Perceived Parenting-Style: Its Central Role in Psychological Adjustment and Academic Achievement of Argentinean Students

Abstract

Parenting has been historically supported in cultural traditions, which relied on philosophical or religious values. Recently, it has acquired a scientific interest that triggered a vast amount of studies on the subject. The central tendency in this research is focused in identifying, among other things, the consequences that perceived parenting has in psychological adjustment. Two major methods have been the most commonly used: dimensional and categorical. The first one considers two principal dimensions: responsiveness and demandingness. The categorical one proposes different parenting styles which result from the combination of those two dimensions: authoritarian, permissive, negligent, overprotective and authoritative. Both standpoints are recognized as important and necessary. A sample of Argentinean college students was studied regarding their perceived parenting styles, perceived social support, coping strategies and academic achievement. In a first analysis that considered parenting dimensions, those students who had high perceptions of responsiveness from their parents more frequently applied approach coping strategies, perceived more social support and had better academic achievement. However, the perception of high demandingness was linked to better academic performance but also to avoidant coping strategies. Finally, from a parenting style perspective, authoritarian parenting style was linked to a less frequent use of approach coping strategies, perception of little social support and poorer accomplishment in college.