The Relationship between Parenting Styles and the China Family Education Curriculum Guidelines: Perspectives of Preschoolers Parents in Lanzhou City, Gansu Province, China

This study examined the relationship between four parenting styles and China Family Education Curriculum Guidelines from the perspective of parents in Chengguan District, Lanzhou City, Gansu Province, China. A quantitative correlational design was used, with questionnaire data collected from 709 parents. The parenting styles include Authoritative, Authoritarian, Permissive, and Uninvolved parenting, while eight dimensions in China Family Education Curriculum Guidelines include (i) Beauty of hometown and motherland, (ii) Caring, respecting and socialize, (iii) Rules and social adaptability, (iv) Nutritional health and physical, (v) Sensory experience, (vi) Awareness of security, (vii)Self-care and awareness, (viii) Readiness to primary school. The findings revealed that Authoritative Parenting had a significant positive relationship with CFEG (? = .234, p < .001), followed by Permissive Parenting (? = .152, p < .001), whereas Authoritarian and Uninvolved Parenting showed no significant relationships. These findings provide partial support for Baumrind’s Parenting Style Theory and the responsiveness–demandingness framework, suggesting that parental responsiveness, communication, constructive guidance, and active involvement are particularly relevant to the implementation of family education guidance. The study extends previous parenting research by demonstrating that different parenting styles are differently associated with the implementation of CFEG rather than uniformly influencing family education practices. The findings highlight the need for parent education and family support initiatives that strengthen responsive communication, appropriate behavioural guidance, and active parental participation in implementing CFEG across its eight developmental domains.