But there isn’t any one, universally-used questionnaire for identifying the authoritative parenting style. Different studies may use different questionnaires, and this might account for some discrepancies between studies.
For instance, a recent Spanish study has reported that adolescents from permissive families were as well-behaved and academically successful as were teens from authoritative homes.
This result contradicts research in the United States that links permissive parenting with inferior child outcomes.
Does the Spanish study suggest that parenting styles work differently in Spain? Maybe.
But it’s also possible that the disagreement reflects the different questionnaires used. As I argue elsewhere, some of the parents classified as “permissive" in the Spanish study might have been labeled as “authoritative" in other studies.