What My Mother Did: Do Maternal Parenting Practices Influence Those of the Next Generation?

Jonathan E. Vespa, Ohio State University
Canada Keck, Ohio State University

How do the ways in which young men and women were raised influence their own parenting skills? Research suggests that the intergenerational transmission of parenting practices occurs, however much has been based on select samples, relied on retrospective reports of parenting or has only looked at a single parenting dimension. In this paper we use unique data from the 1979 National Longitudinal Study of Youth main and child/young adult files which include information on parenting practices and home environments within which two generations raised each of their children to address this question. Our sample is nationally representative and geographically diverse. Information has been collected contemporaneously from each generation and we therefore do not have to rely on retrospective reporting. We also look at three dimensions of parenting: affection, teaching and discipline. Our preliminary results lend support to the idea that parents’ own experiences as a child influence their childrearing practices.