Maternal parenting in single and two-parent families in South Africa from a child's perspective

Abstract

Single mothers are often perceived and depicted as being ineffective parents in comparison to their married counterparts, but this may not always be the case. A sample consisting of 245 children (72% in married mother families and 28% in single mother families) between 10 and 12 years (M = 11) including 64% females and 36% males participated in the study. The aim in this study was to compare children’s perceptions of their mothers’ parenting within single and married families. The results indicate that mothers were perceived as using more autonomy-supportive than psychologically controlling parenting practices. There were no significant differences between children’s perceptions of maternal parenting in single and married families.