Parenting Attitudes Profiles as Perceived by Adolescents: The Influence of Parents’ Life Satisfaction and Self-Esteem and Academic Engagement and Academic Helplessness of the Adolescents Associated with the Profiles

Abstract

The study set out to identify the number of types of parental attitude profiles and their characteristics, as perceived by adolescents. The study also examined whether predictor variables (parent life satisfaction and self-esteem) influence parenting attitude profiles and whether these profiles, in turn, influence adolescent academic engagement and academic helplessness. The sample consisted of data on 2,590 adolescents and their parents from the 2018 Korean Children and Youths Panel Survey (KCYPS). The adolescents were in the first grade of middle school. Using Mplus, the author applied latent profile analysis to identify the parenting attitude profiles and predictor and outcome variables associated with these profiles. Three profiles were identified based on major features: (1) coercion-inconsistency (8.3%), (2) general (47.3%), and (3) warmth-autonomy support (44.4%). Parent life satisfaction and self-esteem predicted the classification of the profiles. Also, the parental profiles identified the level of adolescent academic engagement and academic helplessness. The findings have important implications for family policies and practices given the significance of parent psychological status, particularly life satisfaction and self-esteem, on their adolescent children’s academic engagement and academic helplessness.