Parenting for Autonomy: New Insights into Warmth, Leniency, and Emotion Regulation

Author

• Elizabeth O. Arroyo, Mount Saint Mary's UniversityFollow
• Ana Paula M. Constantino, Chicago School of Professional Psychology
• Dolly P. Rojo, Mount Saint Mary's UniversityFollow

Volume

32

Number

2

Department

Dept. of Psychology

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Date

2026

Abstract

Past parenting research has focused on Maccoby and Martin's (1983) two parenting qualities, Warmth and Demandingness. We know that these can affect several children's outcomes, including academic achievements (e.g., Pinquart, 2016) and self-esteem (Pinquart & Gerke, 2019). Still, we know less about the impacts of parental qualities on children’s autonomy, and even less about the impact that qualities of more modern parenting styles (e.g., emphasis on promotion of emotional regulation skills) might have on children’s outcomes. Our study explores the associations of parent’s Warmth, Demandingness, leniency, and promotion of emotional regulation skills on children’s autonomy. We predicted that parental Warmth, Demandingness, and promotion of emotional regulation skills would increase children's autonomy, and that leniency would hinder it. Fourteen (mostly female and Hispanic) parents participated. Pearson correlations revealed a positive correlation between parental Warmth and children’s autonomy, as well as parent’s promotion of emotional regulation skills and children’s autonomy. We propose that, by promoting children’s emotional regulation skills, this too increases their self-esteem which, in turn, increases children’s confidence to complete tasks and make decisions independently. We also discuss the potential nuances of cultural variance, specifically with regard to Latinx families and child autonomy.

Subject

Psychology

Keyword

parenting, emotional regulation, warmth, demandingness, confidence, child

Discipline

Psychology

Document Type

article

DCMI Type

Text

Language

English

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Recommended Citation

Arroyo, Elizabeth O.; Constantino, Ana Paula M.; and Rojo, Dolly P. (2026) "Parenting for Autonomy: New Insights into Warmth, Leniency, and Emotion Regulation," Modern Psychological Studies: Vol. 32: No. 2, Article 1.
Available at: https://scholar.utc.edu/mps/vol32/iss2/1