Permissive and Authoritarian Parenting Styles as Predictors of Moral Behaviour Among Secondary School Adolescents in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, Southern Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated parenting styles, emotional support and moral behaviour among secondary school adolescents in Obio-Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers state. A sample of 800 students from a population of 15,337 junior secondary school students was used for the study. Simple random and proportionate stratified sampling techniques were used to compose the sample. Six research questions were answered while six corresponding null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. Three instruments were used for the study. They are the Moral Behaviour Questionnaire (MBQ), the Parenting Styles Survey (PSS), and the Parental Emotional Support Questionnaire (PESQ). The instruments were validated by the researcher’s supervisor and three experts in Psychological Measurement and Evaluation. The reliabilities of the instruments were tested using Cronbach alpha reliability method of internal consistency. Reliability coefficient of the items in the authoritative parenting style at 0.66; authoritarian parenting style at 0.61; permissive parenting style at 0.73; uninvolved parenting style at 0.74; parental emotional support at 0.77; and the moral behaviour at 0.65 were high enough to guarantee their use for the study. Research questions 1 to 5 were answered using simple regression while their corresponding null hypotheses were tested using t-test associated with regression. Research question 6 was answered using multiple regression while its corresponding null hypothesis was tested with Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The results of the study are that parenting styles and parental emotional support predict moral behaviours of students. Based on the findings, some recommendations were made, one of which is that parents, especially mothers should be more intentional in spending time and getting involved with their children so as t enhance the development of their children’s moral behaviour. This study has established empirically that the parenting styles predict moral behaviour.