Important Pursuits for Parenting Research

Abstract

SYNOPSISParenting research needs to become front and center in public attention. On the internet, in newspapers, and on the evening news, one hears about politics, crime, and conflicts. However, numerous studies have documented that parenting is among the most influential human activities. It is troubling and unhealthy to have relegated parenting to a secondary position of significance in broader society. The goal is to identify three emphases in the study of parenting that are especially vital to rectify this shortcoming. The methods involved a large overview, especially of meta-analyses and research syntheses. This included slightly over 2,500 such studies to determine what emphases in the study of parenting need to be more intensively and accurately examined. A growing number of debates and adjustments are arising that could potentially improve the study of parenting, if implemented properly. To enable parenting research to become front and center in public attention three emphases in the study of parenting are especially vital. First, the primacy of love. Second, similarities and differences in motherhood and fatherhood. Third, better understanding the balance between quality versus quantity in parenting.