INFLUENCE OF PARENTING STYLES ON ADOLESCENTS’ SELF-ESTEEM IN SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ABEOKUTA NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT, ABEOKUTA, OGUN STATE, NIGERIA

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       Background to the Study

There is no one way to parenting. Differences in parenting styles can happen within individual societies as well as between different cultures (Sanders, 2003). For instance, the way parents in the United Kingdom or the United Sates choose to raise their children may differ dramatically from the way parents in Nigeria or Ghana choose to raise their children. Parenting style is a global climate in which a family functions and in which childrearing takes place (Sanders, 2003). Four distinct parenting styles have been distinguished, namely the authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent, and uninvolved styles, based on the two underlying dimensions of parental support (often referred to as parental responsiveness) and strict control (often referred to as parental demandingness) (Rose, Otten, Hein de Vries & Rutger, 2010).

Parental support refers to parental affectionate qualities and is associated with characteristics like warmth, acceptance, and involvement(Rose, Otten, Hein de Vries & Rutger, 2010). Strict control reflects parental control over their children’s behaviors and as such includes parental knowledge of these activities as well as active monitoring attempts. Authoritative parents offer their children a democratic climate of both high support and strict control. Authoritarian parents provide strict control without being supportive, and are therefore perceived as demanding and power-assertive. Children experiencing support in the absence of strict control are being reared by indulgent parents, who are allowing and permissive. These parents apply few rules to constrain their children. Finally, parents with an uninvolved parenting style are neither supportive nor controlling, and are relatively more indifferent and uninvolved (or even neglectful) with respect to their children (Rose, Otten, Hein de Vries & Rutger, 2010).

Studies have shown that one of the most important factors affecting children’s self-esteem and behavior is their parents’ style (Tanhaye-Rashavanlou & Hejazi, 2012). For example, adolescents of parents with an authoritative parenting style have higher than self-esteem (Moghaddam, Validad, Rakhshani and Assareh, 2017), however, research conducted on the effects of parenting styles on self-esteem in adolescents has shown variable results. For instance, a study by Moghaddam, Validad, Rakhshani and Assareh, indicated that an authoritative parenting style has an impact on self-esteem, whereas research by Dabiri, Delavar, Sarami & Falsafi-Nejad, pointed out that parenting styles do not have a significant impact on children’s self-esteem.

The concept of self-esteem is an area of psychology that has gained considerable attention, but for many years has also caused much confusion, as exactly what it encompasses and how it develops, has been unclear.Self-esteem could be  high  or  low,  either  level  can  be emotionally  and  socially  harmful  for  the individual. Adolescents with low self -esteem are often depressed and paranoid. They are more likely to experience social anxiety and low levels of social confidence Portia (2010). Adolescents who have high self-esteem  values  themselves and think of themselves as worthy partners, capable problem solvers and are more likely to be happy. They feel that they have positive characteristics and skills they can offer to other people and they also feel they are worthy of being loved and accepted by others including family and friends. An optimum level of self-esteem lies within the continuum i.e., between low  and  high  self-esteem.  Individuals operating within this range are thought to be more  socially  dominant within relationships. This  social  dominancy  simply means  that  adolescents  on  middle  level  on  the self-esteem  scale  is  comprised  of  varied personality characteristics, some of which can be more positive than others McLeod (2012).

Adolescence is a period in human growth and development that occurs after childhood and before adulthood. The World Health Organization (WHO) placed the age range from 10 to 19 years. It is a time of critical transition for individuals, as they deal with the physical, cognitive and social changes that occur during this developmental period. All of these changes can be stressful and individuals can feel less valuable than others, making them at risk of a lower self-esteem. Self-esteem is modified from childhood through the adolescent’s life by social experiences that occur both outside and within the family. Parental support is crucial in adolescence and parents could promote self-esteem in their children and reduce psychological distress by offering their support throughout this developmental phase (Boudreault-Bouchard, Dion, Hains, Vandermeerschen, Laberge & Perron, 2013).

It has been shown that adolescents and adults who have high self-esteem are at better health, have better capacity to cope and have lower incidence of depressive symptoms (Kaplan, Robbins, & Martin, 2003). Trzesniewski, Donnellan, Moffitt, Robins and Poulton (2006) found out that those adolescents that had low self-esteem had negative influence on their physical and emotional health. Low self-esteem during adolescence has been shown to predict poor health, criminal behavior and limited economic prospects during adulthood. Low self-esteem in adolescence also predicts negative outcomes in their adulthood. Mcgee and Williams (2000) also identified that low self-esteem can affect adolescent social life, lead to eating disorders, depression and suicidal thoughts.

Gaylord-Harden, Ragsdale, Mandara, Richards and Petersen (2007)identified that self-esteem is an important intermediary between social support and emotional adjustment both in early and late adolescence. They proposed that support from family and peers would serve as a protective factor on depression and anxiety, which would promote better self-esteem and perception of their ethnic group.

This study will explore possible reasons for high or low self-esteem concentrating on the development of self-esteem, by examining the potential influence of the parenting styles or type of child rearing approach. To categorize the parenting style, Baumrind’s styles of parenting are used. These are: Authoritarian, Authoritative and Permissive, which are defined as follows:

1. Authoritative parenting style, which combines unconditional regard, acceptance of the child’s behaviour within certain limits, with relatively firm control.
2. Authoritarian parenting style, which involves the parent using unbending rules to shape the child’s behaviour and imposing their will on the child without any give and take.  The parent believes they are always right.
3. Permissive parenting style in which parents show warmth and allow the child a great amount of autonomy while exercising little control over them. They allow their children to shape their own behavior instead of being active in this process.