Do Adolescents’ Perceptions of Mothers’ and Fathers’ Parenting Behaviors Predict Academic Achievement and Social Skills?

Abstract

This study examines how adolescents’ perceptions of fathers’ and mothers’ parenting behaviors predict outcomes in the domains of academic achievement and social skills, and whether these outcomes differ according to the adolescents’ gender. Participants included 168 students enrolled in the 10th (13.14%) and 11th (86.86%) grade in the only two public schools of a small city in the North of Portugal, male (42.26%) and female (57.74%), aged 16 to 19 (M = 16.76; SD = 0.45). Measures included the adolescents’ perceptions of their fathers’ and mothers’ parenting behaviors, and the adolescents’ academic achievement, and social skills. Structural equation modeling was used for data analysis. The models included the adolescents’ perception of their fathers’ and mothers’ parenting behaviors (autonomy granting, warmth, and knowledge) as predictors of academic achievement and social skills. Regarding the outcome academic achievement, the model also included adolescents’ age and parents’ years of schooling as covariates. Adolescents’ academic achievement was negatively predicted by their perception of fathers’ warmth, and positively predicted by their perception of fathers’ knowledge, whereas adolescents’ social skills were positively predicted by their perceptions of mothers’ knowledge. Multi-group analysis revealed that the structural equation paths did not differ according to the adolescents’ gender. Further analysis identified that moderate levels of fathers’ warmth are more related to better adolescents’ academic achievement than do high levels of fathers’ warmth. Results point out the differential role of perceived parenting behaviors on adolescents’ development, with the adolescents’ perceived fathers’ parenting behaviors showing greater impact on academic achievement, and the adolescents’ perceived mothers’ parenting behaviors showing a positive effect on social skills.