Parenting styles and parental overprotection in relation to basic psychological needs and positive mental health of Lebanese Youth -

Abstract

This study investigated perceived authoritarian, authoritative and permissive parenting styles and perceived parental overprotection in relation to basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness, negative mental health (depression, generalized anxiety, identity confusion and conduct problems), and positive mental health (emotional, psychological and social well-being). A total of 293 Lebanese college youth (48.1percent females) completed in a counterbalanced order the Parental Authority Questionnaire, My Memories of Upbringing Overprotection Subscale, the Basic Needs Satisfaction in General Scale, the Psychological State Scale, and the Short Form Mental Health Continuum Scale. Correlational analysis revealed that the authoritative parenting style was positively related to psychological needs satisfaction, while perceived parental overprotection and authoritarian parenting style were negatively related to psychological needs satisfaction. Permissive parenting style was not associated with psychological needs satisfaction. Furthermore, authoritative and permissive parenting styles were negatively related to perceived negative mental health, while authoritarian parenting style and perceived parental overprotection were positively correlated with perceived negative mental health. Moreover, the authoritative parenting style was positively related to perceived positive mental health, while perceived parental overprotection was negatively related to perceived positive mental health. The authoritarian and permissive parenting styles were not associated to perceived positive mental health. Multiple regression analyses further explored these associations. Results showed that authoritative parenting style was a significant predictor of basic psychological needs satisfaction, perceived negative mental health, and perceived positive mental health whereas perceived parental overprotection was a significant predictor of psychological needs satisfaction, and perceived negative mental health. Implications of thes