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PEDIATRICS Vol. 111 No. 2 February 2003, pp. 444-445

Psychological Maltreatment

To the Editor.—

In their technical report, "The Psychological Maltreatment of Children," Kairys, Johnson, and the AAP Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect¹ consider "an authoritative (emphasis added) parenting style" as an attribute contributing to psychological maltreatment. As a card-carrying authoritative parent, I was shocked. In fact, what they meant to say (I hope) was "an authoritarian parenting style." To reassure myself, I went to the source, the Garbarino and Vondra chapter cited in the technical report. In their chapter, Garbarino and Vondra² discuss the authoritarian personality, characterized by rigidity, conformity, intolerance of ambiguity, and unrealistic goal-setting.

On the other hand, authoritative means, "Having or arising from authority; official; of acknowledged accuracy or excellence; highly reliable "³ According to Grobman,⁴ Baumrind’s original description of authoritative parenting includes directing the child’s activities in a rational way and encouraging verbal give and take. The authoritative parent exerts firm control without being overly restrictive, recognizing that adults have special rights while acknowledging the child’s individual interests and special ways. The authoritative parent affirms the child’s present qualities but also sets standards for future conduct, using reasoning as well as power.

Authoritarian parenting is profoundly different from authoritative parenting. The former has been associated with adverse developmental outcomes. The latter, according to the literature and personal experience, has been known to produce great kids.

Jonathan B. Kotch, MD, MPH,FAAP
University of North Carolina
School of Public Health
Department of Maternal and Child Health
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7400, USA

REFERENCES

1. Kairys SW, Johnson CF, and the Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect. Pediatrics.2002(April) :109(4) . Available at: http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/109/4/e68
2. Garbarino J, Vondra J. Psychological maltreatment: issues and perspectives. In: Brassard MR, Germain R, Hart SN, eds. Psychological Maltreatment of Children and Youth. New York, NY: Pergamon Press; 1987:25–44
3. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. 2000. Houghton Mifflin Company. Available at: http://www.dictionary.com/search?q=authoritative. Accessed June 7, 2002
4. Grobman K. February 11, 2001 Diana Baumrind’s Theory of Parenting Styles: Original Descriptions of the Styles (1967). Available at: www.personal.psu.edu/users/k/x/kxg190/teaching/parenting_styles.html. Accessed June 4, 2002

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In Reply.—

We appreciate the letter from Dr Kotch that clearly explains the difference between the authoritative versus authoritarian styles of parenting. Dr Kotch is correct that it is an authoritarian parenting style that contributes to psychological maltreatment. We apologize for the oversight.

Robert W. Block, MD, FAAP
Chairperson, AAP Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect
Tulsa, OK 74135-2512, USA

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PEDIATRICS (ISSN 1098-4275). ©2003 by the American Academy of Pediatrics

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This Article Extract Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services E-mail this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My File Cabinet Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Kotch, J. B. Articles by Block, R. W. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kotch, J. B. Articles by Block, R. W. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?