Parenting Styles and Mental Health of Palestinian–Arab Adolescents in Israel

The relationship between three parenting styles (authoritarian, permissive, and authoritative) and the mental health of Arab adolescents was tested. It was hypothesized that parenting style toward boys would differ from that towards girls, psychological adjustment of girls would differ from that of boys, and that the authoritarian style applied within the authoritarian Arab society is not associated with poor psychological adjustment. The Parental Authority Questionnaire, Child Attitude Toward Parents, Lipsitt's Self-Concept Scale for Children, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and the Psychological State Scale were administered to 431 Arab adolescents. Sex comparison revealed that the parenting style with regard to girls tends to be more authoritative and less authoritarian than with regard to boys. Girls scored higher than boys on identity disorder, anxiety disorder, and depression scales, whereas boys scored higher than girls on the behavior disorder scale. There was no significant relationship between the authoritarian parenting style and the mental health measures. A significant positive relationship exists between the authoritative parenting style and the mental health of children. Among boys, the permissive parenting style was associated with negative attitudes towards parents, lower self-esteem and increased identity, anxiety, phobia, depressive, and conduct disorders. It seems, therefore, that the effect of parenting style is culturally and gender dependent rather than universal.