Importance of Social Support in Ensuring Successful Parenting for Both Parent and Child Essay

Social Support in Ensuring Successful Parenting

Social support is absolutely essential in ensuring successful parenting for both parents and children. This is a broad area of study, and there are an increasing number of research studies that are being conducted to support these findings. Types of support that have found to be instrumental in helping parents develop good nurturing and parenting skills include strong family support, social networking, and community support. Without the appropriate social supports in place, new parents, particularly young parents, are more likely to encounter problems that will negatively impact their ability to be successful parents. The likelihood of long-term negative effects on their children is increased as well, as the literature shows.

Family support is one of the most important structures that impact young parents, particularly mothers, in their parenting skills. Early parenthood brings with it a number of stresses, particularly for new parents who have little or no previous experience in raising children. In the early months, the significant change in life style can be stress-inducing even in optimal circumstances. Biological and hormonal changes have taken place, and the additional stress of responsibilities weigh upon new mothers as well.

For fathers, the increased responsibility also is a factor to be considered. Having strong family support can relieve much of this stress, both in psychological terms and in day-to-day care for infants and children. Carpiano and Kimbro (2012) discuss the importance of neighborhood supports on alleviating parenting strain. In their research, they have found that is important to female caregivers to attain a sense of personal mastery. The ensuing confidence and self-esteem is beneficial not only to the caregivers themselves, but also to their children.

Social networking is also important. Cochran and Niego conducted studies in 1985 that have since been repeated in current times. Having social outlets in the community can be beneficial in providing new parents with necessary social support, parenting instruction, boosts to self-esteem and confidence in parenting skills, and access to services that are instrumental in developing and furthering strong parenting abilities. This is not only important in the early years, when new parents may find themselves dealing with new experiences and stresses, but also in subsequent years as their offspring grow from infancy to the challenges of the "toddler" years, preschool development, and beyond. Having social supports can help parents deal effectively with these challenges, provide outlets for ways to increase and further develop parenting skills, and allow parents and children much-needed social interaction to make the parenting experience successful for both parents and children alike.

These supports should not only be made available in the early years, but throughout the developmental period, as demonstrated in the research of Honig and Morin (2001). Honig and Morin assert…