This journal article reports the findings of a qualitative literature review that synthesized and critically analyzed nursing research studies relating to parenting published from 1993 to 2004. Studies published by nurse researchers in peer-reviewed journals were systematically searched using CINAHL and Medline databases. Data were organized and analyzed with a sample of 17 nursing research studies from core nursing journals. The author's found that the majority of parenting research has been focused on mothers, primarily about parenting children with physical or developmental disabilities. Research about fathers as parents is sparse. Parenting across cultures, parenting in the context of family, and theoretical frameworks for parenting research are not well developed. In relation to family violence, the authors found that three studies utilised the Adult-Adolescent Parenting Inventory (AAPI) to measure parenting attitudes. This instrument includes four constructs of parenting (inappropriate expectations, lack of empathy, belief in corporal punishment, and reversing parent-child family roles) to classify parents as having a low, medium, or high potential risk for child abuse. The authors conclude that the scope of nursing research on parenting is limited and that the roles, functions, and contexts of parenting are not well defined. They suggest further research is required to describe parenting and how parenting affects the health of individuals and families.

Journal of Nursing Scholarship 38(1) July 2008 : 56-62