Sociomoral reasoning, perceptions of parenting and self-reported delinquency in adolescents

Abstract

This study considers the relationships between perceived parenting, sociomoral reasoning, and self-reported delinquency in a sample of high school adolescents. Correlational analysis revealed that moral reasoning was associated with a consistent disciplinary style. Self-reported delinquency was positively related to a number of the parenting variables but negatively correlated with moral reasoning. Separate analysis for males and females showed similar patterns for self-reported delinquency, with the exception that moral reasoning was negatively correlated with attachment and supervision among females. The most significant predictors of delinquency scores were parenting variables, with moral reasoning also playing a role for males. A factor analysis of the perceived parenting measure revealed two factors. The first factor reflected a warm, inductive and involved style of parenting with the second reflecting a parenting style characterized by physical punishment. Self-reported delinquency was negatively significantly associated with Factor 1, and positively related to Factor 2. There were also differences in the self-reported delinquency scores of the top and bottom quartiles of Factor 1 scores. These support the conclusion that a parental style that is perceived to be warm, involved and inductive is associated with lower levels of delinquency in adolescence. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.