Paternal parenting attitudes and social competence in preschool children: A cross-sectional study

This study aims to examine the relationship between paternal parenting attitudes and the social competence and behaviors of preschool-aged children. The research utilizes a descriptive and cross-sectional survey design. The data were collected during the spring semester of 2024 across various preschool institutions in Istanbul, Turkey. The study group consists of 252 children (129 boys, 123 girls) aged 36 to 72 months and their fathers, selected via convenience sampling. Data were gathered using the Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation-30 Scale and the Parenting Attitude Scale. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent samples t-tests, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson correlation analysis. The findings indicated that paternal attitudes did not differ significantly based on the child's gender. Similarly, children's social competence scores showed no significant variation between boys and girls. However, paternal education level was found to be a significant determinant; fathers with higher education levels exhibited significantly lower authoritarian and overprotective attitudes. Correlation analysis revealed that permissive paternal attitudes are positively associated with children's social competence, whereas authoritarian and overprotective styles did not demonstrate a statistically significant direct relationship with children's anger-aggression or anxiety-withdrawal sub-dimensions. These results suggest that fathers' parenting approaches are becoming more egalitarian regarding the child's gender, yet the father's educational background remains a critical factor in the quality of the parent-child relationship.