Comparison of Parenting Style in Single Child and Multiple Children Families

Background and Purpose: Family is the first and the most important structure in human civilization in which social lifestyles, mutual understanding, and compatibility is learned. Studies have shown that parenting style, is one the most important and fundamental factors in personality development. The purpose of this study was comparison of parenting style in single child and multiple children families. Materials and Methods: This study, in total, 152 mothers from Andimeshk city, Iran, were selected by random sampling. Data were collected from a health-care center was chosen randomly, mothers who had 5-7 years old children were enrolled in this study. The data collecting tool was the questionnaire which investigates permissive, authoritative, and authoritarian parenting styles in parents. After data entry in SPSS software, the collected data were analyzed by ANOVA, independent t-test, and Pearson correlation test. Results: The mean age of the participants was 32.71 ± 5.39 years old participated in this study. 69 mothers (45.4%) had one child, 53 (34.9%) had 2 children, and 30 mothers (19.7%) had 3 and more children. The mean score of permissive parenting style was 19.97 ± 5.13 in single child families; the mean score of authoritative (19.56 ± 4.70) and authoritarian parenting style (34.50 ± 2.81) that difference was significantly (P < 0.050). Conclusion: According to the results of this study, it seems that having more children would make parents more logical and paves the way for upbringing children. Therefore, it is recommended to plan some educational programs about this issue for parents.