| dc.description.abstract | Parents vary in their way of raising their children. The quality of nurturing is related to parental behaviour and parental self-efficacy. There is limited information about the relation between parental self-efficacy and parental behaviour and the role of fathers and the role of the gender of the child. This study examined the relation between parental self-efficacy and parental behaviour, including the impact of the parent’s gender and the child’s gender, by parents with children between 2 and 4 years old. The data were collected through a cross-sectional survey. 79 fathers and 166 mothers participated in this study. Parental behaviour and parental self-efficacy were reported by the parent, by using global measurements. Parental behaviour was split up in four dimensions: warmth, structure, positive parenting and harsh discipline. For each dimension a regression method was used to examine whether parental self-efficacy predicted the value of the dimension, and whether this effect differed depending on the parent’s or the child’s gender. The results showed that higher parental self-efficacy predicted more warmth, structure and positive parenting and less harsh discipline. Thus, higher parental self-efficacy is related to better parental behaviour and this effect is the same for fathers and mothers, and for parents with a son and parents with a daughter. | |
