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J Child Fam Stud (2007) 16:3947 DOI 10.1007/s10826-006-9066-5
ORIGINAL PAPER
Avidan Milevsky Melissa Schlechter Sarah Netter Danielle Keehn
Published online: 13 September 2006
C Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2006Abstract Our study examined variations in adolescent adjustment as a function of maternal and paternal parenting styles. Participants included 272 students in grades 9 and 11 from a public high school in a metropolitan area of the Northeastern US. Participants completed measures of maternal and paternal parenting styles and indices of psychological adjustment. Authoritative mothering was found to relate to higher self-esteem and life-satisfaction and to lower depression. Paternal parenting styles was also related to psychological adjustment, however, although the advantage of authoritative mothering over permissive mothering was evident for all outcomes assessed, for paternal styles the advantage was less dened and only evident for depression. Our study highlights the importance of examining process-oriented agents as part of the broader interest in well-being variations in adolescents.
Keywords Parenting styles . Self-esteem . Depression . Life-satisfaction . Adolescence
Recent advances in systems theory approaches to the study of child development have contributed to an increased interest in examining the interconnection between familial variables and adjustment (Magnusson & Stattin, 1998). More specically, several socialization studies have examined the relationship between parental behaviors and well-being in childhood and adolescence.
From a theoretical perspective, Individual Psychologys Parenting Model, based on Adlerian theory, suggests that an autocratic parenting style may not be effective because it implies a superior/inferior relationship between parent and child. This approach to child rearing fails to produce responsibility in children. Furthermore, permissive parenting is
A. Milevsky ([envelopeback])
Department of Psychology, Touro College South, Miami Beach, FL 33139 e-mail: [email protected]
M. Schlechter D. Keehn
Department of Psychology, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, Kutztown, PA 19530
S. Netter
Department of Education, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, Kutztown, PA 19530
Springer
Maternal and Paternal Parenting Styles in Adolescents: Associations with Self-Esteem, Depression and Life-Satisfaction
40 J Child Fam Stud (2007) 16:3947
potentially harmful for children because it fails to give them a sense of personal achievement. A democratic parenting style was suggested as the most ideal for psychological adjustment because behavioral compliance and psychological autonomy are viewed as interdependent objectives (Gfroerer, Kern, & Curlette, 2004).
Empirically, many studies on parenting practices and child...