Assessing the relationship between perceived parenting styles and high risk parenting attitudes of adolescents

Parenting styles and attitudes toward parenting remain a disputed and intriguing topic for psychologists, sociologists, and those in the human relations field. This research investigated the intersection of parenting styles and high risk parenting attitudes of adolescents. This study consisted of 35 participants in a volunteer sample group of male and female adolescent respondents residing in Southeastern Wisconsin. Participation in this research entailed answering a demographic questionnaire, the Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ), and the Adult-Adolescent Parenting Inventory-2 (AAPI-2). The results of this study indicated there were no significant correlations between the PAQ and the AAPI-2. There were, however, some significant correlations by gender between the PAQ and the AAPI-2. Scores demonstrated that female participants who reported an authoritarian mother and female respondents who reported an authoritarian father showed a positive correlation with the AAPI-2 subscales Parental Lack of Empathetic Awareness of Children's Needs and Parent-Child Role Reversal. Scores of male respondents who reported an authoritative father endorsed the AAPI-2 subscale Parental Lack of Empathetic Awareness of Children's Needs. Other findings included a negative correlation observed between male respondents reporting authoritarian fathers and the AAPI-2 subscale Strong Belief in the Use and Value of Corporal Punishment. While this study elucidated some of the complex dynamics behind parenting styles and parenting attitudes of adolescents, future direction in research should explore the nuances of parenting styles and child interaction and its effects on one's beliefs and attitudes toward parenting.