Intergenerational parenting in Türkiye: Changes and continuities in parenting practices

With the modernization and urbanization, Türkiye has witnessed significant sociocultural and demographic changes, reflecting itself in family dynamics and parenting practices. The current thesis examined the intergenerational (in)stability and (dis)continuity in two generations of Turkish parents' parental warmth/behavioral control, harsh discipline, psychological control, and sociocultural control in the light of Family Change Theory. Although previous literature had examined the intergenerational transmission of parental warmth/behavioral control and harsh discipline, studies from non-Western societies are scarce. The current thesis also contributes to the literature, given the limited research on the transmission of psychological control and sociocultural control. In the scope of a larger TÜBİTAK project (118K032), Data were collected from 1,365 nationally representative parents in Türkiye (57% mothers) with a child aged between 4 and 17 years. Parents reported both their current child-rearing practices and their perception of their own parents' child-rearing practices. Controlling for socioeconomic status and child age, results of mixed-design ANCOVAs and bivariate correlations revealed that Turkish mothers and fathers used significantly higher levels of parental warmth/behavioral control and lower levels of harsh discipline practices compared to their own parents. Discontinuities were especially remarkable in current fathers' parenting practices. However, parental psychological control and sociocultural control practices were found to continue across two generations. Results and implications were discussed considering the previous literature and Family Change Theory.