Kids’ Mental Health Impacted by Strict, ‘Tiger Mom’ Parenting

A tiger mom with her cubBattle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, Amy Chua’s controversial 2011 book, advocates a highly controlling and often punitive style of parenting. A new study that looked specifically at this “tiger parent” style of parenting has found that it increases problem behaviors in children and may lead to mental health concerns.

How Punitive Parenting Affects Children

Previous research suggests that Chinese parenting styles differ from American parenting styles. Many Chinese parents believe that controlling their children’s behavior is a sign of support and love. Consequently, some Chinese parents show less affection toward their children while behaving in more controlling ways—a parenting style commonly known as authoritarian parenting.

Although past research has suggested that this parenting style is damaging to American children, cultural norms play a huge part in influencing the way parenting affects children. Cixin Wang, a professor at the Graduate School of Education at UC Riverside, grew up in China and wanted to examine whether authoritarian parenting styles were hard on Chinese children.

The study surveyed 589 middle and high school students in Hangzhou, China. Children reported on their parents’ parenting style and behavior, as well as their own academic performance, self-esteem, and behavior. Children with punitive “tiger” parents had lower self-esteem and more difficulty adjusting to the demands of school. They also displayed more problem behaviors and were more likely to experience depression. Psychological control techniques, particularly withdrawing love, were especially problematic. These kinds of psychological control techniques are similar to those advocated by Chua in her book.

Which Parenting Style Is Best?

Though the study found that punitive parenting negatively affected children, excessive permissiveness by parents was also linked to negative outcomes for kids. Previous research on Western children has uncovered similar correlations. Child psychologists often measure parenting style by evaluating two factors: warmth and control. Parents deficient in either behavior tend to generate worse outcomes for kids. For example, parents who are low in warmth and control may tend to be neglectful.

While the latest study did not provide information about the “right” parenting style for Chinese children, it does suggest that Chinese children have similar needs to the American kids from other studies. Research on parenting demonstrates that authoritative parents who are high on both warmth and control get the best outcomes.

References:

  1. Hold on, tiger mom: Punitive parenting may lead to mental health risks. (2014, September 23). Retrieved from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140922130745.htm
  2. Parenting styles: A guide for the science-minded. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.parentingscience.com/parenting-styles.html

© Copyright 2014 GoodTherapy.org. All rights reserved.

The preceding article was solely written by the author named above. Any views and opinions expressed are not necessarily shared by GoodTherapy.org. Questions or concerns about the preceding article can be directed to the author or posted as a comment below.

  • 9 comments
  • Leave a Comment
  • jenn

    September 27th, 2014 at 11:30 AM

    Yeah I didn’t agree with this method of parenting from the time I heard about the book. I don’t want my kids to do things or not do things because they are afraid of me, I want them to do it or not to do it because I have taught them the right values and they are able to make wise and healthy choices for themselves. They are gonna screw up, we are all gonna screw up but I refuse to be that mom who holds everythign over their heads and never let them learn what it is like to make great choices and to be a success on their own.

  • Sherri

    September 28th, 2014 at 8:08 AM

    I know that not everyone agress with this method and that’s fine, but I have two boys who would end up doing who knows what if I did not stay on them and plan their pretty much every moment for them.
    They may rebel against this one day, as a matter of fact I am convinced that at some point they probably will but that does mena that I give up this time now in anticipation of what they will do later on?
    No I am going to keep moving forward because they are good kids, good students and I happen to think that this method is actually teaching them about the things that are important and those that aren’t.

  • Keith

    September 28th, 2014 at 12:34 PM

    You have to be willing to find the balance that will work the best for you and for your kids.
    Just because it seems to work well on paper, your kids might actually be visibly harmed by one parenting style or the other. This can’t be a one size fits all sort of thing.
    I think that there are multiple tactics that you can try knowing from the get go that there will be some that are a success for you and others that will likely fail miserably.
    This is not a reflection on you especially if you are always open to the possibility of trying again, maybe even something new and different and testing out how the kids will do with that.

show more comments

Leave a Comment

By commenting you acknowledge acceptance of GoodTherapy.org's Terms and Conditions of Use.

 

* Indicates required field.

GoodTherapy uses cookies to personalize content and ads to provide better services for our users and to analyze our traffic. By continuing to use this site you consent to our cookies.