Authoritative Parents and Dominant Children as the Center of Communication for Sustainable Healthy Aging

The aging population significantly is shifting the center of gravity of the people toward older ages and median age. Indonesia, as one of the most populous countries, needs to prepare for this situation. This study tries to explain whether the elderly’s sedentary lifestyle is the consequence of intergenerational interaction patterns. Filial piety was arguably implemented, as the interaction baseline within a family member affects how the intergeneration communicates. This study uses thematic analysis based on the opinions from 16 respondents’ experiences and values with respect to behavior toward the older generation with a specific inclusion criterion. Sampling structures represented younger-generation adults who interacted daily with the elderly older generation, divided by their marital status, residencies, and living area in Indonesia. Through emerging themes, was is found out that the dominant figure in the family is the communication center in the family. The dominant figure might be an authoritative parent or dominant child. This targeted approach is useful to enhance connectivity within family members, potentially implementing the Internet of Healthy Things (IoHT) for the younger elderly to reduce undesirable sedentary lifestyles and to deliver sustainable healthy aging in Indonesian society.

Authoritative parent feeding style is associated with better child dietary quality at dinner among low-income minority families

Background Parent feeding styles have been linked to child weight status across multiple studies. However, to our knowledge, the link between feeding styles and children's dietary quality, a more proximal outcome, has not been investigated. Objective The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between parent feeding styles and dietary quality of Head Start preschoolers’ dinner meals. Design The amount of food served and consumed by children was measured by using a standardized digital photography method during 3 in-home dinner observations of low-income minority families in Houston, Texas. Trained dietitians entered food served and consumed into the Nutrient Data System for Research 2009 for nutrient analysis. Overall dietary quality of the food served and consumed at dinner was evaluated by using the Healthy Eating Index 2010 (HEI-2010). Parent feeding style was assessed with the use of the Caregiver's Feeding Style Questionnaire (CFSQ). On the basis of a parent's level of demandingness and responsiveness to his or her child during feeding, the CFSQ categorizes parent feeding into 4 styles: authoritative (high demandingness and high responsiveness), authoritarian (high demandingness and low responsiveness), indulgent (low demandingness and high responsiveness), or uninvolved (low demandingness and low responsiveness). Results For the overall sample, the mean ± SD HEI score for dinner served was 44.2 ± 8.4, and the mean ± SD HEI score for dinner consumed was 43.4 ± 7.0. In the fully adjusted model, ANCOVA indicated that the authoritative parent feeding style was associated with significantly higher child dietary quality compared with the authoritarian feeding style (mean ± SEE HEI consumed—authoritative 45.5 ± 0.9; authoritarian: 41.9 ± 0.7; P = 0.001). Conclusions Parent feeding style contributes to the overall dietary quality of children, and among low-income minority preschoolers an authoritative feeding style was associated with the highest dietary quality of the 4 feeding styles. Interventions to promote feeding practices that contribute to authoritative feeding are needed to improve the dietary quality of preschool children at dinner. This trial was registered at https://clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02696278.

Differential Parenting Between Mothers and Fathers

Although the relationship between parenting and outcomes for children and adolescents has been examined, differences between maternal and paternal parenting styles have received less attention, particularly in the case of late adolescents. As a result, this article examines the relationship between late adolescents' perceptions of their mothers' and fathers' parenting styles and their own emotional adjustment. Findings of this study suggest that mothers and fathers use different parenting styles for their sons and daughters. It also suggests that different combinations of maternal and paternal parenting (e.g., a permissive father parenting with an authoritarian mother) are related to late adolescents' emotional adjustment, with late adolescents who have at least one authoritative parent showing better adjustment than those who do not have such a parent. Overall, this study emphasizes the importance of examining dyadic parent—adolescent relationships, and it suggests that having one authoritative parent may be a protective factor for late adolescents.

Linking Mother–Father Differences in Parenting to a Typology of Family Parenting Styles and Adolescent Outcomes

Using longitudinal data from a sample of 451 families with a child in eighth grade at the time of study, three research questions have been addressed: First, the study explored the ways in which mothers and fathers differ with regard to four parenting styles. Second, the study examined the manner in which individual parenting styles combine to form family parenting styles. Finally, the study investigated the extent to which these various styles are related to delinquency, depression, and school commitment for adolescents. Regardless of reporter, the most common family parenting styles are those in which both parents display the same style of parenting. Having two authoritative parents is associated with the most positive outcomes for adolescents. In the absence of this optimal family parenting style, there is evidence that having one authoritative parent can, in most cases, buffer a child from the deleterious consequences associated with less optimal styles of parenting.

Parental Educational Program: Effectiveness and Retention

55 parents of adolescent children were asked to rate the effectiveness of their communication with their adolescents before and after a 10-wk. parent educational program encouraging authoritative parent-adolescent interactions. Parents reported improved effectiveness of communication from the pre- to postprogram assessment times. Retention was compared across groups receiving high and low support in attendance of meetings, but retention did not differ across the two groups.