Intergenerational Transmission of Parenting Practices and Child Developmental Outcomes in Yoruba Families: A Three-Generation Study

This study examines the intergenerational transmission of parenting practices and their consequent effects on child developmental outcomes across three generations of Yoruba families in Oyo, Osun, and Ekiti states, South West Nigeria. Intergenerational transmission research has predominantly employed two-generation designs from Western family contexts, leaving the multigenerational dynamics of parenting transmission in African cultural contexts largely uncharted. This research employed a retrospective-prospective three-generation design involving 180 grandmother-mother-grandchild triads recruited through community and health network sampling. Parenting practices across generations were assessed using the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire and retrospective parental bonding measures. Child outcomes were evaluated using a developmental battery covering cognitive, social, and emotional domains. Structural equation path models tested both linear transmission and compensatory disruption hypotheses. Results indicate significant transmission of authoritative and harsh parenting dimensions across generations, with grandmother parenting predicting mother parenting, which in turn predicted grandchild developmental outcomes. However, mothers who underwent formal education demonstrated significantly disrupted harsh parenting transmission, suggesting education as a transformative moderator of intergenerational patterns. Cultural continuity values partially mediated the transmission of authoritative practices. The study provides the first three-generation empirical study of parenting transmission in Yoruba families and recommends intergenerational framing in parenting intervention design across south-western Nigeria. Keywords: intergenerational transmission, parenting practices, Yoruba families, three-generation study, child development.