Parenting styles perceived by teenagers and school achievement

Abstract

Parenting styles (PS) are parents’ attitudes towards their child overall development and education. By setting family climate and parents’ behaviors, PS have been a focus on development psychology and family studies, namely, in relation to child outcomes. This cross-sectional study analyzes the impact of perceived PS by adolescents on their school achievement. 110 boys and 118 girls from the 5th to 9th school level, (M= 12.60, SD= 1.82) from a public school in Lisbon, answered a demographic form and the Parental Authority Questionnaire for both parents. Their grades and the number of retentions were accessed. Results show that authoritative parenting correlates to higher grades and a better school achievement. Permissive and authoritarian styles correlate to worse school results (grades and number of years held back). Although, PS may vary according to cultural contexts, these results follow previous international research findings that consider parents’ authoritativeness associated to better children outcomes and school achievement. Age, school level and family income, have a significant effect on PS. Older and more educated parents are perceived as less permissive and authoritarian. No level of agreement between the PS of mother-father was found, suggesting that the parents may adopt opposite or complementary PS’s. Results found contribute to parenting styles knowledge within Portuguese cultural context. They are also useful for organize future, evidence based, interventions regarding parenting programs and school underachievement and dropouts preventing programs.