Mothers lacking confidence are likely to also be dysfunctional parents who hit their children or shout at them, a study has found.

A survey of 126 Australian mothers of toddlers aged 18 months to three years found a lack of confidence — rather than out-of-control children or financial stress — made it harder for them to cope.

University of Queensland researchers Dr Alina Morawska and Prof Matt Sanders have called for parental education to include ways of raising the confidence of parents.

“Mothers who felt more confident reported less dysfunctional parenting and less stress, and there was a trend for fewer child behaviour problems,” the researchers say in Child magazine.

“Often parents have adequate knowledge and information regarding appropriate parenting strategies and child development; however, they may lack the confidence to be able to implement this knowledge.”

Their earlier research also showed dysfunctional, coercive parenting practices were common, with more than 70 per cent of parents saying they were likely to shout.

More than 40 per cent had given a single smack with a hand to deal with child misbehaviour, the research showed.

But dysfunctional parenting has little to do with child behaviour and a lot to do with the emotional state of the parents, they believe.

Their recent study also found mothers worried most about whether their parenting style would spoil the child, their ability to manage the child’s aggressiveness, limiting destructive behaviour and coping with a tantrum. (…)

Source: Melbourne Herald Sun, Australia
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23153890-662,00.html