The integral contributions of parental involvement and parenting style to adolescent adjustments: a regression mixture analysis

Abstract

The integrative model of parenting has highlighted the integral contributions of parental involvement (quantity) and parenting style (quality) to adolescent psychological adjustments. The first aim of this study was to adopt the person-centered approach to identify profiles of parental involvement (quantity) and parenting styles (quality). The second purpose was to examine the associations between different parenting profiles and adolescent psychological adjustments. A cross-sectional online survey with families (N = 930) that included fathers, mothers, and adolescents (50% female, Mage = 14.37 ± 2.31) was conducted in mainland China. The fathers and mothers reported their level of parental involvement; the adolescents rated fathers’ and mothers’ parenting styles, as well as their own levels of anxiety symptoms, depression symptoms, and loneliness. Latent profile analysis was adopted to identify parenting profiles using the standardized scores of fathers’ and mothers’ involvement and style (warmth and rejection). The regression mixture model was used to examine the relationships between different parenting profiles and adolescent psychological adjustments. Four classes best characterized the parenting behaviors: warm involvement (52.6%), neglecting noninvolvement (21.4%), rejecting noninvolvement (21.4%), and rejecting involvement (4.6%). Adolescents in the warm involvement group scored lowest on anxiety symptoms, depression symptoms, and loneliness. Adolescents in rejecting involvement group scored highest on psychological adjustment indicators. Adolescents in neglecting noninvolvement group scored lower on anxiety symptoms than those in rejecting noninvolvement group. Adolescents in the warm involvement group adjusted best, while adolescents in the rejecting involvement group adjusted worst among all groups. To promote adolescents’ mental health, intervention programs need to consider both parental involvement and parenting styles simultaneously.