Abstract
Adolescence is an important developmental period that is characterised by heightened problems of adjustment. The aim of this study is to analyse adolescents’ adjustment, and to explore the typologies and dimensions of parenting, and thus to determine the relationships between these factors. The sample comprised 1285 adolescent students aged 12 to 16 from the Basque Country (Spain). The students filled out the self-report of the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC) and the Parental Acceptance-Rejection/Control Questionnaire, (PARQ/Control). Differences by age were found in the adolescents’ school maladjustment and parenting style perception. Moreover, perceptions of little parental warmth were related to higher levels of clinical and school maladjustment, and the lower the parental control, the greater the clinical maladjustment. Finally, the results obtained revealed that the interaction between the mothers’ and fathers’ parenting styles was significant only for clinical maladjustment; those students with neglectful mothers and authoritative fathers presented the highest level of clinical maladjustment, followed by other combinations of neglectful mothers. Furthermore, the students from neglectful and authoritarian families presented the highest levels of school maladjustment, without differences between neglectful and authoritarian or between indulgent and authoritative families.
Highlights
Adolescence is a developmental period between childhood and adulthood that is characterised by many physical, psychological and social changes that require adaptation
Clinical and school maladjustment As severity levels of maladjustment is concerned, the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC)-S3 results indicated that 5% (n = 59) of the sample reported clinically significant clinical maladjustment, and a further 10.5% (n = 124) were at risk of clinical maladjustment. 6.6% (n = 78) of the sample reported clinically significant school maladjustment, and a further 18.8% (n = 221) were considered to be at risk
Severity of maladjustment did not vary as a function of adolescents’ sex [clinical: χ2 (2) = 3.32, p = .19, VCramer = .05; school: χ2 (2) = 3.34, p = .18, VCramer = .05] but did vary as a function of adolescents’ age: in the younger adolescents group, there was a higher percentage than expected by chance who were in clinically significant clinical maladjustment category [χ2 (4) = 11.45, p = .02, VCramer = .07] and in the middle adolescents group, the clinically significant school maladjustment was more prevalent than expected [χ2 (4) = 17.65, p < .01, VCramer = .09]
Summary
Adolescence is a developmental period between childhood and adulthood that is characterised by many physical, psychological and social changes that require adaptation. This can be an opportunity to enhance development, but it can highlight the vulnerabilities of the adolescent. On the other hand, are less emotionally adjusted and present more depression and anxiety (Thapar, Collishaw, Pine, & Thapar, 2012; Waite & Creswell, 2014). In respect of the age, increasing age has been associated with higher prevalence of depression and anxiety (Zubrick et al, 2017), while externalising problems are generally stable over the course of development (Li, Johnson, Musci, & Riley, 2017)
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