took to learn a new skill or concept to that muscle
memory level. It is that same level that Huttenlocker was
discussing when he noted that another significant finding is that
there are no critical periods of learning that close after a certain
period, however there are optimal periods of learning for the
child where instruction and practice have the best results
(Brooks, 2013). The last finding of Huttenlocker is that to
nourish learning, children must have periods of instruction and
periods of rest and time to integrate learning. This knowledge
can reinforce to parents the importance of practicing the lessons
of early childhood as well as the importance of play. The brain
needs both stimulation and rest to grow.

Temperament
Temperament refers to biologically based differences in how
children react to stimulation or triggers within their
environment. Parenting behaviors can have different impacts
based on a child’s temperament or perception of the world.
Research has demonstrated that parents must observe their
child’s needs and individualize their parenting techniques and
approaches to take into account their child’s temperamental
qualities, especially if their child has more significant behavior
needs. A one-size parenting approach does not meet all needs
(Brooks, 2013).
Knowledge Check
·
Advances in science and technology have shown the importance
of effective parenting techniques and strategies that help
children to grow. Select the areas of advancement that have
impacted parenting:
Top of Form
o Genetics
o X-rays
o The study of the role of excitement in the brain.
Bottom of Form
THEORIES ON CHILDREN'S GROWTH AND
DEVELOPMENT‹

1/5
›
· There are certain sets of theories that describe the growth and
developmental stages of children. These theories can help
parents understand how to interact with their children to provide
appropriate experiences to help them develop physically,
socially, intellectually, and emotionally. These theories also
help the parent to understand the range of behaviors and
achievements they may be able to expect at different stages of
their child’s life.
Parenting Theories on Children's Inner Qualities
There are certain sets of theories that describe the growth and
developmental stages of children. These theories can help
parents understand how to interact with their children to provide
appropriate experiences to help them develop physically,
socially, intellectually, and emotionally. These theories also
help the parent to understand the range of behaviors and
achievements they may be able to expect at different stages of
their child’s life.
There are three major theories when it comes to the
development of a child’s inner qualities--evolutionary
development theory, Piaget’s constructivist theory and Freud’s
theory of psychosexual development.
Evolutionary Development Theory
This theory examines and emphasizes how the evolutionary
heritage influences current behaviors. Evolutionary
psychologists draw on Darwin’s concept of natural selection,
which is the process where adaptive characteristics increase in a
group because those behaviors allow the individual to survive,
grow to maturity, reproduce and then pass along their genes to

the next generation. Evolutionary psychologists provide insights
about contemporary social life by showing how our human
genetic history influences our needs and behavior today.
In today’s terms, advantages are evident in those children
whose parents make a heavy investment in parenting. When a
child grows up in an amicable family, with resources to provide
many opportunities for learning and development, children
postpone sexual activity and mating, produce fewer children,
and invest heavily in those they have. On the other hand, when
children grow up in conflicted families with limited resources
and few opportunities for skill development, they reach puberty
early, invest heavily in sexual and mating behaviors, and invest
less in parenting behaviors. One way to increase parental
investment for those growing up in families with limited
resources is to provide opportunities for growth and
development.
Piaget's Constructivist Theory
Jean Piaget emphasized that a child thinks about the world
differently from adults and the focus of this theory was a
child’s active construction of knowledge. Under constructivist
theory, intellectual growth is viewed as a constant interplay of
acquiring new information (assimilation) and modifying the
current internal structures (accommodation) to achieve a
balance between the child’s concept of the world and the world
itself. Equilibration is the active process by which a child
achieves that effective balance between the two.
ASSIMILATION
ACCOMMODATION
EQUILIBRATION

Piaget described child development as occurring into the
following four distinct periods with distinct abilities to process
information.
SENSORY–MOTOR PERIOD (0–24 MONTHS)
PREOPERATIONAL PERIOD (2–7 YEARS)
CONCRETE OPERATIONS PERIOD (7–14 YEARS)
FORMAL OPERATIONS PERIOD (14 YEARS–ADULTHOOD)
Piaget’s theory helps parents understand that they must take
into account the child’s ability to process information when
they interact. Children need many opportunities to explore
objects, pretend play, and think and talk about their thoughts.
These opportunities help them to grow intellectually.
Freud's Theory of Psychosexual Development
Sigmund Freud proposed that many adult emotional difficulties
come from anxieties concerning early childhood experiences.
While treating many adults with emotional issues, he observed
that he could trace many of the adult symptoms to anxieties
about experiences that occurred in early childhood. He believed
that the experiences that occurred in early childhood had life-
long lasting effects on adults’ personalities. Freud focused on
children’s impulses, particularly sexual impulses and their
sources of gratification. He viewed children as pleasure-seeking
creatures who tamed their impulses to meet parental and
societal demands. Freud divided childhood into the following
five stages; each stage is named after the areas of the body that
were the primary source of stimulation and gratification at that
time.

1. Oral: Feeding development. This focused on the pleasures of
nursing and receiving food.
2. Anal: Toilet training. This focused on the pleasures
associated with the tightening and releasing of the anal
musculature.
3. Phallic: Preschool genital stimulation and Oedipal complex.
This focused on the pleasures of genital stimulation overtaking
the oral and anal gratifications.
4. Latency: Early elementary years when sexual feelings are
thought to be dormant.
5. Genital: Adolescence is centered around sexual pleasures and
gratifications when a child develops fully.
Freud’s theory was based upon the idea that a child’s
development of their “adult personality” was driven by the
child’s attempts at gratification of impulses in each of the
stages, as well as others’ reactions to their behaviors.
Freud never gave direct advice to parents; however, he
emphasized the importance of appropriate gratification of
children's natural impulses—demand feeding, permissive
attitudes about thumb sucking and toilet training, acceptable
outlets for aggressive impulses—without criticism or
punishment. His theory does help parents to understand (1)
Children have internal needs that drive behavior and neither
they nor their parents have complete control, and (2) parents
have a powerful role in understanding children's inner needs and
helping them find acceptable ways to gratify their impulses;
parents are authoritative guides and supporters on the path to
maturity, not generals commanding the course of growth.
Freud also believed the human personality is made up of three

parts.
· THE ID
·
THE EGO
·
THE SUPEREGO
The id is the impulsive, biological state infants are born into
and they demand satisfaction immediately.
Knowledge Check
·
Theories that involve only inner qualities of the child suggest
that:
Top of Form
o Inner qualities of the child have a major impact on child
growth and development.
o External influences do not matter.
o External influences do not exist.
o Inner qualities are a bigger influence on the development of
the child.
Bottom of Form
Parenting Theories Emphasizing Both Internal and External

Influences
The theories discussed in this section emphasize that interaction
between the child’s own inner qualities, their genes, and their
environmental and social factors shape the child’s growth. The
parents take active roles to manage the effects of these forces in
the child’s life.
ERIKSON’S LIFESPAN OF DEVELOPMENT
Erikson expanded upon Freud’s five stages of child
development into eight stages of life. The following table
outlines Erikson’s eight stages of life.
Within these eight stages of life, the individual goes through
positive and negative experiences that lead the individual to
develop positive or negative attitudes about themselves at that
life stage. The individual will experience growth, but he or she
needs support from the environment to achieve it. More positive
experiences help the individual develop positive attitudes and
qualities.
An individual who works through difficulties within each life
stage will develop certain virtues or strengths. Erikson believed
that an individual could have recurring problems or negative
attitudes at different stages in life due to ongoing stress.
Positive experiences in childhood can help an individual solve
problems later on, in adulthood. Erikson’s theory can help
parents realize that children are adaptive individuals who can
grow to be independent. They continue to develop
psychologically throughout adulthood and they can continue to
work through difficulties. Parenting is important for the parent
who provides and for the child who experiences it (Brooks,
2013).
ERIKSON’S THEORY OF PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Age
Conflict
Resolution or “Virtue”
Culmination in Old Age
Infancy (0-1 year)
Trust versus Mistrust
Hope
Appreciation of interdependence and relatedness
Early Childhood (1-3 years)
Autonomy versus Shame and Doubt
Purpose

Humor, empathy, resilience
Preschool Age (3-6years)
Initiative versus Guilt
Will
Humility, acceptance of the
School Age (6-12 years)
Industry versus Inferiority
Competence
Humility, acceptance of the course of one’s life and unfulfilled
hopes
Adolescence (12-18 years)

Identity versus Confusion
Fidelity
Sense of complexity of life, merging of sensory, logical and
aesthetic perception
Early Adulthood (18-35 Years)
Intimacy versus Isolation
Love
Sense of complexity of relationships, value of tenderness, and
loving freely
Middle Adulthood (35-65 years)
Generativity versus Stagnation
Care
Caritas, caring for others, agape, empathy and concern

Old Age (65 years+)
Ego integrity versus Despair
Wisdom
Existential identity, sense of integrity strong enough to
withstand physical disintegration
Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological Theory of Development
This theory uses a framework of Processes–Person–Context–
Time (PPCT) to describe the interaction between the child’s
inner qualities and the environment as he or she develops and
grows.
Bronfenbrenner’s framework sought to highlight to parents the
influence of forces such as economic factors, work policies,
historical events on parenting, and the importance of stability
and regularity in a child’s life (Brooks, 2013).
PROCESS
PERSON
CONTEXT

TIME
Family Systems Theory
This theory describes the family as a system that consists of
interdependent members who interact and respond to each other.
Within this system are the influences of the quality of the
relationships between parent and child, sibling and sibling,
parent and parent, parent and families of origin, grandparents
and grandchildren, and parents and coworkers and friends.
Within the family system, members are trying to maintain
relationships, be supportive, and accommodate needs. When an
event occurs to one family member, there will be a ripple effect
to other members. This causes stress within the family.
Hill, (1949), uses the ABC-X model to describe the process that
occurs when families respond to a change in the family or an
external, stressful event. A stressor event occurs (represented
by letter A). The level of stress the family experiences (X) is
dependent upon the family’s resources (B) for coping with the
event and the family’s perceptions (C) of that event. So the
level of stress (X) that is triggered by a stressor event (A)
varies from family to family depending on the B and C factors.
Parental resources (B) include parents' abilities and strengths
and the resources and strengths of the extended family and
community. When these resources are positive, parents are
better able to cope with stress, but when these resources are
negative or lacking, then families are vulnerable and find
coping difficult or impossible, and the family's functioning
decreases. The two most important resources in families are the
parents’ marital relationship and support from extended family
and the community. When these resources are positive assets,
families can cope with any stress as we shall see in subsequent

lessons, and when they are absent or negative, families have
increased stress. Resources are potential sources of help or
hindrance until they are drawn upon. Many families have
identical levels of resources, but one family uses them, and
another family does not (Brooks, 2013).
Parents’ perceptions (C) of stressor events play a large role in
determining parents’ level of stress, especially when it comes to
dealing with children’s behaviors. Parents’ perceptions, rooted
in their past experiences, their cultural traditions, and family
and community expectations, play an especially powerful role in
determining the meaning or significance of their children’s
behaviors. For example, Asian parents have a favorable view of
their child's shyness, seeing it as a sign of the child's sensitivity
and cautiousness, and so they are positive and supportive of
their shy children whereas North American parents view their
child's shyness negatively as it does not meet the culture’s
expectation of independence and social outgoingness so they are
critical and sometimes rejecting. The children’s behavior is the
same, but the parents’ view of it changes its significance
(Brooks, 2013).
Cultural traditions, past experiences, and family expectations
can also influence the parents’ perceptions of the level of
severity of the stressful event. The same event can have
different stress levels on two different families depending on
those influences. To cope with stress, families have the coping
strategies to change the event, change their perception of the
event and how to deal with it, or manage their feelings by
seeking support emotionally.
Peterson, Hennon, and Knox (2000) use the family systems
theory views on stress to understand the stress that parents
experience.
They highlight the following three types of stress that parents

experience in the process of parenting:
NORMATIVE STRESSORS
NON-NORMATIVE STRESSORS
CHRONIC STRESSORS
As identified in family stress theory, the most important
resources for parents to cope with stress include a secure
marital relationship and family and community support. Parents
who do not have these supports or choose not to use them will
have increased stress. Cultural traditions and family and
community expectations affect a parent’s perception of the
severity of the stress. Parents cope with stress by direct action
to change the situation, using their supports to help manage
their feelings and sometimes reframe the stressors to view them
as challenges and opportunities to pursue parent education
programs.
Knowledge Check
·
Major theories that emphasize both internal and external
influences include the following:
Top of Form
o Erikson’s Lifespan of Development
o Piaget’s Constructivist Theory
o Neuroimaging
o Freud’s Divisions of Human Personality

Bottom of Form
“Relations between Physiological and Cognitive Regulatory
Systems: Infant Sleep Regulation and Subsequent Executive
Functioning,”
Child Development 81
(2010): 1739–1752.
Brooks, J. (2013) The process of parenting, 9th Edition.
McGraw-Hill Learning
Solution
s.
Hill, R. (1949).
Families under Stress
. New York, Harper and Row.
Huttenlocher, P.R. (2002). Neural plasticity: The effects of
environment on the development of the cerebral cortex.
Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press
.
Lerner, C., & Ciervo, L. (n.d.). Parenting Young Children

Today: What the Research Tells Us, Zero to Three (J), 2010-
Mar. Retrieved from
http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ915260
Marzano, R.J. (2005). Building academic vocabulary: Teacher’s
manual. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Peterson, G.W., Hennon, C.B. and Knox, T. (2000).
Conceptualizing parenting stress with Family Stress Theory. In
McKenry, P. C., & Price, S. J. (Eds).
Families & change: Coping with stressful events and transitions
. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Pollock, L. A. (1983, 1993). Forgotten children: Parent-child
relations from 1500 to 1900.
Cambridge: University Press
.
Smith, A. (2015, April 1). A Portrait of SmartPhone Ownership.
Retrieved from
http://www.pewresearch.org/
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