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.