Question 1
The study concluded that future research should investigate the mealtime behaviors of authoritative parents. What are some behaviors these parents may exhibit during mealtimes that increase family meal frequency?
posted by Meredith @ 6:03 PM
15 comments
15 Comments:
Seeing that authoritative parents have high demandingness, they more than likely expect their children to sit down and have family meals with them. The children may respect their parents enough to not blow off dinner time and make a conscious effort to be home for it. During this time the parents probably take interest in their children’s lives by asking them about their day, activities they participate in, and basically just communicate with them. This would be the high responsiveness that authoritative parents hold.
These parents probably have a good balance between being a friend and a parent to their children. This may be a trait that is helpful in getting the entire family to eat meals together on a regular basis. The children respect their parents, but also feel that they can be open with them. And mealtime may be the time that these kinds of conversations take place. It is possible that these parents are setting good examples of healthy behaviors for their children to model. This may also be one of the reasons that meal frequency was higher among these parents.
I would expect authoritative parents to exhibit consistency in meal times, what they expect, as well as enforcing good manners. Authoritative parents would more likely than not have a set dinner time (whether it is the same time everyday or they let their children know what time it is) and expect their children to be there on time - no excuses. I would also think that they would expect their children to have good table manners and would set a good example themselves. It would definitely be interesting to investigate meal time behaviors of authoritative parents. In my opinion, all children as well as adults like having some degree of authority and rules to live by. This creates consistency and accountability in these children early on and it makes sense that family meal frequencies are higher in these types of parents (authoritative).
I agree with Liz in that children know what their parents expect of them and will not be able to get away with not showing up for dinner with a parent that has a authoritative style. Rose, that is also very true that these children probably respect their parents more and it sets them up for wanting to open up and talk about their life with the family.
Since authoritative parents have both high responsiveness and high demandingness than it definitely makes sense that they would have a higher family meal frequency. Like Liz said, the parents most likely expect their children to sit down and eat dinner with them and like Melanie said, it probably is a set time that kids are made aware of before dinner approaches. However, I think it is the high responsiveness that would have more of an impact on increasing family meal frequency because kids, like adults, like to vent and share with their family what happened to them that day. If their parents are attentive and responsive to what their kids are mentioning, then what a perfect way to get that information off your chest. When we were growing up, we had dinner every night and my mother asked all four of us to tell a good thing that happened to us that day and also a bad thing. We would then talk about it and it was a great way to get a conversation going and to find out about what is going on in your child's day. I think that this type of communication would be going on during meal time at an authoritative parent's household. I also think that the family meals would be healthier and more homemade because if their parent is demanding than most likely they want their children eating healthy and they also want more control over how the food is made.
The authoritative parent would require his/her child to sit at the table during mealtimes and spend time as a family. Authoritative parents who require mealtimes are typically engaged in their child's life, and therefore would want to sit down and discuss homework/sports/school etc. I do not believe that children of authoritative parents have the choice of blowing off dinner, and therefore that does not become an issue. Furthermore, to a certain extent children like to know that their parents are engaged, and enjoy sharing with them what is going on in their lives.
Since authoritative parents demand more out of their children, I would say that those high expectations and the follow-through that comes from being highly responsive creates some motivation for their children to come home and be present at the dinner table each night. There is high accountability and it seems like usually when someone expects more out of you and follows up with you on those demands then you are more likely to meet the expectations. I can really translate this concept to DMH wellness, my current rotation site, because there is a lot of accountability in the program so it seems like people keep coming back and keep on track when they know they have to come back and weight in every week. If parents demand that their children eat dinner with them every night and create that accountability then the children are more likely to follow through because they don't want to disappoint.
The authoritative parents were characterized as empathetic and respectful of children’s opinions, but maintain clear boundaries/expectations. Mealtime with authoritative parents would consist of mutually respectful environment between the parent(s) and the kids. The authoritative parent(s) listen and consider the child's opinion at the same time as they stand firm on what they believe to be appropriate. This creates a trustworthy environment as the kids feel respected without constant demands or neglecting. The parents do not let the kids take things too far by standing their ground in a respectful manner. This helps create a friendly and fair environment that would lead a family to be able to enjoy meals together.
I agree that the authoritative parents would most likely expect their children to participate in family mealtime would like them to discuss their day. Like Amy said, this mutual respect could create a very open and honest relationship. Because of this both the child and parents most likely enjoy having meals together on a frequent basis.
I agree with Amy that the authoritative parents create a more open and honest relationship with their kids and that coming to dinner is something that both of them most likely look forward to throughout the day.
Since authoritative parents tend to be empathetic towards their children and show interest in their opinions, these meals are likely to involve discussion about the day, popular movies, games, or shows, etc. This may act as an incentive for teenagers to make an effort to be present for dinner, although this is probably also enforced since the parents are authoratative.
~Anna Taylor
I agree with you Melanie; being held accountable for personal actions as well as having a set time for dinner creates a sense of order and cause/effect for teenagers in an otherwise unsure time in their life--this could definitely have a positive affect on the tumultuous teenage years.
~Anna Taylor
I think some behaviors that may help encourage more frequent family meals are bonding with their children by talking to them about what is going on in their life and helping them figure out problems they may be having. I also think that praising the children for good things they have done or accomplishments they have achieved would also influence the children to want to eat with their parents more often. Eating together is a good time to check in and catch up on what is going in each others lives. Also, I think that parents should display the habits they want their children to do like being polite at meals and eating healthy foods, etc.
I think a lot of you are right about authoritative parents setting higher standards for things like a consistent meal time and not skipping family meals. I definitely agree that to increase family meals they should be using that time to talk to their children about their lives and allow them to discuss things that are on their minds. I also agree that good manners will probably be enforced at these meals.
I think another important thing to mention along with everyone's agreement on authoratative parenting is defining what consists of a "family meal." I have eaten at friends houses where the meal was eaten in front of a television and very little conversation took place. I also have eaten meals where dinner doesn't start until everyone's there and there are definitely no distractions in the background. Unfortunately, I believe, that now-a-days people tend to have some form of media on while eating dinner and often they are missing certain family members. So for an authoratative parent, I believe their mealtime behaviors are more traditional with everyone at the table, no tv on and good old fashioned conversation for entertainment. I also think eating meals in front of televisions leads to more unhealthy, processed options while sitting down to a true family dinner probably offers a larger variety of healthful options.
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