Effect of Parenting Styles on Adolescents: A Quantitative Study

Abstract

Collectivistic country like India, where prioritizing the collective (family’s or community’s) interest over the individual’s interest, attentiveness to the needs of others, and maintaining harmonious relationships with the members of the community are encouraged, the immediate family plays a significant role in child-rearing practices. Present study looked to explore the effect of parenting styles on adolescents’ emotional and behavioural problems and social adjustment. Samples of adolescents ranging from 12 to 18 years were taken with their parents. Purposive sampling was used and both parents and children were measured separately using standardised scales. A quasi-experimental design was used and data were analysed with the help of descriptive and inferential statistics. Results indicated a statistically significant negative relation between fathers’ authoritative parenting and adolescents’ conduct problems. Moreover, negative relation was found between fathers’ authoritarian parenting style and total difficulty of children, and fathers’ permissive parenting style was also significantly negatively related with peer problems of children. However, there was no significant relationship found between the parenting style of mothers and the adolescents’ behaviour. Also, no difference was found between the male and female adolescent groups on emotional and behavioural difficulty and social adjustment. The study also posed some limitations and suggested future directions.