Dokument

Summary:
Life transitions are stages in development when human experiences key changes (Lenz, 2001). Adolescence is a transitional phase because it is denoted with rapid physical, cognitive, emotional, and social changes (Steinberg, 2014). Research examines the outcome of this transitional process and in this perspective also highlights the factors that may influence these outcomes. There are many genetic, hormonal and environmental factors that contribute to the process of development. However, literature shows that the influence of environmental factors is stronger than the hormonal influence (Brooks-Gunn, Graber &Paikoff, 1994). Within the environmental factors, parenting exerts important influence on healthy personality development (Zarrett & Eccles, 2006). Hence, the present research aims at the assessment of the relationship between parenting styles and juvenile delinquency, and to evaluate the impact of an indigenous parent training program for managing delinquent tendencies on change in delinquency among adolescents of Pakistan. Furthermore, a meta-analysis is conducted to calculate cultural variations in the association of parenting styles with problem behaviours and academic achievement of adolescents. The research has been conducted in three phases. In first phase, an adolescent sample has been drawn from five different randomly selected schools where 1140 students (aged 11-17 years) filled a modified version of the Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ) (Buri, 1991), Self-reported Delinquency Scale (SRDS) (Naqvi & Kamal, 2008), and a demographic form. In the second phase, 110 parents of adolescents with elevated levels of delinquent tendencies, screened from adolescents participated in previous phase, have participated in a randomized control trial. Participants were placed randomly either in the intervention or in the control condition. Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ) (Buri, 1991) and Informant-reported Delinquency Scale (IRDS) (Naqvi & Kamal, 2008) were used for assessments at pre-test, post-test, and follow-up stages. Participants of the intervention condition have participated in seven sessions of an indigenous parent training program which is developed to promote behaviours related to authoritative parenting. In the third phase, 428 studies on associations of parenting styles with child and adolescent outcomes are searched by using different electronic databases. These studies are included in a meta-analysis to measure the cultural variations in the association of parenting styles and child outcome (internalizing and externalizing behaviours, and academic achievement). In the first study, results show that there is a negative association between authoritative parenting and juvenile delinquency, and a positive correlation between neglectful parenting and juvenile delinquency. Mothers’ parenting was more strongly associated with adolescents’ delinquency than father’s parenting. In the second study, results also reveal that the parents of the intervention group show significant improvements in their behaviours relating to authoritative parenting and they also report that their children have also shown improvements in their delinquent behaviours. Participants of the control condition report significant changes neither in their parenting nor in the delinquent behaviours of their adolescent child from the period of pre-test to follow-up. Based on regression analyses, it is concluded that decrease in delinquent behaviours of adolescents can be explained by an increased level of authoritative parenting. Findings of the meta-analysis indicate few cultural/ethnic differences in the association of authoritative parenting with the prescribed variable. Therefore, it is concluded that there are more similarities than differences on the effectiveness of authoritative parenting in the western and non-western countries. Meta-analysis provides sufficient evidences to claim that Baumrind’s typology is applicable around the globe.

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