Prenatal development includes the 

development of the embryo and of the fetus during

a viviparous animal's gestation. Prenatal development starts with fertilization, in the germinal
stage of embryonic development, and continues in fetal development until birth. However, the
academic paper will critically Explain with the help of examples the factors that affect parental
development and all this will be done in the way that each and every relevant information will be
included in support of the area of concern.

Belsky (1984) suggested that Parenting is a complex process in which parents and children both
impact one another.  There are many reasons that parents behave the way they do.  The multiple
influences on parenting are still being explored.  Proposed influences on parental behavior
include: parent characteristics, child characteristics, and contextual and sociocultural
characteristics. Parents bring unique traits and qualities to the parenting relationship that affect
their decisions as parents.  These characteristics include a parent’s age, gender identity,
personality, developmental history, beliefs, knowledge about parenting and child development,
and mental and physical health.  Parents’ personalities also affect parenting behaviors.  Parents
who are more agreeable, conscientious, and outgoing are warmer and provide more structure to
their children.  Parents who are more agreeable, less anxious, and less negative also support their
children’s autonomy more than parents who are anxious and less agreeable. Parents who have
these personality traits appear to be better able to respond to their children positively and provide
a more consistent, structured environment for their children.

Parents’ developmental histories, or their experiences as children, can also affect their parenting
strategies.  Parents may learn parenting practices from their own parents. Fathers whose own
parents provided monitoring, consistent and age-appropriate discipline, and warmth are more
likely to provide this constructive parenting to their own children.  Patterns of negative parenting
and ineffective discipline also appear from one generation to the next.  However, parents who are
dissatisfied with their primary caregivers’ approach may be more likely to change their parenting
methods when they have children (Demick, 1999).

According to Belsky (1984) Parenting is bidirectional. Not only do parents and caregivers affect
their children, but children influence their parents/primary caregivers as well. [5] Child
characteristics, such as gender identity, birth order, temperament, and health status, can affect
child-rearing behaviors and roles.  For example, an infant with an easy temperament may enable
caregivers to feel more effective, as they are easily able to soothe the child and elicit smiling and
cooing.  On the other hand, a cranky or fussy infant can elicit fewer positive reactions from
caregivers and may result in parents feeling less effective in the role.  Over time, parents of more
difficult children may become more punitive and less patient with their children. Many parents
who have a fussy, difficult child have been found to be less satisfied with their relationships and
have greater challenges in balancing work and family roles. Therefore, child temperament is one
of the child characteristics that influences how caregivers behave with their children.

Clark (2000) suggested that Another child characteristic is the child’s gender identity.  Some
parents assign different household chores to their children based on their child’s gender identity. 
For example, older research has shown girls are more often responsible for caring for younger
siblings and household chores, whereas boys are more likely to be asked to perform chores
outside the home, such as mowing the lawn. Research has also demonstrated that some parents
talk differently with their children based on their child’s gender identity, such as providing more
scientific explanations to their sons and using more emotion words with their daughters.

Eisenberg (2008) pointed out that the parent-child relationship does not occur in isolation. 
Sociocultural characteristics, including economic hardship, religion, politics, neighborhoods,
schools, and social support, can also influence parenting.  Parents who experience economic
hardship tend to be more easily frustrated, depressed, and sad, and these emotional
characteristics can affect their parenting skills.[12]  Culture can also impact parenting behaviors in
fundamental ways.  Although promoting the development of skills necessary to function
effectively in one’s community, to the best of one’s abilities, is a universal goal of parenting, the
specific skills necessary vary widely from culture to culture.  Thus, parents have different goals
for their children that partially depend on their culture. [13]  For example, parents vary in how
much they emphasize goals for independence and individual achievements and goals involving
maintaining harmonious relationships and being embedded in a strong network of social
relationships.

Hyde (2004) suggested that These differences in parental goals can also be influenced by culture
and immigration status.  Other important contextual characteristics, such as the neighborhood,
school, and social networks, can affect parenting, even though these settings do not always
include both the child and the parent.  For example, Latina mothers who perceived their
neighborhood as more dangerous showed less warmth with their children, perhaps because of the
greater stress associated with living in a threatening environment. Parenting factors include
characteristics of the primary caregiver, such as gender identity and personality, as well as
characteristics of the child, such as age and temperament.  Parenting styles provide reliable
indicators of parenting functioning that predicts child well-being across a wide spectrum of
environments and diverse communities.  Caregivers who consistently engage in high
responsiveness and appropriate demandingness with children are linked to more “quality”
outcomes for youth.

Kerr (2009) suggested that The interaction among all these factors creates many different
patterns of parenting behaviors.  For instance, parenting influences a child’s development as well
as the development of the parent or primary caregiver.  And, as parents face new challenges, they
change their parenting strategies and construct new aspects of their identities.  Furthermore, the
goals and tasks of parents may change over time as their children develop. However, the next
page outlines typical parenting tasks, roles, goals, and responsibilities that extend across cultures
and time.

Relationships form through everyday interactions. For healthy brain development, your child
needs positive relationships with you, your partner, as well as other important people in their
lives. Brain cell connections become healthier and stronger when you and your child have
positive serve-and-return interactions. Serve-and-return interactions are like a game of tennis or
volleyball, where the goal is to ‘keep the ball in the air’. When your baby is little, they ‘serve the
ball’ when they coo or lock eyes with you. You ‘return the serve’ when you smile back, talk
gently and return their gaze. This game continues until your baby loses interest and turns away
for a rest, then starts all over again when they are ready (Prinzie, 2009).

Demick (1999) Suggested that Ones child’s serve-and-return interactions with you and other
people are important throughout your child’s life. These type of interactions build and strengthen
the brain cell connections your child needs to learn new skills in all areas of development. When
you take time to: cuddle and care for them, they learn to trust watch, listen and respond to your
child, they learn that they’re important read, sing and talk to them, they learn language skills play
with them, they learn social skills and how to relate to others Serve-and-return interactions will
naturally become more complex as your child gets older. In each of the age-specific sections of
this website, you’ll find a chart with examples of serve-and-return interactions you might see
during your child’s different developmental stages: Newborns: Birth – 2 months, Young babies:
2–6 months, Older babies: 6–12 months, Toddlers: 1 and 2 year olds, Preschoolers: 3 and 4 year
olds, Young children: 5 year olds Once you know what to look for, you’ll add many more
examples of your own. By spending time with your child, and learning what their cues and
actions mean at every age, you’ll continue to find ways to build a healthy relationship with
them. Watch Serve & Return from the Alberta Family Wellness Initiative.

According to Belsky (1984) Some stress is part of everyone’s healthy development it’s needed to
help your child learn how to adapt and helps to prepare them for future challenges. A typical
example of a stressful situation for your child may be their toy being taken away by a playmate
or when they receive an immunization. You support your child during times of stress when you:
let them know you love them and are there to support them, no matter what help them learn ways
to cope limit your child’s continued exposure to stress, when possible Toxic stress is a different
kind of stress. It’s the result of ongoing hardships things like abuse, neglect or addiction. Toxic
stress can negatively affect your child’s brain, memory and life-long health, especially when it’s
constant and intense, and your child has no support to deal with it.

In conclusion, the academic paper has critically Explained with the help of examples the factors
that affect parental development and all this has been done in the way that each and every
relevant information has been included in support of the area of concern.
REFERENCES

Belsky, J. (1984). The determinants of parenting: A process model. Child Development, 55(1),

83-96. ↵

Demick, J. (1999). Parental development: Problem, theory, method, and practice. In Mosher, R.
L., Youngman D. J., & Day J. M. (Eds.), Human development across the life span: Educational
and psychological applications (pp. 177-199). Praeger. ↵

Prinzie, P(2009). The relations between parents’ Big Five personality factors and parenting: A
meta-review. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97(1), 351–362. ↵

Kerr, D. C. R., Capaldi, D. M., Pears, K. C., & Owen, L. D. (2009). A prospective three
generational study of fathers’ constructive parenting: Influences from family of origin,
adolescent adjustment, and offspring temperament. Developmental Psychology, 45(1), 1257-
1275. ↵

Eisenberg, N (2008). Understanding parent-adolescent conflict discussions: Concurrent and

across-time prediction from youths’ dispositions and parenting. Monographs of the Society for
Research in Child Development, 73(2), 1-160. 

Clark, L. A (2000). Mothers’ personality and its interaction with child temperament as
predictors of parenting behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 274-285. 

Hyde, J. S., Else-Quest, N. M., & Goldsmith, H. H. (2004). Children’s temperament and
behavior problems predict their employed mothers’ work functioning. Child Development, 75,
580–594. ↵