Parenting Styles and School Adjustment: Which is the Optimal Parenting to Reinforcing Academic Success among Middle and High School Students?

Abstract

Although parental strictness has been identified in classic studies as a beneficial component in protecting the student education process, especially in school, more recent studies question its benefits. The present study examines the relationship between academic adjustment and parenting styles among students from middle (grades 7-8) and high school (grades 9-10). Participants were 437 Spanish adolescents aged 12-18 years, 266 females (56.4%). Participants were classified into one of four families (authoritative, indulgent, authoritarian and neglectful) based on their responses to parental warmth and strictness. School adjustment was assessed based on engagement (behavioural, affective and cognitive), school satisfaction, academic self-concept, and academic achievement. The main objective was to identify which parenting style best supports adolescent academic adjustment in both middle and high school. A multivariate 4 × 2 × 2 factorial MANOVA was applied for all school adjustment components, whereas parenting style, sex and educational level were the independent variables. Main and interaction effects were examined to test differences on academic adjustment depending on parenting styles, sex and educational level. Overall, worse academic adjustment was observed in high school and among male students. Parenting and school adjustment showed a relative common pattern by sex and educational level, although more evident in males and in middle school. The indulgent style was a more positive style than the authoritative style, which was associated with outcomes as negative as the authoritarian and neglectful parenting. Contrary to the general belief about the benefit of parental strictness to achieve good students, parental warmth without strictness could be especially beneficial for good academic adjustment in middle and high school.