Measurement and Function of the Control Dimension in Parenting Styles: A Systematic Review

Recent studies have shown different results in identifying which parenting style is the most beneficial for children, which has encouraged certain authors to wonder whether parental control is still needed for optimal parenting. As such investigations have been conducted with different measuring instruments, it is necessary to check whether the use of different instruments leads to different results. In order to figure this out, a systematic review of the recent literature (Web of Science and Scopus, 2000–2017) was carried out. This review found that, using certain instruments, parental control is associated with better outcomes in children, while using certain others, control is associated with worse outcomes. The difference seems to be in the way of measuring parental control.