Parental lying and parental control

Parental lying is common practice, but the link between parental lying and other parenting practices is understudied. In this preregistered study, the association between three types of parental lying (child-oriented, parent-oriented, instrumental) and parental psychological and behavioural control is explored using cross-sectional self-report data in 308 Dutch parents. Parents reported on lying behaviour to their own children and parental control strategies. Multivariate multiple regression analysis showed that instrumental, but not child-oriented or parent-oriented, lying was related to higher levels of behavioural control. Our findings suggest that instrumental lying is more common in parents with a more demanding and strict parenting style. Future research should shed light on the question of how parental instrumental lying relates to children’s behaviour and development and should further explore how different parental lie types relate to domains of parenting.