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Abstract
Background:
Temper tantrums are episodic,
unmodulated displays of intense
emotional distress, often
characterized by outbursts
of anger, and may involve
aggressive or destructive
behaviour. These episodes
can be effectively managed
through the application of
evidence-based parenting strategies
that are tailored to a child’s
individual needs and developmental
stage.
Objective:
This study aimed to determine
the relationship between parenting
styles and the temper tantrums
of children aged 2-4 years
old at primary care in the
Kingdom of Bahrain.
Research
Method: For this research
a cross-sectional, descriptive
study design was employed,
and a non-probability convenience
sampling method was utilized
to recruit a sample of 400
participants, that included
8 health centres located in
Bahrain (Muharraq, BBK Hidd,
Jidhafs, Sitra, Hamad Kanoo,
Yousef Abdulrahman Engineer,
Mohammed Jassim Kanoo, and
Sh. Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah
HCs), for a duration of 3
months (May 2022 to July 2022).
The analysis technique employed
was the chi-square test, a
statistical method that is
used to examine the association
between two categorical variables.
Results:
The findings of this study
demonstrated that more than
half of the participating
children exhibited temper
tantrums that lasted more
than 30 minutes and showed
that approximately less than
one-third (31%) of the children
experienced weekly or daily
tantrums: however, half of
the parents reported that
moderate tantrums were exhibited
by their youngsters. The most
frequently reported tantrum
behaviour was “crying”,
followed by “screaming”
or “shouting”. A
child’s request for an
item or activity was the most
frequent cause, and most tantrums
occurred when their parents
denied this request. Children
threw temper tantrums most
frequently in their homes
or cars. Parents’ most
common strategy for stopping
a child’s tantrums was
speaking soothingly, with
spanking being the least common.
The results indicated that
permissive parenting styles
were associated with a higher
frequency of temper tantrums
than authoritative parenting
styles.
Conclusion:
The results highlight significant
aspects of tantrums, such
as the duration, as children
managed to maintain a tantrum
episode for more than seven
minutes on average. Tantrum
behaviours, reasons, locations,
context, and parents’
strategies to control tantrums
were emphasized as significant
for developing proper interventions.
The findings highlight the
importance of parental styles
in the development of children
and the need for further investigation
in this area.
Keywords:
children aged 2-4 years
old, parenting style, temper
tantrum.
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