Exploring Relationships among Parenting Styles, Choices, and Family Quality of Life among Chilean Parents of Pre-schoolers with and without Developmental Disabilities

The relationships among parenting styles, choices provided to children, and perception of satisfaction about family life was examined in 64 families of pre-schoolers with and without developmental disabilities in the Bio-Bio Region of Chile, South America. Choice-making of young children between 19 and 59 months, with and without developmental disabilities (DD), was assessed, as well as their families' parenting styles and family quality of life. Self-determination was defined as the number of decisions that children were able to make in their daily lives, while family quality of life was defined as parental perception of satisfaction about their family life. Parents filled out questionnaires identifying their parenting style as either authoritative (high in structure, control and affection), authoritarian (high in structure and control and low in affection), or permissive (low in structure and control and high in affection), as well as choices provided to their children and perception of satisfaction about their family life. Intercorrelations among measures and hierarchical multiple regressions revealed that, while parenting styles were not significantly related to decision-making, they were related to parental perception of family quality of life. Implications for professionals include the need to work in collaboration with parents to implement culturally responsive interventions that promote self-determination among young children with disabilities. %%%%64 familles d'enfants en âge prescolaire, atteints ou non de deficiences developpementales, ont ete examinees dans la region de Bio-Bio au Chili, en Amerique du Sud, pour determiner les relations entre style parental, choix fournis aux enfants et perception de la qualite de la vie de famille. Le processus de choix des jeunes enfants âges de 19 a 59 mois, avec ou sans deficiences developpementales (DD), a ete evalue ainsi que le style parental en application dans leur famille et la qualite de vie de la famille. La capacite d'auto-determination a ete definie comme le nombre de decisions que les enfants ont ete capables de faire dans leur vie quotidienne, tandis que la qualite de vie de la famille a ete definie selon l'appreciation des parents quant a leur vie familiale. Les parents ont rempli des questionnaires identifiant leur style parental comme etant soit democratiques ou directifs (niveaux de structure, controle et affection eleves), autoritaire (niveaux de structure et de controle eleve et niveau d'affection faible), ou permissif (niveaux de structure et controle faible et niveau d'affection eleve), ainsi que les choix proposes a leurs enfants et leur perception de satisfaction quant a leur vie de famille. Des correlations entre les mesures et plusieurs regressions hierarchiques ont revelees que, si le style parental n'etait pas relie au processus de decision, il etait lie a la perception parentale de la qualite de vie familiale. D'un point de vue professionnel, cela implique un travail necessaire avec les parents pour mettre en place des interventions…