Beyond the average: An examination of the specificity of intergenerational transmission of parenting

ended

Parenting practices, such as discipline techniques and sensitive caregiving, are vital to human development, and they tend to be passed down the generational line. Currently, we mainly know how intergenerational transmission of parenting works on average. Empirical studies on intergenerational transmission of parenting are often relatively small and homogeneous. Consequently, we do not know which parenting dimensions are most likely to be echoed across generations, nor do we understand under which conditions and in which developmental periods intergenerational transmission of parenting is stronger or weaker. By using an Individual Participant Data (IPD) meta-analysis, the Beyond the Average (BTA) project moves beyond average descriptions of intergenerational transmission of parenting. As such, the BTA project has the following objectives: [1] Identify parenting dimensions that are more and less likely to be transmitted across generations; [2] Identify factors that account for the degree of intergenerational continuity and discontinuity in parenting; [3] Add a developmental perspective to models on intergenerational transmission of parenting; and [4] Implement state-of-the-art IPD meta-analyses to examine individual differences in the field of developmental psychology. This project will result in robust and detailed knowledge on intergenerational transmission of parenting, thereby answering to the widely supported call to prioritize across-study-replication and robustness checks. Moreover, the knowledge obtained through this project will help tailor prevention efforts towards specific populations, developmental periods, and parenting dimensions.