Effective Parenting Within an Integrative Framework of Emotional Availability and Domains-Of

Abstract

Considerable research has been done by developmental researchers to understand effective parenting, and a great deal of emphasis has been placed on the emotional aspect of the parent-child relationship. This chapter explores the nature of effective parenting by integrating the construct of emotional availability within a context-specific theoretical framework. In broader terms, emotional availability refers to parental sensitivity, non-intrusiveness, structuring, and non-hostility, as well as child's responsiveness and involvement (Biringen 2000). According to the domains-of-socialization approach (Grusec and Davidov 2010), parentchild interactions occur in five domains, which are protection, mutual reciprocity, guided learning, control, and group participation. Appropriate parenting practices are shaped in line with the child's emerging needs within the domain in which the child is situated (Grusec and Davidov 2010). The current chapter provides a comprehensive overview on theoretical and methodological links between emotional availability research and the main principles of the domains-of-socialization approach. In doing so, it contributes to a better understanding of the nature of emotional availability in the parent-child relationship. © 2020 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.