EFFECT OF PARENTING DIMENSIONS, BASIC PSYCHOLOGICAL NEEDS AND ATTRIBUTION STYLES ON ADOLESCENTS: PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL BEING AS AN OUTCOME

Abstract

Positive aspects of human functioning have increased as there is paradigm shift and emergence of positive psychology highlighted the concept of fully functioning of individuals. The changing process of adolescence highlights the human potentials, growth and a positive outlook toward life. From the very origins of psychology, adolescence has been considered a difficult stage in the process of development into adulthood; they are gradually changing mentally, physically, and psychologically (Santrock, 2004). They are learning more about the ‘real world’ and trying to strive for both independence from parents and inclusion in social groups (Santrock & Yussen, 2012). The present study was designed based on theoretical perspectives namely Self-Determination Theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 2000) in determining the psychological wellbeing among adolescents. The main objective was to determine the relationship between parenting dimensions, basic psychological needs, attribution styles, and psychological well-being among adolescent. The study also aimed to test a proposed model of relationships through AMOS. Further, the roles of demographic variables were also probed. For this purpose Perceived Parenting Dimensions Questionnaire and Attribution Style Questionnaire (PPDQ & ASQ) indigenously developed questionnaire in the present study, Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction in General (BPNSG; Deci & Ryan, 2000; Gagne, 2003) and Psychological Well-Being Scale (PWBS; Ansari, 2010) were used to measure the constructs. The research was carried out in two parts. The part 1 was further divided into different phases to achieve the objectives of the study. Part I of the present research is comprised of five phases. Phase I comprised of the exploration of the different parenting practices indigenously. Further on the identified parenting practices the instrument was developed to assess the different parenting practices in the form of dimensions which were perceived by the adolescence and its construct validity is established through exploratory factor analysis. Phase II comprised on the development of the attribution styles adopted by the adolescence and its construct validity is established through exploratory factor analysis. Phase III comprised of the translation and adaptation of the basis psychological needs scale in general in Urdu language. Phase IV dealt with the structural validity of the instruments (Perceived Parenting Dimension Questionnaire, Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction Scale in General and Attribution Style Questionnaire) used in the present research. And Phase ix V comprised of establishing the psychometric properties of the research instruments along with the preliminary analysis of the data to check the trends of the relationship among study variables. The instruments finalized in Part I were administered on two independent samples 300 (for EFA) and 309 (for CFA) comprised boys and girls of age ranged from 13-19 years from different educational institutions of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Part II was the main study and dealt with the hypotheses testing and model testing. The aim was to find out the predictive relationship between parenting dimensions, basic psychological needs, attribution styles and psychological wellbeing. The multiple regression analysis suggested significant prediction of parenting dimension, basic psychological needs and attribution styles; and psychological well being as an outcome product. The findings showed significant moderation of optimistic attribution style in relationship of parenting dimensions with psychological well-being. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was executed through Analysis of Moment Structure (AMOS) 21. The significant findings appeared in predictive paths among variables and proposed paths were found significant. Implications of present study are discussed under theoretical framework for future research directions.