





































93

Graduate Student Journal of Psychology
2023, Vol. 21

Copyright 2023 by the Department of Counseling and Clinical Psychology
Teachers College, Columbia University

The Impact of Childhood Parenting Styles on Feelings 
of Embodiment in Adolescence

Abby Droeger & Joan Miller
Department of General Psychology, The New School for Social Research

 The human connection between mind and body 
is an essential component of psychological health. The 
concept of embodiment, a perceived sense of own-
ership and awareness that individuals have over their 
own bodies, has risen to prominence in the field of psy-
chology within the last few decades. Despite abundant 
research linking a lack of embodiment to psychologi-
cal dysfunction, little is known about the relationship 
between how development influences embodiment 
later in life. This study aims to examine the correla-
tion between parenting styles during childhood and 
embodiment in late adolescence and early adulthood.
Theories of Embodiment
 Embodiment relies on the distinction between 
body image and body schema. Body image is the pri-
marily conscious system of perceptions, emotional at-
titudes, and conceptual beliefs regarding one’s body. A 
body schema, however, is the unconscious, automatic 
sensory-motor capacities and activations (i.e., posture 
and movement regulation). Both concepts describe 
embodiment, and both are correlated with healthy 
psychological functioning and a mind-body connec-
tion (Gallagher & Zahavi, 2008). This distinction be-
tween body ownership and agency is a useful tool for 
better understanding the bodily self and psychological 
dysfunction. The discussion surrounding body sche-
ma and body image prompted a classification of two 
kinds of disturbances of embodiment. The first, based 

on body schema, affects the subject’s embodied sense 
of self (i.e., within schizophrenia or depression). The 
second is related to body image and body awareness 
(e.g., eating disorders, body dysmorphic disorders, 
somatoform disorders) (Gallagher & Vaever, 2004). 
The mind-body relationship is influential in shap-
ing positive psychopathology (Kearney et al., 2022). 
Embodied self-regulation has grown in therapeutic 
approaches. An integration of a behavioral compo-
nent or embodied actions has been shown to benefit 
a greater connection of mind and body. For instance, 
mindfulness, yoga, and therapy practices such as CBT 
require an alignment of body and mind (Brown, 2003; 
Bryant, 2009). From a clinical lens, a lack of embod-
iment has been linked to psychological dysfunction 
and psychopathological disorders such as depression, 
eating disorders, and schizophrenia, which are often 
explained as a disturbance of embodiment (Fuchs & 
Schlimme, 2009). In general psychiatry, there are two 
kinds of body awareness disturbances: hyper-embod-
iment and disembodiment (Wilde, 2003). Fuchs and 
Schilmme (2009) describe disembodiment in the 
context of schizophrenia, where patients feel that 
they no longer inhabit the body or they feel alienat-
ed from the body. Patients also feel a mechanization 
of the body, a disintegration of habits, and a sense of 
detachment or disconnection around others. These 
researchers describe hyper-embodiment in the context 

This research project aims to better understand the relationship between parenting styles and feelings of embod-
iment. Embodiment is defined as a perceived sense of ownership and awareness that individuals have over their 
own bodies, and healthy embodiment is believed to positively impact psychological functioning in children. The 
parenting styles examined within this study were Baumrind’s original three parenting styles: authoritative, au-
thoritarian, and permissive. These parenting styles are based on two dimensions: control and warmth. Author-
itative parenting has been found to encourage independence while maintaining a supportive environment. For 
this reason, there is a lot of research that supports authoritative parenting in young children. Undergraduate par-
ticipants were asked to complete a modified version of the Parental Authority Questionnaire and the Body Con-
sciousness Questionnaire. Participants were then shown three parent-child interactions related to sleep, food, and 
bathroom, as well as two potential parent responses to these interactions. Participants were asked to rate the level 
of autonomy and warmth each of these potential parent responses conveyed, as well as which response they pre-
ferred, which response they believed that their parents would have chosen, and which response they would choose 
if they were the parent. Due to the empirical research supporting the benefits of authoritative parenting in many 
aspects of psychological functioning, we predicted a correlation would exist between authoritative parenting and 
positive embodiment. However, there was no significant correlation found between these variables.  A new signif-
icant relationship between authoritarian parenting and public body consciousness was found. Further research 
on this relationship is suggested, as well as the development of a better scale for measuring healthy embodiment.
 Keywords: parenting styles, embodiment, body consciousness, authoritative, authoritarian



94

of depression, where patients feel that they cannot es-
cape the body, the body feels oppressive/heavy, and it 
is an obstacle (Fuchs & Schilmme, 2009). Addition-
ally, individuals experiencing hyper-embodiment de-
scribe a loss of the capacity for affective attunement. 
Both bodily disturbances are the result of a disrup-
tion in embodiment in terms of body schema, the 
unconscious, and automatic processes of the body. 
 Another psychological dysfunction relating to 
embodiment dysregulation is the result of a distur-
bance in body image. Body image was first described 
by Paul Schilder (1935), who described it as a mental 
representation of one’s body that is developed by ev-
ery individual. It has been described as a multidimen-
sional concept relating to other people’s perceptions, 
thoughts, behaviors, and attitudes about body and 
appearance (Gardner, 1996). Eating disorders, such as 
anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, are thought to 
develop from a disturbance in body image (Glashou-
wer et al., 2019). A relationship between positive 
embodiment and lower body image disturbance has 
been identified (Cook-Cottone, 2015). For instance, 
exercise frequency has been associated with higher 
positive body image (Homan & Tylka, 2014). Piran’s 
developmental theory of embodiment describes five 
processes to gaining positive embodiment: (1) feeling 
“at home” in the body and fostering a positive connec-
tion, (2) experiencing agency/functionality of one’s 
body, (3) perception and awareness of bodily needs 
(i.e., hunger), (4) self-care in response to perceived 
internal needs (e.g.. eating when hungry), and (5) 
embodying one’s body in the first person, as opposed 
to second or third person (Burychka et al., 2021).
Gaining Autonomy in Childhood
 Erikson (1950) argued that during early child-
hood, a conflict arises between our ability to devel-
op autonomy and whether or not we will experience 
shame and doubt. Erikson classifies this experience 
as an essential developmental milestone. Strong resis-
tance to parenting during toddlerhood is considered 
to reflect a child’s healthy attempts to assert needs and 
control (Erickson, 1963; Kopp, 1982). Autonomy 
theories argue that children are motivated to be auton-
omous during toddlerhood and, therefore will begin 
to resist control by parents. During the second year of 
life, a goal-directed action to gain autonomy emerges, 
and they explore at greater distances from parents, 
check back in with mothers less, and orient play less 

toward mothers (Eckerman et al., 1975; Bronson, 
1974). Toddlers also begin to desire to complete tasks 
by themselves and resist being helped (Stipek et al., 
1992). Additionally, young children begin to say “no” 
as well as other forms of resistance to control (Dunn 
& Munn, 1987). Rather than being seen as a complete 
act of defiance, this stage has been demonstrated to 
be an important milestone in developmental growth. 
 The concept of bodily autonomy has become a 
more widely discussed topic of political and research 
interest in the United States within the past decade 
(Kidd et al., 2021). Parenting behavior has been 
shown to impact the likelihood of children develop-
ing autonomy (Cohn et al., 1986). Researchers ar-
gue that an environment in which parents raise their 
children to feel that they can control certain events 
and assert action, and in which parents avoid pow-
erful external controls, will help to foster autonomy 
in a beneficial way (Crockenberg & Litman, 1990).
Baumrind’s Parenting Styles
 Baumrind (1971, 1991) identified three parenting 
styles based on two dimensions: control and warmth. 
Parental control refers to the degree to which parents 
manage their children’s behavior, ranging from high 
control with strict rules and demands to low control 
with fewer rules and demands. Parental warmth refers 
to the degree to which parents accept and respond 
to their children’s behavior. Using these dimensions, 
Baumrind identified three primary parenting styles: 
Authoritative, Authoritarian, and Permissive. Au-
thoritative parents encourage independence while 
maintaining control and boundaries. These parents 
are both warm and firm, taking into account the view-
point of the child. Authoritarian parents are highly 
controlling and demonstrate little warmth, providing 
strict rules and demands for their children. Permissive 
parents demonstrate warmth but provide very few 
demands. Their parenting is described as indulgent 
and passive. A fourth parenting style was later added, 
based on the research conducted by Maccoby & Mar-
tin (1983). This parenting style identifies parents who 
are neglectful and uninvolved in their children’s lives. 
 According to Baumrind’s parenting styles (1991), 
authoritative parenting has been shown to best rec-
ognize and encourage a child’s sense of autonomy 
(Steinberg and Silk, 2002). Correlations have been 
found between authoritative parenting and both aca-
demic and social competence in school-aged children 

DROEGER & MILLER



95

PARENTING STYLES AND FEELINGS OF EMBODIMENT

tence (body image). We hypothesize that authoritative 
parenting will correlate with greater private and pub-
lic body consciousness, as well as body competence.

Method
Participants
 Participants were undergraduate students at the 
Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts at The New 
School. Non-English speakers were excluded because 
the survey was conducted in English, and it was import-
ant to ensure participants were fully aware and could 
understand and interpret what was being asked. There 
were no exclusion criteria related to ethnicity, race, or 
gender. In total, there were 56 total participants, but 
not all participants completed every question. Fif-
ty-two participants were aged 18-24 years, and four par-
ticipants were aged 25-34 years. Forty-two participants 
identified as female, four participants identified as male, 
seven participants identified as non-binary, two partic-
ipants indicated that they prefer to self-describe (with 
one identifying as transsexual), and one participant did 
not complete the question regarding gender identity.
 Recruitment and distribution of the study sur-
vey occurred through email to the participants. The 
recruitment email disclosed that participants would 
need to complete demographic questions, questions 
related to different parenting situations, as well as 
two separate questionnaires. It also disclosed that the 
study should take approximately 30 minutes to one 
hour to complete, that participation was complete-
ly voluntary, and that participants would not receive 
any compensation from the researchers. Finally, the 
recruitment email included a link to the Qualtrics sur-
vey, and individuals who were willing to participate 
and fit the criteria were instructed to click on the link 
and complete the survey. If the participants did not fit 
the criteria, they were excluded from the data analy-
sis. After being recruited, participants completed the 
study online via the New School’s Qualtrics platform.
Materials and Procedure
 This study examines the correlation between pa-
rental authority and body consciousness, intending to 
better understand how parenting style in childhood 
influences feelings of embodiment later in life. All 
participants were recruited via email, and participants 
who met the criteria completed a Qualtrics survey. The 
survey first asked participants to fill out the following 
demographic questions: age, gender identity, race/eth-

(Baumrind 1971, 1991). Additionally, authoritarian 
parenting (characterized by high levels of controlling 
behavior) has been associated with low social and 
academic competence (P. Cowan et al., 1994). Mat-
tanah (2005) argues that autonomy in childhood 
should not be confused with permissive parenting 
because active autonomy encouragement involves 
a high degree of parental involvement rather than 
giving into the child’s every demand. For instance, 
a parent should listen to the child’s desires, and en-
courage independent behavior and exploration of 
the environment rather than giving in to the child 
completely or demanding complete compliance. 
Current Study
 When children attempt to address bodily needs 
and wants, they are sometimes met with disapproval. 
For instance, after dinner, a child tells their mother, “I 
am hungry,” and they are met with, “No you are not; 
you just ate”. This approach is often the result of frus-
tration or impatience; however, in early childhood, 
this response may foster an ignoring of bodily needs. 
Although there is significant research indicating the 
importance of developing and fostering autonomy, 
there is little research that focuses on how children use 
their bodies to control autonomy (Ryan et al., 2015). 
There is a clear and present gap in the literature re-
garding the influence of autonomous decision-mak-
ing, supportive parenting, and feeling a sense of 
ownership and connection to one’s body later in life.
 For this study, we have chosen three areas of con-
trol that children may use to assert their autonomy, 
all of which involve control over one’s body: eating, 
bathroom, and sleep. We have defined embodiment as 
an awareness of one’s internal bodily sensations and 
public perception of one’s body. Lacking embodiment 
would mean feeling uncertain in one’s body or lack-
ing awareness, which may translate to feeling greater 
doubt and shame. We aim to demonstrate a correlation 
between parenting styles in childhood, particularly a 
sense of autonomy related to control over one’s body 
and feeling a sense of embodiment later in life. We will 
use Baumrind’s parenting styles (1991) to assess the 
dimensions of authoritative, authoritarian, and per-
missive parenting styles that the participants received. 
We will also use the Body Consciousness Scale, devel-
oped by Miller et al. (1981), to assess dimensions of 
private body consciousness (body schema), public 
body consciousness (body image), and body compe-



96

DROEGER & MILLER

nicity, and highest level of education. Participants were 
asked who they considered their primary caregiver(s) 
through childhood (which we have defined as ages 
1-18), mother, father, both, or prefer not to say. They 
were asked if they were still in contact with their prima-
ry caregiver and if they had any children of their own. 
 The survey then described three hypothetical 
parent-child interactions presenting a conflict be-
tween the parent and child in which the child uses 
bodily control to gain autonomy in the situation 
(i.e., bodily control relating to food, bathroom, and 
sleep). Participants were then asked how they would 
respond if they were the parent in each situation. The 
parent-child interactions were created by the authors 
to reflect common interactions between parent and 
child that involve the child’s attempt to gain auton-
omy over the situation using bodily control. The re-
sponses were created to reflect common responses of 
parents to children, one following more authoritative 
guidelines (i.e., greater warmth and autonomy) and 
the other following non-authoritative guidelines (i.e., 
less warmth and autonomy). The level of authorita-
tiveness for each response was validated by how par-
ticipants rated their level of warmth and autonomy.
 The first situation was related to sleep and was pre-
sented to the participants in the following description:

For the past few weeks, 2-year-old Emma has 
been struggling with taking her nap. Every day 
at naptime, she protests and says she is not 
tired. She has never had difficulty sleeping on 
a schedule before, and this has been a new and 
difficult situation for her parents to deal with. 

Two potential responses to this first situation were 
presented to participants in the following description:

Response one: Her parents listen when 
she says she is not tired and let her play 
longer and take her nap later each day.
Response two: Her parents put her in 
her crib and leave her to fall asleep, even 
though she cries and protests. The times 
when she doesn’t fall asleep, her parents 
say she must stay in her crib the whole 
naptime and stick to her sleep schedule.

The second situation was related to food and was pre-
sented to participants in the following description:

James is seven years old. He is a picky eat-
er and doesn’t like to eat any foods that are 
green. His parents try to get him to eat his 

vegetables, even when he doesn’t want to. 
One night his parents gave him broccoli with 
his dinner, and he asked for something else.

Two potential responses to this second situation were 
presented to participants in the following description:

Response one: When James refuses to eat 
broccoli, James’s parents ask him to choose 
which vegetable he wants to replace the 
broccoli with (i.e., carrots or bell pepper).
Response two: When James’s parents give him 
broccoli for dinner, they do not allow him to 
have anything else and let him know that he can-
not have dessert unless he finishes his broccoli.

The third situation was related to the bathroom and was 
presented to participants in the following description:

Mia is three years old and has been potty trained 
for one year. Even though she is potty trained, 
she prefers to go to the bathroom at home. 
Sometimes she has accidents at preschool be-
cause she does not want to go to the bathroom.

Two potential responses to this third situation were 
presented to participants in the following description:

Response one: Her parents say she needs 
to use the bathroom every day at school. If 
she does not use the bathroom at school, 
she does not get a treat when she gets home. 
If she does use the bathroom at school, 
she gets to pick out a treat as a reward.
Response two: Her parents say it is okay to 
have accidents while she is learning to use the 
bathroom but encourage her to go when she 
is at school. They give her a stuffed animal 
to bring with her when she tries to use the 
potty so that she will feel more comfortable.

 Participants were asked how much each of these 
responses conveys warmth and autonomy on a 4-point 
Likert scale (1 = Strongly Disagree; 4 = Strongly 
Agree). They were also asked which response they 
preferred and which response most closely resem-
bled how their parents would have acted. These sur-
vey questions were presented to offer a more qualita-
tive approach to better understanding participant’s 
relationship with their parents and how they view 
parenting styles. These more qualitative questions 
also serve the purpose of reminding the participants 
of some of the experiences they may have faced as 
children to prepare them to answer the quantitative 
questions regarding parenting styles. Parenting styles 



97

were operationalized with the Parental Authority 
Questionnaire (Trinkner et al., 2011), and Feelings 
of embodiment were operationalized using the Body 
Consciousness Questionnaire (Miller et al., 1981).
Parental Authority Questionnaire
 The original Parental Authority Questionnaire 
(PAQ; Buri, 1991) was developed to measure par-
enting style as conceptualized by Baumrind (1971, 
1991). The original PAQ consists of 30 items, 10 for 
each parenting style: authoritarian, authoritative, and 
permissive. This study uses a modified version devel-
oped by Trinkner et al. (2012), which adapts the scale 
to examine both parents, rather than the mother and 
father separately. This modified version also short-
ens the scale due to time and space constraints. The 
modified version was developed by selecting four 
items for each parenting style that all the authors 
agreed were the best representations of each original 
parenting style as conceptualized by Baumrind. The 
modified version includes 12 statements (i.e., “My 
parents feel that children can do whatever they like”; 
“My parents get very angry if I disagree with them”), 
with a four-point Likert scale (1: “Disagree strongly; 
4: “Agree Strongly”). Results are averaged for each 
parenting style, with higher scores indicating greater 
use of that parenting style. Each participant’s score 
reflects the extent to which their parents used author-
itative, authoritarian, and permissive parenting styles. 
The modified parental authority questionnaire by 
Trinkner et al. (2012) can be found in the Appendix. 
Please note that a potential limitation of this ques-
tionnaire is that it does not include neglectful par-
enting as a fourth parenting style. In 1983, Maccoby 
and Martin suggested a way of measuring parenting 
styles using Baumrind’s typology and the parenting 
dimensions: demandingness and responsiveness. They 
added a fourth parenting style: neglectful. Based on 
this work, Baumrind expanded her typology to in-
clude the fourth parenting style, neglectful parenting 
(Maccoby & Martin, 1983). This has been left out of 
the parental authority questionnaire, perhaps because 
neglectful parenting involves no authority or care for 
a child’s authority at all. Further research is suggest-
ed to better understand the relationship between ne-
glectful parenting styles and feelings of embodiment.
The Body Consciousness Questionnaire
 The Body Consciousness Questionnaire attempts 
to modify the psychological dichotomy of public ver-

sus private self-consciousness to the body self. This 
scale is based on a classification of observation of the 
self into both private aspects (i.e., thoughts, images, 
memories, motives, and feelings) as well as the pub-
lic aspects, which can be observed by outside forces 
(i.e., appearance, manner, style of behavior). Private 
body consciousness is defined as the awareness of in-
ternal sensations and, public body consciousness is 
defined as the awareness of observable aspects of the 
body (Miller et al., 1981). The questionnaire also ex-
amines body competence and how effectively partici-
pants perceive their body functions. Body competence 
evaluation is positive; those high in body competence 
endorse items relevant to effective body functioning. 
This questionnaire properly addresses both disorders 
of embodiment situated in dysfunction surrounding 
the perception of body schema and body image. Body 
image is the primarily conscious system of perceptions, 
emotional attitudes, and conceptual beliefs regarding 
one’s body. A body schema, however, is the uncon-
scious, automatic sensory-motor capacities and activa-
tions (i.e., posture and movement regulation). There-
fore, in terms of the body consciousness scale, private 
and public body consciousness are measures of body 
image, and body competence is an evaluation of one’s 
body schema. The questionnaire is a 15-point scale 
with statements relating to all three factors of body 
consciousness: private, public, and body competence 
(“I am very aware of my best and worst facial features”; 
“I am very aware of changes in my body temperature”; 
“for my size, I’m pretty strong”). Participants were 
given a 5-point Likert scale (0: “extremely uncharac-
teristic; 4: “extremely characteristic”), and results were 
averaged to compare sample means with the means 
reported in Miller et al. (1981). The Body Conscious-
ness Questionnaire can be found in the Appendix.

Results
Control Analyses
Validity of Parenting Response Measure
 We undertook paired samples t-tests to as-
sess whether the sample parenting responses dif-
fered, as intended, on the degree to which each 
reflected more or less authoritative parenting. Pro-
viding evidence for the validity of the sample par-
enting responses as a measure, results revealed that 
warmth and autonomy were greater in the author-
itative parenting responses as compared with the 

PARENTING STYLES AND FEELINGS OF EMBODIMENT 



98

DROEGER & MILLER

non-authoritative parenting options (see Table 1).
Warmth and Autonomy Correlation
 Correlational analyses revealed that warmth and 
autonomy were significantly correlated with each 
other in the case of each parenting option (Sleep: r 
(41) =.58, p < .001; Food: r (42) =.77, p < .001; Bath-
room: r (41) = .40, p = .005). The lowest correlation 
between warmth and autonomy occurred in the case 
of the bathroom parent-child interaction. Addition-
ally, the responses observed in the case of the food 
parent-child interaction were skewed in that only 
one participant preferred the non-authoritative op-
tion. For these reasons, further analyses focused sole-
ly on the sleep parent-child interaction (see Table 1).
Relationship Between Outlooks on Sleep Par-
ent-Child Interaction
 We undertook correlational analyses on percep-
tions of the authoritative option for the sleep par-
ent-child interaction (see Table 2). In addition to the 
correlation noted earlier between warmth and auton-
omy (r (42) = .58, p < .01), we also found a negative 
correlation between autonomy and the response that 
the participant would choose if this were their own 
child (r (42) =.37, p < .05). Although this latter effect 
was not predicted, it may suggest that participants 
valued warmth over autonomy in this particular par-
ent-child interaction.  We also observed a significant 
correlation between what participants would choose 
for their own child and what they would prefer for 
themselves (r (43) =.79, p < .01), as well as between 
what participants would choose for their own child 
and the response, they believe their parents would 
have chosen (r (43) = .36, p < .05) (see Table 2).
Relationship Between Scale Measures and Re-
sponses to Sleep Parent-Child Interaction
 We undertook correlational analyses examining 
the relationship between preferred response to the 
sleep parent-child interaction and the Parental Au-
thority Questionnaire and Body Consciousness Ques-
tionnaires (see Table 3). As predicted, participants 
preferred response in the sleep interaction was posi-
tively correlated with the authoritative subscale of the 
parenting scale (r (40) = .37, p < .05), and negatively 
correlated with the authoritarian subscale of this scale 
(r (40) = -.40, p < .05). No significant correlations were 
observed between participant’s preferred response in 
the sleep interaction and their score on the Body Con-
sciousness Scale. The only other significant correlation 

occurred between the participant’s scores on the Au-
thoritarian Parenting subscale and on the Public Body 
Consciousness scale (r (40) = .35, p < .05) (see Table 3).

Discussion
 The findings found in all three parent-child in-
teractions indicate that the participant’s perception 
of the positive relationship between warmth and au-
tonomy is congruent with the characteristics of au-
thoritative parenting. As predicted, the participant’s 
preferred response in the parent-child interaction re-
garding sleep was positively correlated with Author-
itative items and negatively correlated with Author-
itarian items. Additionally, the positive relationship 
between the response participants would choose for 
their own child and the response they believe their par-
ents would have chosen is significant in demonstrating 
the continuity of parenting ideas across generations.
 Within the sleep parent-child interaction, we were 
surprised to find a negative relationship between auton-
omy and the response that participants would choose 
if it were their own child. This may indicate that partic-
ipants valued warmth over autonomy in this sleep-re-
lated interaction. The overall relationship between the 
Parental Authority Questionnaire and the Body Con-
sciousness Questionnaire was not found to be signifi-
cant. However, a significant positive relationship was 
found between the sum of the Authoritarian Parenting 
Items and the Public Body Consciousness items. This 
unexpected finding indicates the need for further ex-
ploration of the relationship between public body con-
sciousness and an Authoritarian parenting style. There 
were no relationships found between the preferred 
parenting option and the body consciousness scale.
 An indication of warmth and autonomy in our 
parent-child interactions is important in providing 
support for the Authoritative parenting style among 
participants and across generations. This finding 
adds to the research supporting warmth and auton-
omy in conflict related to parent-child interactions. 
Additionally, it advocates for this parenting style in 
issues related to the child’s bodily decisions. Our in-
teractions involved the child aiming to achieve au-
tonomy through decisions involving food, sleep, and 
the bathroom. All of these require the child to use 
control over their body to gain autonomy. Support 
for all three parent-child interaction scenarios was 
found but was most significant in our sleep-relat-



99

ed interaction. This may suggest strong support for 
parents to use authoritative parenting styles when 
dealing with conflict involving sleep-related deci-
sions. Participants were more likely to advocate for 
authoritative parenting involving the sleep interaction 
and were less convinced about the appropriate way 
of dealing with the food and bathroom interaction. 
 We have considered a few reasons behind this find-
ing. The sleep-related scenario may be considered as 
more of an independent task than the food and bath-
room scenarios. For instance, a child choosing not to 
sleep may be considered less of an interference for oth-
er individuals around them. A child choosing to forego 
meals or having the parent cook them something else 
involves more dependence on a caretaker. Similarly, a 
child only willing to use one bathroom also involves 
greater dependence on caretakers around them, having 
to take them home to use the restroom or dealing with 
school accidents. Perhaps participants also believe that 
the inclination to sleep is something less controllable 
to the individual. In other words, participants may be 
more likely to empathize with a child who is physically 
unable to sleep rather than a child who willingly refus-
es to use the bathroom or eat a certain food. Further 
questioning of the reasoning behind the participant’s 
choices is needed to better understand what separates 
the sleep interaction from the other two. There was 
also a significant demonstration of parenting ideas sup-
ported across generations.  Within the sleep interac-
tion, what response participants believed their parents 
would choose, participant’s preference, and what they 
would choose for their child were all correlated. This 
information is important as it is indicative of the power 
of parenting styles to pass down to the next generation.
 The relationship found between the Parental Au-
thority Questionnaire and the Body Consciousness 
Questionnaire was overall insignificant. However, the 
findings demonstrate a significant relationship be-
tween authoritarian parenting styles and public body 
consciousness. We did not hypothesize this finding, 
but the results agree with previous research and our 
understanding of authoritarian parenting style. The 
findings suggest a link between authoritarian parent-
ing and being highly attuned to how you are perceived 
in the outside world. We suggest that this is due to 
participants being forced to adhere to strict parent-
ing and high expectations in order to avoid parental 
criticism. This finding also supports research that in-

dicates children under authoritarian parenting styles 
are at a higher risk of experiencing levels of body dis-
satisfaction (Salafia et al., 2007). Perhaps this research 
can be better explained by our findings which have 
suggested authoritarian parenting is correlated with 
being highly attuned to how others perceive them and 
their bodies. This may be an indication that hyper-em-
bodiment exists in children who receive authoritarian 
parenting. We suggest further research to better dis-
cover the underlying reasoning for this relationship. 
Study Limitations
 The Body Consciousness Scale did not correlate 
with an authoritative parenting style. However, this 
does not mean that a relationship does not exist be-
tween body consciousness later in life and authorita-
tive parenting. In all three parent-child interactions 
related to bodily autonomy, there was a preference for 
greater warmth and autonomy, indicating that partic-
ipants did value authoritative parenting when dealing 
with embodied situations. There was also further indi-
cation that parenting styles get passed down through 
generations. However, the Body Consciousness Scale 
may be limited in its grasp of healthy embodiment. 
Our findings may suggest a need for a more compre-
hensive scale for measuring healthy embodiment. The 
Body Consciousness Scale measures how aware an 
individual is of their internal bodily sensations and 
observable aspects of the body, as well as how compe-
tent the individual believes their body is. We suggest a 
limitation within our interpretation of the scale, as we 
assumed high levels of these measures would indicate 
healthy embodiment. However, an over-awareness of 
bodily sensations may be better suited to represent a 
hyper-embodiment. We suggest that this limitation 
may be why we did not find a correlation between 
body consciousness and authoritative parenting. In 
future research, we hope to develop a scale that bet-
ter encompasses healthy embodiment. However, this 
research did correlate authoritarian parenting with 
public body consciousness. This finding is valuable 
for future work, as the characteristics of public body 
consciousness may be better suited to demonstrate 
hyper-embodiment. We did not find any correlations 
between parenting styles, private body consciousness, 
or body competence. This may also be due to limita-
tions within the scale itself or could indicate that there 
is no relationship between parenting styles and these 
measures. A further limitation is that we did not in-

PARENTING STYLES AND FEELINGS OF EMBODIMENT 



100

DROEGER & MILLER

vestigate neglectful parenting style. The reason for 
this is that it is not included in the Parental Author-
ity Questionnaire, and it may be a limitation that we 
assumed our population did not have neglectful par-
enting. The research would be strengthened by finding 
a measure that includes this parenting style. Another 
limitation was found in the lack of complete responses 
within the Qualtrics survey. Not all participants com-
pleted the entire questionnaire, and this may be due to 
the length of it. If we had found a way to shorten the 
survey, we may have had a better response rate. Our 
Qualtrics survey may have also been strengthened by 
making all scenario variables more independent. The 
sleep- related scenario, which was the most indepen-
dent of all three scenarios, was found to have a stronger 
response to using an authoritative parenting style than 
the other two scenarios. Further research is suggested 
that examines parent-child interactions that are con-
sidered more independent, meaning less interference 
for other individuals around the child. Final limita-
tions included a small sample size and time constraints 
in completing the project before the school year ended.
Conclusion
 This project did not result in the expected find-
ings but was beneficial in contributing to the cur-
rent knowledge and future directions that we should 
continue to research. The research provided support 
for the authoritative parenting style in relation to ef-
fective parenting when children are using their bod-
ies as a means of gaining autonomy. The results also 
offered support for the generational transmission of 
parenting styles. Finally, these findings suggest a bet-
ter development of an embodiment scale to further 
understand how parenting styles impact embodi-
ment and future research on the ways authoritar-
ian parenting impacts public body consciousness.

References
Baumrind, D. (1971). Current patterns of parental au-

thority. Developmental Psychology Monograph, 4, 
1-103. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0030372

Baumrind, D. (1991). The influence of parenting style 
on adolescent competence and substance use. The 
Journal of Early Adolescence,  11(1), 56–95.http://
dx.doi.org/10.1177/0272431691111004 

Brewer, M. B., & Gardner, W. (1996). Who is this "We"? 
Levels of collective identity and self-representa-
tions. Journal of Personality and Social Psycholo-

gy, 71(1), 83–93. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-
3514.71.1.83

Brown, K. W., & Ryan, R. M. (2003). The benefits 
of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psy-
chological well-being. Journal of Personality and 
Social Psychology, 84(4), 822–848. https://doi.
org/10.1037/0022-3514.84.4.822

Bryant, E. F. (2009). The yoga sutras of Patanjali: A 
new edition, translation, and commentary. New 
York, NY: North Point Press.

Buri, J.R. (1991). Parental Authority Questionnaire, 
Journal of Personality and Social Assessment, 57, 
110-119. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752j-
pa5701_13

Burychka, D., Miragall, M., & Baños, R. M. (2021). 
Towards a Comprehensive Understanding of 
Body Image: Integrating Positive Body Image, Em-
bodiment and Self-Compassion. Psychologica Bel-
gica,  61(1), 248–261. https://doi.org/10.5334/
pb.1057

Cook-Cottone, C. (2015). Embodied self-regulation 
and mindful self-care in the prevention of eat-
ing disorders. Eating Disorders, 24(1), 98–105. 
https://doi.org/10.1080/10640266.2015.111895
4 

Cohn, J. F., Matias, R., Tronick, E. Z., Connell, D., 
& Lyons-Ruth, K. (1986). Face-to-face interac-
tions of depressed mothers and their infants. New 
Directions for Child Development, (34), 31–45. 
https://doi.org/10.1002/cd.23219863405

Crockenberg, S., & Litman, C. (1990). Autonomy as 
competence in 2-year-olds: Maternal  correlates 
of child defiance, compliance, and self-asser-
tion. Developmental Psychology, 26(6), 961–971. 
https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.26.6.961

Dunn, J., Bretherton, I., & Munn, P. (1987). Conver-
sations about feeling states between mothers and 
their young children. Developmental Psychology, 
23(1), 132–139. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-
1649.23.1.132

Eckerman, C. O., Whatley, J. L., & Kutz, S. L. (1975). 
Growth of social play with peers during the sec-
ond year of life. Developmental Psychology, 11(1), 
42–49. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0076131

Erikson, E. H. (1950). Childhood and society. W Nor-
ton & Co.

Erikson, E. H. (1963). Childhood and society (2nd ed.). 
W Norton & Co.



101

PARENTING STYLES AND FEELINGS OF EMBODIMENT 

Fuchs, T., & Schlimme, J. E. (2009). Embodiment and 
psychopathology: a phenomenological perspective. 
Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 22(6), 570–575.  
https://doi.org/10.1097/YCO.0b013e3283318e5c

Gallagher, S., & Zahavi, D. (2008). The phenomenolog-
ical mind. Routledge. 

Glashouwer, K. A., van der Veer, R. M. L., Adipatria, 
F., de Jong, P. J., & Vocks, S. (2019). The role of 
body image disturbance in the onset, maintenance, 
and relapse of anorexia nervosa: A systematic re-
view. Clinical Psychology Review, 74, 101771. 
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2019.101771

Hinshaw, S. P., Zupan, B. A., Simmel, C., Nigg, J. T., 
& Melnick, S. (1997). Peer status in boys with and 
without Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disor-
der: predictions from overt and covert antisocial 
behavior, social isolation, and authoritative par-
enting beliefs. Child  Development, 68(5), 880–
896. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.1997.
tb01968.x

Homan, K. J., & Tylka, T. L. (2014). Appearance-based 
exercise motivation moderates the relationship 
between exercise frequency and positive body 
image. Body Image, 11(2), 101–108. https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2014.01.003

Kearney, B. E., & Lanius, R. A. (2022). The brain-
body disconnect: A somatic sensory basis 
for  trauma-related disorders. Frontiers in Neu-
roscience, 16, 1015749. https://doi.org/10.3389/
fnins.2022.1015749

Kidd, K. M., Sequeira, G. M., Douglas, C., Paglisotti, 
T., Inwards-Breland, D. J., Miller, E., & Coulter, 
R. W. S. (2021). Prevalence of gender-diverse 
youth in an urban school district. Pediatrics, 
147(6), e2020049823. https://doi.org/10.1542/
peds.2020-049823

Kopp, C. B. (1982). Antecedents of self-regula-
tion: A developmental perspective. Develop-
mental Psychology, 18(2), 199–214. https://doi.
org/10.1037/0012-1649.18.2.199

Maccoby, E. E., & Martin, J. A. (1983). Socialization 
in the Context of the Family: Parent-Child Inter-
action. In P. H. Mussen, & E. M. Hetherington 
(Eds.), Handbook of Child Psychology: Vol. 4. So-
cialization, Personality, and Social Development 
(pp. 1-101). New York: Wiley.

Mattanah, J. F. (2005). Authoritative Parenting and 
the Encouragement of Children's Autonomy.  

In P. A. Cowan, C. P. Cowan, J. C. Ablow, V. 
K. Johnson, & J. R. Measelle (Eds.), The family 
context of parenting in children's adaptation to ele-
mentary school (pp. 119–138). Lawrence Erlbaum 
Associates Publishers.

Miller, Lynn C., Murphy, Richard, & Buss, Arnold H. 
(1981). Consciousness of body: Private and pub-
lic. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 
41(2), 397-406. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-
3514.41.2.397

Pearson, J., Cohn, D., Cowan, P., & Cowan, C. (1994). 
Earned- and continuous-security in adult attach-
ment: Relation to depressive symptomatology 
and parenting style. Development and Psychopa-
thology, 6(2), 359-373. https://doi.org/10.1017/
S0954579400004636

Ryan, R.M., Deci, E.L., Grolnick, W.S. and La Guar-
dia, J.G. (2015). The Significance of Autonomy 
and Autonomy Support in Psychological Devel-
opment and Psychopathology. Developmental 
Psychopathology (eds D. Cicchetti and D.J. Co-
hen). https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470939383.
ch20

Salafia, E. H. B., Gondoli, D. M., Corning, A. F., 
McEnery, A. M., & Grundy, A. M. (2007). Psy-
chological distress as a mediator of the relation 
between perceived maternal parenting  and nom-
ative maladaptive eating among adolescent girls. 
Journal of Counseling Psychology, 54(4), 434–446.

Schilder, P. (1935). The image and appearance of the 
human body. Kegan Paul.

Steinberg, L., & Silk, J. S. (2002). Parenting adoles-
cents. In M. H. Bornstein (Ed.), Handbook of  
parenting: Children and parenting (pp. 103–133). 
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.

Stipek, D., Recchia, S., & McClintic, S. (1992). 
Self-evaluation in young children. Monographs 
of the Society for Research in Child Development, 
57(1), 100. https://doi.org/10.2307/1166190

Trinkner, R., Cohn, E. S., Rebellon, C. J., & Van Gun-
dy, K. (2012). Don’t trust anyone over 30: Parental 
legitimacy as a mediator between parenting style 
and changes in delinquent behavior over time.   
Journal of Adolescence, 35(1),  119-132. https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2011.05.003

Vaever, Mette (2004). Shaun Gallagher. In Jennifer 
Radden (ed.), The Philosophy of Psychiatry: A 
Companion. Oxford University Press. pp. 118.



102

DROEGER & MILLER

Wilde, M. H. (2003). Embodied knowledge in 
chronic illness and injury. Nursing Inquiry, 
10(3), 170-176. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1440-
1800.2003.00178.x



103

PARENTING STYLES AND FEELINGS OF EMBODIMENT 

Table 1

Mean Warmth and Autonomy for Different Parenting Options     

Note. Sleep refers to the sleep related parent-child interaction. Food refers to the food related parent-child inter-

action. Bathroom refers to the bathroom related parent-child interaction. Authoritative refers to the response 

that was designed to be more authoritative. Non-authoritative refers to the response that was designed to be less 

authoritative. Warmth refers to the level of warmth participants rated each response. Autonomy refers to the level 

of autonomy participants rated each response.



104

Table 2

Correlations for Sleep Parent-Child Interaction 

*Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed)

**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed) 

Note. Authoritative Autonomy is the response participants indicated had a higher level of autonomy. Authorita-

tive Warmth is the response participants indicated had a higher level of warmth. Participant preference is the re-

sponse participants preferred. Caregiver Preference is the response participants believe their caregiver would have 

chosen. Participant choice is the response that participants would choose for their own child.

DROEGER & MILLER



105

Table 3
Correlations for Parental Authority Questionnaire, Body Consciousness Questionnaire, and Sleep Parent-Child 
Interaction

PARENTING STYLES AND FEELINGS OF EMBODIMENT 

*Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed)

**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed) 

Note. Permissive sum is the level of participant caregiver’s permissive parenting style that participants 

received on the modified Parental Authority Questionnaire. Authoritarian sum is the level of participant 

caregiver’s authoritarian parenting style that participants received on the modified Parental Authori-

ty Questionnaire. Authoritative sum is the level of participant caregiver’s authoritative parenting style 

that participants received on the modified Parental Authority Questionnaire. Private Sum is the level of 

private body consciousness that participants scored on the Body Consciousness Questionnaire. Pub-

lic Sum is the level of public body consciousness that participants scored on the Body Consciousness 

Questionnaire. Body Competence is the level of body competence that participants scored on the Body 

Consciousness Questionnaire.




