Perceived parenting styles and adjustment during emerging adulthood: a cross-national perspective

The aim of the present study is to determine whether the influence of parenting style on children’s wellbeing is sustained during emerging adulthood. This is a stage in which young people, despite feeling themselves to be adults, often remain in the family home and continue to be financially depende...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Parra Jiménez, Águeda, Sánchez Queija, María Inmaculada, García Mendoza, María del Carmen, Coimbra, Susana, Oliveira, José Egídio, Díez López, Marta
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2019
Country:España
Institution:Universidad de Sevilla (US)
Repository:idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
OAI Identifier:oai:idus.us.es:11441/88538
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/11441/88538
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16152757
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:emerging adulthood
parenting
psychological wellbeing
psychological distress
Description
Summary:The aim of the present study is to determine whether the influence of parenting style on children’s wellbeing is sustained during emerging adulthood. This is a stage in which young people, despite feeling themselves to be adults, often remain in the family home and continue to be financially dependent on their parents. Moreover, since parents’ beliefs, attitudes and behaviors are constructed and interpreted within their cultural milieu, the study also aims to explore the situation in Spain (SP) and Portugal (PT). Those two Southern Europe countries are representative of what is known as the “family welfare regime”, in which the family acts as the main provider of care and security not only during childhood, but also during emerging adulthood. Thus, the present study examines, from a cross-cultural perspective, the relationship between perceived parenting styles and psychological adjustment among a sample of 1047 emerging adults from Spain and Portugal. The results reveal that the most beneficial styles during this stage are the authoritative and permissive ones, with the authoritarian style being more closely related to psychological distress. The study highlights intercultural similarities and the positive role played by more symmetrical relationships in the adjustment of emerging adults in both countries.