Predictive value of parenting styles on the academic achievement of adolescent students in Edo State, Nigeria.

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between parenting styles and the academic achievement level of secondary school students in Benin City. A correlational research design was adopted in this study. Multistage random sampling procedure was used to obtain the sample of two hundred and thirty eight (238) respondents from the secondary schools in the three Local Government Areas of Benin City, Edo State. Parenting style scale (PSS) developed by Paulson (1996) was adopted to obtain the data for the study. The academic grades in Mathematics and English Language were obtained from the examination and records section of the Ministry of Education. The findings revealed that authoritative parenting significantly predict the academic achievement of students in English Language. When all the variables were analyzed together, authoritative parenting was shown to significantly predict the students’ academic achievement in English Language than the other variables. Based in the findings, it was recommended that school counsellors should give adequate attention to family counselling. This will create the awareness among parents and children of the effect of the different parenting styles on the academic achievement of the students (children). This will assist parents to adjust to a more proactive parenting method that will enhance children academic achievement.