Influence of Parenting Styles, Teacher-Child Relationships, and Peer Relationships on Children’s Grit: Latent Profile Analysis of Parenting Styles

Abstract

Objectives: This study investigates how parenting styles, teacher-child relationships, and peer relationships predict fourth-grade children’s grit. First, we explored the latent profiles of parenting styles that fourth-grade children perceived. Second, we investigated how latent profiles of parenting styles, teacher-child relationships, and peer relationships affect children’s grit.Methods: We used the dataset from the first wave of KCYPS conducted in 2018, whose participants were 2,607 fourth-grade children. A latent profile analysis (LPA) was used to explore the types and patterns of parenting styles. In addition, a multiple regression analysis was conducted to verify the effects of latent profiles of parenting styles, the quality of the teacher-child relationships and peer relationships on children’s grit.Results: For the first research question, the LPA showed that the children perceived the parenting styles of their caregivers as the following three types of latent profiles: positive, negative, and lower-positive. We found that the parenting styles of the lower-positive and negative profiles may have a statistically significant effect on children’s grit level. Regarding the effects of other variables, we found that trusting teacher-child relationships and positive peer relationships can significantly predict higher grit.Conclusion: Positive parenting style, highly trusting relationships between teachers and children, and healthy peer relationships are positive predictors of higher grit scores in fourth-grade children. Positive environmental factors, including home and school contexts, significantly encourage children’s grit. Educational programs should be conducted for increasing grit based on building positive parenting styles and positive relationships with teachers and peers.