The Importance Of Developmental Psychology On Children's Development

Developmental Psychology according to Goldstein and Weiner’s (2003) Handbook of Psychology, Volume 6, Developmental Psychology states that this is the study of “how temporal changes in the familial, social, and cultural contexts of life shape the quality of the trajectories of change that individuals traverse across their life spans.” Developmental psychology is basically the study of an individual, from the cradle to the grave and how they contrast and develop in various life spans. Developmental Psychology tackles numerous concepts; however, one of the most controversial and prominent concepts which aims to elucidate the development of a child’s cognitive, emotional and behavioral state would be Diana Baumrind’s conceptualization of the parenting

Moreover, since the family is the first window of the child, parenting style and its influence on children could greatly affect their understanding, attitude and school achievements. (Kordi & Baharudin, 2010). Furthermore, according to a report on The National Children’s Strategy Research Series, “the profound influence of parenting practices on children’s development has been widely documented and a large body of research literature in the UK, USA and Australia has focused on the links between parenting styles, parental discipline responses, child behaviour and children’s psychological well-being.” (Halpenny, et al., 2010). Dimensions of parent-child relations pertaining to the parenting styles, and the quality of a parent and a child have been found to have substantial implications for children’s emotional and personality development. (Goldstein and Weiner,

Baumrind (1967, 1971) proposed that the effectiveness of parenting styles for children’s personality development reflects two aspects: parental warmth which refers to the degree to which parents are accepting and responsive of their children’s behavior as opposed to being unresponsive and rejecting. This includes qualities such as responsiveness, warmth, availability. The other aspect is parental control which refers to the degree to which parents manage their children’s behavior—from being very controlling to setting few rules and demands which features qualities such as demandingness, monitoring, consistent discipline. (Kopko, 2007). Based on these assumptions, Baumrind distinguished between three qualitatively different types of parenting styles each which encompasses various emotional elements and with implications for children’s emotional and personality development. (Kordi & Baharudin, 2010). Authoritative parenting style entails clear and firm direction to children. Authoritative parents utilize firm, consistent control, centered around integrating the child into the family and society. Communication styles with children are characterized by warmth, clarity, reciprocality, and verbal give and take between parent and child. (Cummings, Davies & Campbell,