Intellectual Structure of Parenting Style Research: A Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

The role of parents in child socialization has been an inquisitive subject of inquiry. Parenting style forms one of the widely adopted lenses through which child-rearing patterns have been conceptualized. Though well-researched, gaps persist in comprehending the core works in the parenting style-child socialization relationship domain and their linkages. This study employs bibliometric techniques to present an objective assessment of 1,812 articles containing 93,720 cited documents, using citation and co-citation analysis. Prominent works in the discipline and associated clustering patterns are revealed. Further, the centrality parameters of the parenting style research network are deciphered via social network analysis. The exercise adds to theory by clarifying the scholarly dialog and depicting the intellectual structure of parenting style research. Further, through the findings, potential research directions are outlined.