2016

Autoras: María-Teresa Iglesias-García, Raquel-Amaya Martínez-González, María-Henar Pérez-Herrero

This study focuses on analysing emotional and social parenting competences of mothers with children from 0 to 18 years old. It was decided to research on mothers taking into consideration that current studies state they are the ones more involved in upbringing and educating their children at home (Martínez-González, Rodríguez-Ruiz & Rodrigo-López, 2012).

Studying emotional and social parenting competences is relevant when considering the Council of Europe Recommendation 2006/19 on Policies to Promote Positive Parenting. According to this guideline, European Union States shall support for parents bringing up and educating their children in a way which promote the full development of the latter. Thus, creating positive family relationships trough assertive communication, stablishing coherent norms and limits to children's behaviour, using positive strategies for conflic resolution and avoiding any kind of violence and children maltreatment is expected. By doing so, this Recommendation underlines that the conditions for positive and democratic development of societies is also fulfilled.

Accordingly, some questions to be answered in this research arise:

• Do mothers perceive themselve assertive enough to performe their parenting role?

• Do mothers communicate assertively with their children at home?

• Do they perceive they stablish coherent norms and limits to children's behaviour?

• Do they use positive strategies for conflic resolution with their childen, thus avoiding any kind of violence and children maltreatment?

Trying to find an answer to these questions is relevant because the family is considered the most universal social institution, the basic unit of the societies and the source of the first and more powerful influences on the human being (Bronfenbrenner, 1986; Marjoribanks, 2002). The family is understood as a social, educational and learning context which, given the adequate conditions, can contribute to human and social development through their socialization and educational function (Martínez-González, 2009; Horton, 2003).

However, in order the families can play this social task, family diversity shall be taken into account considering, among others, personal, educational, evolutive, cultural, ethnic, religious, laboral and financial factors (Bronfenbrenner, 1986; Castelli, Mendel & Ravn, 2003; Martínez-González, Rodríguez-Ruiz & Pérez-Herrero, 2005; Paik, 2004; Symeou, 2007).

In this research, emotional and social parenting competences of mothers with children in diverse evolutive stages (from 0 to 18 years old) are analyzed. Also, literacy standards of the mothers as well as the school level of their children are taken into consideration in order to check whether these factors might influence significantly mothers' emotional and social parenting styles.

If so, these results should be taken into account when deciding parenting intervention approaches and when organizing parenting programmes.