Semester

Fall

Date of Graduation

2008

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MA

College

College of Education and Human Services

Department

Learning Sciences and Human Development

Committee Chair

Barbara G. Warash.

Committee Co-Chair

Carol Markstrom

Committee Member

Amy Kennedy Root

Abstract

Researchers have associated Diane Baumrind's parenting styles (Baumrind, 1967; Baumrind, 1966; Baumrind, 1968; Baumrind, 1971) with countless outcomes among children, adolescents, and adults. However, few, if any, have investigated an age group's perceptions of their childrearing compared with their inclination to become parents. This study examined 67 West Virginia University students' responses to the Adapted Parenting Attribute Questionnaire (APAQ) completed by Child Development and Family Studies majors in 2007. The purpose was to determine patterns of perceptions in guardians' parenting styles, then compare the participants' inclinations to become parents and their rankings of importance (low, medium, or high; low and high) in becoming parents. After the scores of parenting styles were separated and calculated using SPSS, the six subscales of like parenting styles correlated significantly and positively. However, no significance was found between the perception of parenting styles and the ranking in importance of becoming parents.

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