Parental educational practices and children's tantrums

Children's tantrums are a feature of normal child development and appear around 15-18 months of age. They are usually triggered by children's desire for independence and inability to choose. To prevent tantrums from becoming a serious behavioural problem for children, parents must adopt appropriate educational practices to promote desirable behaviour. This study analysed whether different types of parental educational practices are related to the existence or not of tantrums. 106 parents of children aged between 2 and 6 took part and answered three questionnaires. It was concluded that the most commonly used parenting practices are appropriate parenting practices, but when children have tantrums, parents resort to physical punishment and inappropriate parenting practices.