Parental Socialization Based on Warmth and Strictness Among Adolescents and Young Adults: Which Parenting Dimension is Related to Greater Adjustment?

Abstract

The present study aims to examine parental socialization and adjustment in adolescents and adult children. Participants included 610 adolescents aged 12 to 18 years ( M = 16.56; SD = 1.69) and 608 young adults aged 19 to 35 years ( M = 23.60; SD = 3.72) from Spain. Parental socialization was assessed through warmth and strictness. Child adjustment was assessed though self-esteem, emotional self-concept, nervousness, and achievement values. Correlation and regression analyses were conducted. Results from predictive models revealed that warmth and strictness were significant predictors of child adjustment, although they showed different directionality. Parental warmth was always identified as a significant predictor: the higher the parental warmth, the higher the emotional self-concept, self-esteem, and achievement, and the lower the nervousness. On the contrary, parental strictness did not predict adjustment and was even a significantly negative predictor of self-esteem and emotional self-concept. In addition and contrary to classical findings from mostly European-American samples, the present findings seem to suggest that parental strictness is unnecessary or even detrimental, while parental warmth offers a significant and beneficial contribution to adjustment. Our findings suggest that even though family is considered less important in young adulthood because parenting has ended, the years of socialization may also explain the adjustment of the adult child.