Assessing Parenting Behaviors of a Southern, Rural Community Using the Ghent Parental Behavior Scale

Abstract

This study was conducted to examine parental behaviors of a southern, rural community and what demographics are related to certain parenting behaviors. Archival data were used from a sample of high school parents (N = 39) who completed a demographics survey and a revised Ghent Parental Behavior Scale (GPBS).This self-rating measure consists of nine subscales: Positive Parenting, Monitoring, Rules, Discipline, Inconsistent Discipline, Harsh Punishment, Autonomy, Material Rewarding, and Ignoring. The demographics collected for this study were: age, race, gender (sex), marital status, household income, and the highest level of education level completed. Significant differences were observed for Monitoring by race, Autonomy by income, and Ignoring by income. This contributes to the literature regarding the associations between demographic variables and parenting practices, which is currently scarce.