An investigation into the relationship between parents’ attitudes towards gender roles and the social isolation of female adolescents

Abstract

Background and aims: This study investigated the relationship between parents’ attitudes toward gender roles and the social isolation of female adolescents in Iran in 2021. Methods: This descriptive study of a correlational type and its statistical population included all female adolescents studying in secondary schools in the city of Isfahan in 2021, out of whom 133 were selected by convenience sampling. They answered the following questionnaires: the Homami et al Questionnaire on Attitudes toward Gender Roles in Family Life and the Modarresi Yazdi et al Social Isolation Questionnaire. Research data were analyzed through the independent t test, a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), the Kruskal-Wallis test, and the Spearman correlation coefficient using SPSS-12 software. Results: An analysis of the present data showed that the mean score of social isolation was significantly lower in students whose parents had a justice-seeking attitude in the domain of parental roles than in students whose parents had a feminist attitude in this domain (P=0.005, t=-2.876). The mean scores of social isolation in the dimensions: of loneliness (P=0.040, t=-2.073) and social despair (P=0.036, t=-2.124) were also significantly lower in students whose parents had a justice-seeking attitude in the domain of parental roles than in students whose parents had a feminist attitude in this domain. The mean score of social isolation was significantly higher in students whose parents had a feminist attitude in the domain of general marital roles than in students whose parents had a justice-seeking or masculinist attitude. The mean score of loneliness was significantly higher in students whose parents had a feminist attitude in this domain than in students whose parents had a justice-seeking attitude. But no significant difference was observed between students whose parents had a feminist attitude and those with a masculinist attitude. Conclusion: Parents’ attitudes and behavior in gender behaviors are essential factors in mental health, especially social isolation in female adolescents. When parents’ attitudes towards their children’s gender roles are justice-seeking; they can better communicate with their children, so their children feel less lonely and socially isolated.