Relationship between perceived parenting styles and psychological wellbeing among secondary school adolescents in Ainabkoi sub county Uasin Gishu County, Kenya

Abstract

Adolescence is a critical developmental stage for any individual marked by complex transitions. The adolescent period is a stage, which provides a platform for molding and transformation of the personality of the individual. Good parenting styles and a sense of psychological well-being are very important factors for the adolescents’ positive wholistic development, therefore parents have a leading role to play in the overall development of the child. The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between parenting styles and psychological wellbeing among adolescents. The objectives of this study were to examine the parenting styles (Authoritative, authoritarian and permissive) used by parents, assess the psychological well-being among the adolescents and to investigate the relationship between parenting styles and psychological well-being of adolescents in secondary schools in Ainabkoi Sub-County, Uasin Gishu County. The theoretical framework that guided this study was Baumrind’s theory of parenting styles and supported by Carol Ryff’s psychological well-being model. The researcher used the quantitative research approach using a descriptive and a co relational design, the study population involved adolescents aged between 13-18 years. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select the 6 schools that were put in strata and the respondents were selected from each stratum using Simple random sampling, the sample size consisted of 340 adolescents in secondary schools. Data was collected using self-administered questionnaire which had three sections that included: demographic information, psychological well-being and the parenting style and dimensions. SPSS version 23 was used to organize and prepare the data and then analyzed using both descriptive statistics and Pearson Product Moment Correlation coefficient. The findings of the study showed that the majority of the adolescents were oriented towards the personal growth construct of psychological well-being as shown by the mean and standard deviation (M = 28.309, SD = 1.800). The most prevalent parenting style was permissive for fathers and authoritarian for mothers, with higher paternal scores (M = 44.747, SD = 12.989). There was a relationship between psychological well-being and parenting style and a significant difference in the relationship between parenting styles and adolescent psychological well-being. Pearson Product Moment Correlation was used to determine the relationship between variables and a significant positive relationship was at significance level (p=<0.05). The possible recommendation of the study is that school administrators should develop programs that aim at sensitizing parents on the use of appropriate/optimal parenting styles and related practices that are believed to reduce child mistreatment.