INVESTIGATING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PARENTING STYLES AND SOCIAL ANXIETY AND MENTAL PJAEE, 18 (4) (2021)

HEALTH OF FIRST-GRADE FEMALE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

INVESTIGATING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PARENTING STYLES AND

SOCIAL ANXIETY AND MENTAL HEALTH OF FIRST-GRADE FEMALE HIGH
SCHOOL STUDENTS
Atieh Soroush
PhD in Clinical Psychology from Sanaei University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran.

Atieh Soroush: Investigating the relationship between parenting styles and social
anxiety and mental health of first-grade female high school students -- Palarch’s
Journal Of Archaeology Of Egypt/Egyptology xx(x), ISSN 1567-214x
Keywords: Parenting, Social Anxiety, Mental Health, Student

ABSTRACT
Objective: Parenting styles affect many psychological aspects, including
psychological development, social adjustment, feelings of worth, self-confidence and success
in work, and the occurrence of different behaviors in adolescents. This study aimed to
investigate the relationship between parenting styles and social anxiety and the mental health
of female high school students in x city. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study
was performed on 245 female high school students in x city in the academic year 2020-2021.
Data were collected using the Baumrind Parenting Practice Questionnaire, the Social Anxiety
Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A), and the Goldberg General Health Questionnaire (GHQ).
Analyzes were performed by SPSS software at a significance level of 0.05. Results: The
study of parenting style showed that 36.3% of parents were permissive, 48.8% authoritative
and 13.9% authoritarian. There was a statistically significant difference between students'
social anxiety in different parenting styles. Students' mental health was significantly different
in different parenting styles in terms of anxiety, depression, and overall mental health.
Conclusion: Considering the sensitivity of adolescence and the impact of psychological
problems and the formation of abusive behaviors in adolescents, it is necessary to create
awareness and education in parents to choose the appropriate parenting style.

INTRODUCTION
Examining the causes and consequences of children's behavioral
problems has shown that children's problem behaviors arise from multiple
interactions of biological, environmental, and family factors (1).
One of the effective factors in children's behavior is the parenting
style of parents. Psychologists have found that parenting styles have a
profound effect on many psychological aspects, including psychological
development, social adjustment, feelings of worth, self-confidence, and
success in work and behavioral problems in adolescence (2).
Darling and Steinberg consider parenting style as a set of attitudes,
goals, and patterns of child-rearing that form the emotional atmosphere of
the parent-child relationship and remain constant in different life situations
(3).

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Parenting style is one of the most important factors in family

education and is a relatively stable behavioral pattern and a tendency in
raising and educating children through daily activities. Parenting styles are
usually placed between two loose and overly punishing anchors, and
extremes in both directions are considered negative (4).
According to Baumrind, parenting styles include authoritarian,
permissive, and authoritative (5).
Each parenting style has different effects on children. It has been
found that permissible parenting style, more than other parenting styles,
causes the development of social and functional anxiety (6). Parenting is a
major risk factor for primary psychological pathology (7). Low levels of
sensitive parenting and increased use of extreme discipline are associated
with causes of behavioral problems (8).
Social anxiety is the main psychological problem of children and
adolescents and not only affects a person's daily communication but also
affects their mental health. Social anxiety is sometimes referred to as the
"disease of missed opportunities", defined as a common human trait that
results from a strong fear of being evaluated by others in social interactions
(3, 9). Evidence also shows that negative parenting behaviors, such as
overprotection, rejection, punishment, and less emotional warmth, are
associated with social anxiety (10, 11).
A study in Iran reported the results of the prevalence of social
anxiety in high school students and showed that there is a significant
relationship between social anxiety and gender and family (12).
The World Health Organization defines mental health as the ability
to adapt to environmental conditions, to respond appropriately to problems
and life events (13). In fact, mental health creates a state of well-being in
the individual that helps the individual to cope with social and personal
situations and social characteristics are satisfactory for him (5).
Mental health is a complex area that many factors play a role in
ensuring. One of the most important factors in providing adolescent mental
health is the interactions between family members. In the study of family
interactions, parents' relationships with each other and with children and
their parenting style and children's relationships with each other are
discussed. Each of these in turn can affect the formation of their
personality, mental health, and social behavior (14).
Children's mental health problems can have lasting effects on
adolescents' lives. Behavioral problems are the most common mental health
problem in childhood. Problems create negative consequences such as
failure in school, delinquent behaviors, difficulty communicating, mental
illness, and physical health (8).

Literature Review
Mishra and Kiran (2018) evaluated the effect of parenting style on
social anxiety in adolescents aged 13 to 18 years. The results showed that
parenting styles predict social anxiety among adolescents (15).
Rezvan and Souza (2017) investigated the effect of parenting styles
on the mental health of educated adolescents in and around Missouri. The
authors reported that parenting styles do not have a significant effect on
adolescents' mental health. Adolescents' mental health scores were higher in

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the dimensions of physical symptoms, anxiety, social dysfunction, and late

adolescent depression than in early adolescence. Overall, this study showed
that developmental stages have a significant impact on adolescents' general
health (15).
Rajab Tabar et al. (2016) examined the relationship between
parenting styles and mental health and religious attitudes in female high
school students. They showed that parenting styles have an effect on the
mental health and religious attitude of female students and authoritarian
style has a negative effect on mental health (5).
In a study on people aged 60 to 91, WU et al. reported that people
whose parents preferred positive, authoritative Parenting styles had higher
levels of mental flexibility and lower levels of depression and anxiety.
Older people whose parents' parenting style was authoritarian have higher
levels of depression and anxiety and less mental flexibility (16).
Radulescu et al. (2014) presented a study on parenting style and
anxiety in children aged 8 to 11 years. The results of their study showed
that child separation anxiety has a negative relationship with the care
received from parents. There was also a statistically significant correlation
between the child's social phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and
excessive father protection (17).
Previous studies have shown that parents' style and ideas are
important factors influencing the psychological and behavioral
development of children. Inadequate parenting style also increases the
incidence of adolescent psychological problems and negative parenting
styles such as overprotection and over-intervention increase the likelihood
of social anxiety in adolescents (18, 19).
Numerous studies show that the first signals of behavioral problems
can appear from infancy and childhood. Although these problems may be
transient for some, for others they are still persistent and indicate potential
clinical problems (20).
So far, studies have been conducted on the effect of parenting styles
on social anxiety and mental health, in most of which the effect of
parenting style on adolescent behavior and mental health has been
confirmed. On the other hand, among all the studies reviewed in Iran and
abroad, no study was found that simultaneously examined the effect of
parenting styles on students' mental health and social anxiety. Given the
importance of this issue and the existing scientific gap, the purpose of this
article was to investigate the relationship between parenting styles with
social anxiety and the mental health of female students.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Study plan and participants
This cross-sectional study was performed on female high school
students in x city in the academic year 2020-2021. Using xxx study, the
sample size was calculated to be 245. Sampling was done by cluster
random sampling. Areas of x city were selected as clusters. In the next step,
girls' schools were randomly selected. Then, in each school, several classes
were randomly selected. Data collection was done while attending schools
until the first half of October. After obtaining the necessary permits from
the General Directorate of Education of X City, the researcher attended the

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HEALTH OF FIRST-GRADE FEMALE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

classes, provided the necessary explanations to the students regarding the

completion of the questionnaires, and gave them the necessary assurance
that the information was confidential.

Data Collection tools

Three questionnaires of parenting styles, mental health, and social
anxiety were used to collect data.
Baumrind Parenting Styles Questionnaire: This questionnaire
consisted of 30 items. 10 items were related to the permissive style, 10
items were related to the authoritarian style, and 10 phrases were related to
the authoritative style. The answers were designed with a 5-point Likert
scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree with a score from zero to
four. Three separate scores were obtained from the set of questions related
to each method. The method with the highest score was considered as the
parenting method of those parents.
Using Cronbach's alpha coefficient, the reliability of this
questionnaire in the study of Doudman (2018) was reported 90% on a
general scale. In different styles, the permissive method was calculated as
74%, the authoritarian method as 80%, and the authoritative method as 81%
(21). In the present study, the reliabilities of the questionnaire in the
permissive, authoritarian, and authoritative styles were 78%, 92%, and
89%, respectively. To check the validity, the questionnaire was seen by 5
professors and experts and was approved.
Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A): This questionnaire
has 18 items that are intended to measure social anxiety. This scale has a
range of five options (completely similar to me to completely different from
me) that is designed with a score of 5 to 1. High scores on this scale
indicate higher social anxiety.
In a study by Ostovar et al., the reliability of this scale was reported
to be 0.88 by the retest method (22). The reliability of the Social Anxiety
Questionnaire in this study was 85%. The validity of the questionnaire was
also confirmed by the professors.
Mental Health Questionnaire: a 28-question shortened form
Goldberg General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) was used to assess mental
health. It has four subscales, and each subscale has 7 questions, which
include physical symptoms, anxiety symptoms, social functioning, and
depressive symptoms. The scoring method of this questionnaire is
determined using the Likert scale as "no, a little, much, very much" with a
score of zero to 3. The range of scores achieved is from zero to 84. The
total scores were divided into three parts: complete health, disease
threshold, and deterioration. Scores indicate general health as follows: 0-28
indicates complete health, 26-56 indicates disease threshold, score 57-84
indicates disease severity. Score division related to general health was
considered as complete health (0-7), disease threshold (7-14), and disease
exacerbation (14-21) (23). The reliability coefficient of the test through the
retest method was reported to be 91%. In this study, reliability was
calculated to be 88%. The validity was also confirmed by professors and
experts.

Statistical Analysis

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HEALTH OF FIRST-GRADE FEMALE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

Descriptive statistics of frequency and frequency percentages were

used to describe the data. In the analytical statistics section, the ANOVA
test and Bonferroni post hoc test were used. Data were analyzed using
SPSS software version 22 at a significance level of 0.05.

RESULTS
In this research, 245 female students were studied. According to the
findings, 27.35% of students were single children and the rest had one or
two siblings. 52.24% of the students were the first child of the family,
31.43% were the second child of the family and 16.33% were the third
child, and more (Table 1).

Table 1: Frequency distribution of demographic characteristics of students

participating in the study
Variable Class Frequency Percent
Single child 67 27.35
1 93 37.96
Number of siblings
2 50 20.40
More than 2 35 14.29
First 128 52.24
Sibling position Second 77 31.43
Third and more 40 16.33

The study of parenting style showed that the parenting style of

36.3% of parents are permissive, 48.8% authoritative, and 13.9%
authoritarian (Table 2).

Table 2: Frequency distribution of parenting style

Parenting styles Frequency Percent
Permissive 89 36.3
Authoritative method 122 49.8
Authoritarian style 34 13.9

The study of the relationship between parenting styles and social

anxiety using analysis of variance showed a statistically significant
difference between students' social anxiety in different parenting styles (p-
value <0.001). The mean of students' social anxiety was the highest in the
authoritarian method and the lowest in the permissive method (Table 3). A
pairwise comparison of social anxiety in different parenting styles using the
Bonferroni post hoc test showed a statistically significant difference (Table
4).

Table 3: Investigating the relationship between parenting styles and social

anxiety
Parenting styles Mean SD p-value
Permissive 2.91 0.63
Authoritative method 3.21 0.89 <0.001
Authoritarian style 3.76 1.03

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Table 4: Pairwise comparison of social anxiety in parenting styles

Parenting styles p-value
Authoritarian style Permissive <0.001
Authoritarian style Authoritative method 0.002
Authoritative method Permissive 0.034

The relationship between parenting styles and mental health using

analysis of variance shows a statistically significant difference between
students' mental health in different parenting styles in terms of anxiety (p-
value <0.05), depression, and overall mental health (p-value < 0.001).
However, no significant differences were observed in the mental health of
students in different parenting styles in the dimensions of physical
symptoms and dysfunction (p-value> 0.05) (Table 5). Pairwise comparison
of anxiety, depression, and mental health in authoritarian, permissive,
authoritarian, and authoritative methods using Bonferroni post hoc test
showed a statistically significant difference (Table 6).

Table 5: Investigating the relationship between parenting styles and mental

health and its dimensions
Mental health Parenting styles Mean SD p-value
permissive 5.84 3.02
Physical symptoms
Authoritative method 6.61 2.69 0.145
Authoritarian style 6.60 3.46
permissive 5.18 3.29
Anxiety
Authoritative method 5.47 3.30 0.003
Authoritarian style 7.40 3.18
permissive 5.25 2.73
Dysfunction
Authoritative method 5.23 2.40 0.916
Authoritarian style 5.43 1.70
permissive 3.94 2.51
Depression
Authoritative method 4.64 2.56 <0.001
Authoritarian style 6.45 3.13
permissive 20.23 5.43
Overall mental
Authoritative method 21.98 5.44 <0.001
health
Authoritarian style 25.88 6.39

Table 6: Pairwise comparison of social anxiety in parenting styles

Mental health Parenting styles p-value
Authoritarian style permissive 0.003
Anxiety
Authoritarian style Authoritative method 0.008
Authoritarian style permissive 0.099
Authoritarian style permissive 0.001>
Depression
Authoritarian style Authoritative method 0.002
Authoritarian style permissive 0.173
Authoritarian style permissive 0.001>
Overall mental
Authoritarian style Authoritative method 0.001
health
Authoritarian style permissive 0.077

DISCUSSION
This study aimed to investigate the relationship between parenting
styles and social anxiety and the mental health of female high school
students in x city.

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HEALTH OF FIRST-GRADE FEMALE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

One of the important findings of this study is the existence of a

significant relationship between parenting styles and students' social
anxiety. This finding is consistent with the study of Farrokhjasteh and
Alhayari (24) Mishra and Kiran (15), Wu et al. (16), and Radulescu et al.
(17).
Social anxiety was more prevalent in the authoritarian parenting
style than in other methods. Excessive parental control reduces a child's
ability to explore and learn new skills independently, so it is likely to
increase anxiety in perceived fear situations. Similarly, parental exclusion
creates insecurity that potentially leads to psychological pathology. Thus,
excessive parental rejection and control may be positively associated with
anxiety disorders (25). In contrast, those parents who use a high level of
affection, acceptance, and control in their behavior, reason logically for
their limitations and rules, do not use violence and emphasize child
encouragement, raise children who have high social competence,
psychological adjustment, a sense of self-worth, strong self-confidence,
self-regulation and a sense of cooperation (24).
The study of the relationship between parenting styles and mental
health showed a statistically significant difference between students' total
mental health, anxiety, and depression in different parenting styles. Rezvan
and Souza (2017) reported that parenting styles do not have a significant
effect on adolescents' mental health (15). However, Rajab Tabar et al.
showed that parenting styles have an effect on the mental health of female
students and authoritarian style has a negative effect on mental health (5).
Authoritative style, which includes warmth and responsiveness, has
positive results, and fewer behavioral problems and less psychological
symptoms can be observed in the children of these parents (16).
As in studies in other countries and societies, the results of this
study showed that warm, supportive, and loving parents ensure the mental
health of their children. Authoritarian style is considered as inflexible,
controlling, and demanding methods. Parents are unbearable, aggressive,
discipline their children, and stick to their opinions. This group of parents
does not give their children the right to choose and rather command and
forbid them (26).
The results of a study that examined the effect of the components of
parents' educational attitude on the dimensions of mental and social health
of adolescents showed that the less negative schemas parents use in their
parenting style, the stronger their children's self-concept and self-efficacy,
as well as the stronger their psychological and social adjustment (27).
This study had some limitations. Questionnaires were completed by
students as self-report, which can lead to exaggeration or deviation in the
answers. Some students who live with a stepfather or stepmother or whose
parents are divorced may feel negative about their parents.

CONCLUSION
Mental health is one of the most important parameters in
maintaining health, which according to the results of the present study, is
influenced by parenting styles. Therefore, parents need to understand the
importance of using positive parenting styles, because adolescence is an
important stage in life in which personal identity is formed. On the other

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HEALTH OF FIRST-GRADE FEMALE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

hand, the effect of social anxiety on delinquency and drug and smoking
abuse in adolescents has been confirmed (8, 28, 29). However, parents are
teachable and their parenting styles can be changed. Therefore, it is
suggested that a screening program in the field of social anxiety and mental
health be implemented for all students and while educating parents about
the consequences of their parenting style, provide the necessary training for
them.

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