Childhood adaptation: Perception of the parenting style and the anxious‐depressive symptomatology

Objectives Childhood adaptation is essential for proper social‐emotional development. Children growing up in a family context where they feel supported and protected are less vulnerable in the presence of psychopathology. The aim of this study is analysing the impact of parenting styles and the anxious‐depressive symptoms on child adaptation. Design and Setting A total of 367 children between the ages of 10 and 12, following a similar distribution by sex. The children completed self‐reports assessing parenting styles, child adaptation, and depressive‐anxiety symptomatology. Methods The data were analysed using two complementary methodologies: linear regressions and fuzzy‐set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). Results Both methodologies indicated that the main predictors explaining child adaptation were depression and an authoritative parenting style. The fsQCA models explained a greater amount of variance and included more variables in their prediction than the regression models. Conclusion Identifying family and emotional aspects when working with children may help professionals to improve childhood adaptation. Consequently, well‐adapted children are less likely to suffer the negative consequences of emotional symptoms in later evolutionary stages.