Study: Authoritative Parenting by Dads Teaches Perseverance in Kids

Jupiterimages/Polka Dot(NEW YORK) -- A new study says that children learn persistence from their fathers, and the acquired skill can lead to a reduced risk of criminal behavior and better performance at school, Health Day reports.

For the study, researchers from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah followed adolescents aged 11 to 14 from 325 two-parent families for several years. Researchers found that children of the fathers who exhibited authoritative parenting--about 52 percent--were much more likely to develop persistence, which resulted in lower levels of delinquency and better outcomes at school.

The researchers emphasized that authoritative parenting is not the same as authoritarian parenting, and involves three basic features: children feel warmth and love from their father, children are granted appropriate levels of autonomy and fathers stress accountability and the justification of rules.

Researchers also suggested that single parents can still teach their children about persistence, even though the study only included two-parent families, according to Health Day.

The findings were published June 15 in the Journal of Early Adolescence.

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