Authoritarian Parenting and Social Anxiety: The Moderating Role of Self-esteem, Introversion and Religious Coping

Abstract

The main objective of the study was to find out the predictive relationship of authoritarian parenting, introversion, self-esteem, and religious coping on social anxiety among adolescents, who were the students in different schools and colleges of Faisalabad and Sargodha, Punjab-Pakistan. Non- random convenient sampling was used to approach the sample and it consists of six hundred participants including 50% boys and 50% girls. Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS), Self-esteem Scale, Big Five Personality Inventory-Introversion (BFPI), Parental Authority Questionnaire-Authoritarian subscale (PAQ) and Religiosity Scales for Youth were used as a research instruments. The results showed that social anxiety is significantly positively correlated with introversion authoritarian parenting and religiosity. However, the social anxiety is significantly negatively correlated with self-esteem. Multiple regression analysis showed that self-esteem and authoritarian parenting are predictors of social anxiety among boys while introversion, self-esteem and religious coping worked as a predictor of social anxiety among girls. Moderation analysis indicated that authoritarian parenting predicts social anxiety while introversion, self-esteem and religious coping played a significant role as moderators. So, it is concluded that parenting style is so important for the mental and emotional health and development of an adolescent. Likewise self-esteem, religious orientation and personality traits should be considered while addressing adolescent’s psychological wellbeing. Parenting styles related awareness programs and teachers training should be prioritizing for students, parents and general community.