Explaining the Relationship between Parenting Styles, Identity Styles and Spiritual Health in Adolescents

Abstract

This research aimed to explain the structural relationship between parenting styles, identity styles and spiritual health of adolescents. The descriptive and causal correlation methods were used in this study and 628 subjects (311 females and 317 males) among high school students in Karaj, Iran were selected by multi-stage sampling method. For this purpose, the parenting style questionnaire of Baumrind, identity styles of Berzonsky (ISI-6G) and spiritual health that were designed by researchers and were used after evaluating their reliability and validity. Data were analyzed after preparation by using structural equation model. The results showed that the identity, informational and normative styles have significant and positive relation with spiritual health and have no significant relationship with avoiding identity. Authoritative style of parenting practices has a significant and positive correlation with the spiritual health and authoritative style has a significant and negative relation with spiritual health. However, easy-going method has a significant and positive correlation only with the dimensions of self-consciousness and transcendental-esoteric experiences and has a significant and negative relation with other dimensions of spiritual health. The results obtained on the relation between parenting practices and identity styles indicate that authoritative parenting practices has a positive relation with normative identity and negative relationship with avoidant identity. Also, authoritarian parenting style has a negative relation with informational and normative identity and significant and positive correlation with avoidant identity and only easy-going parenting style has a significant and negative correlation with informational identity. Also, in this research, informational and normative identity styles mediate only the relationship between authoritative parenting style and spiritual health of adolescents.