The Interrelations among the Perception of Parental Styles and Psychological Well-Being in Adolescence: A Longitudinal Study

BACKGROUND: This longitudinal study aims to examine the relationships between the perception of parental style, hope, self-esteem and Eysenck’s psychoticism dimension throughout the span of four years. METHODS: The sample was composed of 884 students from the Wollongong Youth Study, which commenced when students entered high school. During the course of the 4 years of the study, each participant completed the test booklets each time data was collected. Data was analyzed using one way ANOVA, Post-hoc test, Repeated Measurement, Pearson and Partial Correlation and General Linear Model in order to provide the aims of the study. RESULTS: The mean score of hope and self-esteem among adolescents from authoritative parents were higher from permissive and authoritarian families while the hope with a permissive perception were lower than those with authoritarian, and self-esteem was lower in the authoritarian group compared to the permissive group. Children with a permissive perception reported higher psychoticism compared to the two other. Significant correlations were found between authoritative perception and hope, self-esteem and psychoticism. Finally, hope, self-esteem and psychoticism showed a significant inter correlation in all of the parental styles. CONCLUSION: Adolescents with the perception of each kind of parental style showed significant between group differences in psychological well-being throughout the four years of the study.