Functional parenting in Pakistan

Abstract

We obtained information regarding parenting perceptions and psychosocial adjustment from 102 Pakistani young women. Parenting behaviours assessed pertained to warmth and dominating control, as well as to "training" (proposed by Chao as having relevance in other Asian cultures), and indigenously relevant items related to religion and shame/honour. Adjustment measures included self-esteem, relationship harmony, and self-perceived health, shown to have relevance in other Asian cultures. In two-factor analyses, perceptions of parents' warmth and training behaviours combined into a factor that correlated positively with adjustment measures, whereas the dominating control factor correlated negatively. In three-factor analyses, perceptions of mothers' training behaviours predicted variance in relationship harmony, independent of perceptions of warmth and dominating control behaviours. These findings support Chao's views that the dimension of training may play a particularly important role in functional parenting in some non-Western cultures. © 1999 The International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development.