A new study in the Journal of Adolescence identifies three parenting styles and the style that produces the most stable children. Which parent are you?

It's no great mystery which definition wins out in the study: authoritative. The benefits of that approach have been proven in prior research. A team from the University of New Hampshire tried to go a step farther by determining whether these different styles affected whether children viewed their parents as legitimate authorities. The study was based on survey responses by 600 middle and high school students. Why is this important? Because if kids view their parents as legitimate authorities, they're more likely to obey their parents' rules even when they're on their own. At least that's the theory. The study found that children generally didn't recognize authoritarian parents as authority figures and were the most likely to engage in law violations and other delinquent behavior. (So much for "my way or the highway!") By contrast, children of authoritative parents were the most likely to respect their parents' rules at all times. They were more self-reliant and self-controlled. Children of permissive parents confounded the study a bit. The researchers predicted that these children wouldn't view their parents as authority figures -- and that turned out to be true. However, the study didn't find that children of permissive parents were more likely to be delinquent. So here's my follow-up question: Can problematic parents change on the fly and turn themselves into authority figures that their children recognize and respect? Or is there a point when the damage is done, so to speak, and children's views of their parents are hard-wired? Check back for some local experts' views on this question. Meanwhile, post your thoughts below. Can parents change their stripes? And now for a brief tangent. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that the father in the now infamous Feb. 7 Facebook discipline video (see below) is more in the authoritarian category. (Watch with care. It contains expletives and, of course, the violence of the father shooting his daughter's laptop 10 times.) This frustrated father sure lays down the law, but research would suggest that his daughter isn't going to gain any more respect for his authority as a result.