SELF-ESTEEM AND SUICIDAL IDEATION AS CO-RELATES OF PERCEIVED

AUTHORITARIAN AND AUTHORITATIVE PARENTING STYLES IN YOUNG ADULTS

 

BY 

The present research was aimed at addressing the relationship between self esteem and suicidal ideation among young adults with perceived authoritarian and authoritative parenting style. It was hypothesized that young adults with perceived Authoritarian parenting style would score high on suicidal Ideation scale and low on self esteem as compared to young adults with perceived Authoritative parenting style. Moreover, Self esteem and suicidal Ideation would be negatively co related and girls with perceived Authoritarian parenting style would score high on suicidal Ideation scale and low on self esteem as compared to boys with perceived Authoritarian parenting style.

ABSTRACT

The sampling included 400 young adults from different institutes and colleges of Karachi. Out of 200 boys, 100 boys were from authoritarian parenting style group and 100 boys were from authoritative parenting style group. Out of 200 girls, 100 girls were from authoritarian parenting style group and 100 girls were from authoritative parenting style group.

The age range of these individuals ranged from 18 to 24 years, with mean age of 21.2(SD=1.52).In order to find out the level of self esteem and Suicidal Ideation among young adults Rosenberg Self esteem Scale (RSES), Modified Scale for Suicidal ideation (MSSI) were administered. Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ) was administered to measure how young adults perceived their parenting styles.

T test and Pearson co-relation were applied for statistical analysis.

It was concluded that young adults with perceived authoritarian parenting style scored high on suicidal Ideation scale and have low on self esteem as compared to young adults with perceived authoritative parenting style. It was further concluded that self esteem and suicidal Ideation would be negatively co-related. However no significant differences were found in between girls and boys on suicidal ideation and self-esteem with perceived authoritarian parenting style.

For most young people the years from the late teens through the twenties are a time of significant change and importance. Scholars have referred to this period with such terms as “arrested Adulthood” , “youth” and “emerging adulthood” (Arnett, 2000).These emerging adults engage in heightened identity exploration and greater experimentation in the areas of work, personal relations and worldviews as they move towards adulthood. Parenting plays an important role, in emerging adulthood.

Introduction

A great deal of research have been done to evaluating parent child interactions using the parental styles developed by Baumrind (1966& 1971).

Baumrind (1971) grouped parent's behavior according to whether they were high or low on parental demandingness and responsiveness and created a typology of three parenting styles: authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive. Each of these parenting styles reflected different naturally occurring patterns of parental values, practices, and behaviors (Baumrind, 1991) and a distinct balance of responsiveness and demandingness

According to Baumrind’s perspective Authoritarian parents, were seen as highly demanding and directive, and not responsive. They are obedience- and status-oriented, and expect their orders to be obeyed without explanation“. There is evidence that suggested that authoritarian parents attempt to control their children’s behavior through the use of guilt induction, withdrawal of love, or shaming (Mayseless,2003).

However, Authoritative parents are both demanding and responsive. They monitor and impart clear standards for their children’s conduct. They are assertive, but not intrusive and restrictive.

However, Authoritative parents are both demanding and responsive. They monitor and impart clear standards for their children’s conduct. They are assertive, but not intrusive and restrictive.

One key difference between authoritarian and authoritative parenting is in the dimension of psychological control.

Psychological control refers to attempts that intrude into the psychological and emotional development by the parent (Baumrind, 1991; Milevesky, 2007)

Authoritarian and authoritative parents place high demands on their children and expect their children to behave appropriately and obey parental rules. However, authoritarian parents also expect their children to accept their values, reasons and goals without questioning.

On the other hand, authoritative parents are open to more give and take with their children; they make greater use of explanations, and listen to their children’s opinions.

One of the earliest studies in Pakistan was by Ahmed (1993) she investigated the child rearing practices in Pakistan. She found that affectionate interaction with the baby beyond routine care taking by the parents can have an adverse effect on the mental health of child and those parents who considered taking care of their babies moderately had children who developed healthy personalities. She further concluded spanking by parents affects the child positively if it is done occasionally and on appropriate occasions.

In reviewing the extensive body of self-esteem research, four fully articulated theories have been selected for present research.

Present here a brief review of these theories, followed by a discussion of how dimensions of parenting have been shown to influence young’ self-esteem and how young people’s self-esteem predicts certain psychosocial outcomes.

Relationship between Parental style and Self-Esteem

the theories made clear the importance of Parents appraisals for the development of higher self-esteem. Parents are naturally situated in a position to offer frequent appraisals of their young adult’s behaviors and attitudes. Supportive parents are able to offer their children warmth, encouragement, and inclusion into the family in-group, thus enhancing children’s levels of self-esteem.

On the other hand, parents who use psychological control to convince young adults to ignore their own developing selves and instead succumb to parents’ wishes are likely to damage the self that is being formed by the young people. By being mindful that young adults are in the process of determining the person they want to be, and also considering the importance of reflected appraisals for this task, parents can have a strong positive effect on the self that is developed by the young adults.

Regarding the implications of the self-esteem theories for young adult’s outcomes, it is Noteworthy that young people develop the self primarily through social interactions. Positive experiences with parents and peer groups are likely to lead to increased overall well-being and less likelihood of depression or dissatisfaction with the self. Alternately, negative experiences with parents could cause young people to feel inadequate in social relations, as well as feeling depressed and being more likely to engage in destructive or antisocial behaviors and suicidal behavior.

In their attempt to identify the triggers for suicidal behavior in young adults, researchers agree that the family environment is the first place to focus on.According to these studies in crises and stressful situations, young adults who came from any kind of dysfunctional families are more prone to suicidal behavior. Frequent disturbances in family functioning put young individuals at a higher risk of demonstrating such behavior.

Kopko (2007) and Maccoby (2000) suggested that the quality of parenting, both what is done (parental practices) and how it is done (parenting style), is one of the factors that determines the level of young individuals’ adjustment to the family environment. The quality of parental practices and style has a direct effect on how the young adults perceive the world around them (De Man, Leduc, Labreche-Gauthier, 1993).

Relationship between Parental behavior and Suicidal Ideation:

Suicidal young adults perceive their parents as less caring, more overprotective, and more rigid than non-suicidal young adults (Miller, King, Shain, Naylor, 1992). Kim (1999) and Sim (2000) studied the influence of parent and child bonding difficulties on the risk of young adults suicidal behavior and demonstrated that a disturbed parents and child relationship, and lack of warmth, especially maternal warmth,is associated with suicidal behavior in young individuals. Lack of closeness (Tobin, 2000), lack of parental attention and poor parental care, especially father’s care toward girls (Adam, 1997) are other aspects of disturbed relationships between parents and their suicidal young ones. Other study byBrubeck(1992) have also found that poor parental care lead to low self esteem and therefore, is highly associated with suicidal ideation.

Overall, parenting styles including affection, warmth, reasonability, fairness, and supportiveness create a healthy context for young adults to become well adjusted to significant changes and feel more secure (Steinberg, 2001).

The purpose of this study was to understand the role and influence of parenting styles on self-esteem and suicidal ideation among young adults through comparisons between authoritarian and authoritative parenting styles.

PURPOSE of the study

Despite the strength of the work and researches have done up till now in Pakistan related to young adults and parenting, important questions remain un-answer, whether or not authoritarian parenting really hinders the child from developing a strong sense of self.

In particular researches did not give explanation of why or how experiences with parents facilitate positive or negative development into child’s adulthood. For example, does effective parenting directly impact young individual characteristics, such as their sense of self, which in turn equips them to function more effectively psychologically and socially in their adulthood?

Present research was an attempt to see the correlation between authoritarian and authoritative parenting styles and their effects on young adults self esteem and suicidal ideation.

objectives

Participants: The sampling included 400 young adults from

different colleges, Institute and universities of Karachi. Out of 200 boys, 100 boys were from authoritarian parenting style group and 100 boys were from authoritative parenting style group. Out of 200 girls, 100 girls were from authoritarian parenting style and 100 girls were from authoritative parenting style.

The age range of these individuals ranged from 18 to 24 years, with mean age of 21.2(SD= 1.52).

METHOD

Rosenberg Self esteem Scale (RSES), Modified Scale for Suicidal ideation (MSSI) and Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ) were administered in group settings.

Students were approached in their class room settings. Researcher themselves explained the purpose of the study to the participants ,assured them the confidentiality of their answers and asked them to answer honestly .Each participant first completed the questions regarding personal data then completed RSES,MSSI and PAQ questionnaires.

Participants were appreciated for their cooperation and contribution in research and were given assurance the information provided would be kept confidential.

Procedure:

SUICIDIAL IDEATION: Suicidal ideation is a preoccupation with intrusive thoughts of ending one's own life.

SELF-ESTEEM: refers to global or stable sense of self worth i.e. sense of worthiness and sense of self efficacy equivalent to others, sense of having good qualities, positive attitude towards oneself and satisfaction with oneself.

YOUNG ADULTS: Individual between the Age ranges of 18-24.

AUTHORITARIAN PARENTING: Authoritarian parenting described as being cold, rigid, controlling, and punitive.

AUTHORITATIVE PARENTING: Authoritative parenting describe as being supportive and responsive.

OPERATIONAL DEFINATION OF KEY TERMS:

1.There would be significant difference in the levels of suicidal ideation among Young Adults with Perceived Authoritarian Parenting as compared to young adults with Authoritative parenting.

2.There would be significant difference in the levels of self-esteem among Young Adults with Perceived Authoritarian Parenting compared to young adults with Authoritative parenting.

3.Suicidal ideation and Self-esteem would be negatively co-related among young adults with perceived Authoritarian Parenting Style.

4.There would be significant difference between Girls and Boys in the level of suicidal ideation with perceived Authoritarian parenting style.

5.There would be significant difference between Girls and boys in the level of self-Esteem with Perceived Authoritarian Parenting style.

hypotheses

“There would be significant difference in the levels of suicidal ideation among Young Adults with Perceived Authoritarian Parenting Style as compared to Authoritative parenting style”.

The score on suicidal ideation of 200 young adults with perceived authoritarian parenting style is (Mean 1.33,SD=0.561) and score of authoritative parenting style (Mean 1.12, SD=0.386) .The t statistics t= 4.342,P<0.05 indicates that there is a significant difference in these two parenting styles. Young adults with perceived Authoritarian parenting style have high scores on Suicidal Ideation scale.

HYPOTHESIS NO 1:-

“There would be significant difference in the levels of self-esteem among Young Adults with Perceived Authoritarian Parenting Style compared to Authoritative parenting style”.

The Self-Esteem scores of 200Young Adults with perceived Authoritarian parenting is (Mean 1.67, SD =0.437) and score of 200 authoritative parenting style (Mean 1.80, SD=0.399).The t statistics t= 3-073,P<0.02 indicates that there is a significant difference in these two parenting styles. Young adults with perceived Authoritarian parenting style have low scores on self-esteem.

HYPOTHESIS NO 2:-

“Suicidal ideation and Self-esteem would be negatively co-related among young adults with perceived Authoritarian Parenting Style.”

The Pearson correlation co-efficient indicates -.670 at the level of p< 0.01 levels that suicidal ideation and self-esteem is negatively co-related among young adults with perceived Authoritarian Parenting Style.

HYPOTHESIS NO 3:-

“There would be significant difference between Girls and Boys in the level of suicidal ideation with perceived Authoritarian parenting style”.

The scores of girls with perceived Authoritarian parenting on suicidal ideation scale is (Mean 1.141, SD 0.640).Boys score with perceived of authoritarian parenting style is (Mean 1.26, Std.dev 0.463).The t statistics t= 1.870.This indicates that there is no significant difference observed in the suicidal ideation scale score of both the genders.

HYPOTHESIS NO 4:-

“There would be significant difference between Girls and boys in the level of self-Esteem with Perceived Authoritarian Parenting style”.

The scores of girls with perceived Authoritarian parenting on self-esteem is (Mean 1.65, SD= 0.478).Boys score with perceived of authoritarian parenting style is (Mean 1.68, SD= 0.469).This indicates that girls and boys with perceived Authoritarian Parenting style scores are not significantly different on the scale of self –Esteem.

HYPOTHESIS NO 5:-

The findings confirm the positive influence of authoritative parenting on young adults. This result suggests that the parent’s acceptance involvement in individual’s life leads to healthy sense of self. Young adults with high self esteem have a feeling of worthiness. They are confident and competent about their abilities. The individuals with a sense of personal worth are able to understand the nature of problem, identify obstacles to goals and devise a strategy. Therefore individual with positive perception are capable of dealing directly and effectively with various stressors of life.

Whereas young adults from authoritarian parenting because of strictness and controlling behavior they have low self esteem and have feelings of unworthiness and inadequacy they have pessimistic views of about themselves. They are uncertain about their decisions and actions when they encounter the stressors. Their negative view about themselves leads to suicidal behavior.

Conclusion

This research is an important contribution to parenting studies because it shows that the association of authoritarian parenting associated with negative outcomes throughout development and authoritative parenting associated with positive developmental outcomes. However, further examination of the meaning of parenting styles and their association with different outcomes of the young adults is warranted in order to increase knowledge of the link between parenting and young adults adjustment in Pakistan.

The finding suggests potential pathways for developing effective intervention strategies for parents to improve their parenting style. Clinical Psychologist, mental health professionals and community mental health caretakers can play an active role in designing and conducting such programs. Programs that teach skills such as self-esteem enhancement and strategies o mobilize support are likely to benefit those young adults who are at risk for suicide.

RECOMMENDATIONS

In the light of present research work on relationship between self-esteem and suicidal ideation among young adults with perceived authoritarian and authoritative parenting style, the author suggested few recommendations for future research Program.

It is suggested that the sample of the participant may be increased in future research.

Participants may be studied with the reference to socioeconomic status and level of education.

Third parenting style Permissive style may be studied with along with Authoritative and Authoritarian parenting styles.

Educational background of the parents and then relationship may also be taken into account for future research.

Further examination of measuring of parental style through qualitative analysis may also be considered which could be associated with further outcomes of life and adjustment process in young adults.

An assessment of young adult’s perceptions regarding each parent (mother and father separate) may also take into account and analyzed in future research project.

Role of self-esteem as a meditational factor may also be studied.

Mental health problems are neither widely acknowledged nor accepted in Pakistan. There is need for effective social welfare services and training programs which focus on mental health problems and bringing awareness among general population.

The findings of this study suggests potential pathways for developing effective intervention, strategies and awareness programs for parents as above mentioned self-esteem has been associated with impaired relationship are on high risk to engage in suicidal behavior.

Implication of the study

This suggests that clinicians should therefore take into consideration the construct of self-esteem and develop effective therapeutic interventions to help improve youth’s self esteem, this may intervene the suicidal behavior.