Influence of Parenting Styles and Peer Attachment on Life Satisfaction Among Adolescents: Mediating Role of Self-Esteem

Abstract

Both parenting and peer relationship are essential in the formation of self-esteem among the adolescents which lead to overall psychological development. Life satisfaction is another outcome that describes the subjective well-being of any person and the quality of one’s life. Literature has already suggested the importance of parenting and peer relationships in the development of self-esteem which may lead to life satisfaction among adolescents. However, the relationship between three styles of parenting as well as peer attachment and life satisfaction mediated by self-esteem seems to be missing from the literature. This work is an important attempt toward fulfilling this research gap with respect to adolescents. The data were collected from 500 respondents which resulted in 412 functional responses. Structural equation modeling method was used to test the relationship in the study. The results revealed that both authoritative and permissive parenting have a positive influence on self-esteem in comparison to the negative influence of authoritarian parenting. Peer attachment also has an affirmative impact on self-esteem. Self-esteem also positively influences life satisfaction. Mediation results revealed that self-esteem partially mediates the association between three parenting styles, peer attachment, and life satisfaction. This study may offer unique insights to family counselors, couple counselors, and family educators about the role of different parenting styles and peer attachment with respect to the development of children’s self-esteem and life satisfaction. These results are also important for psychologists, sociologists, and other specialists with respect to understanding these factors for the well-being of adolescents.