The Relation between Self-esteem, Parenting Style and Social Anxiety in Girls

Key findings from this study

• The study found that authoritative parenting style predicted social anxiety in adolescent girls, contrary to some developmental theories emphasizing its benefits.
• The researchers report that lower self-esteem predicted higher social anxiety, though the zero-order correlation failed to reach statistical significance.
• The authors report that permissive parenting negatively correlated with social anxiety, suggesting reduced parental pressure may lower anxiety symptoms.

Overview

The study examined associations among self-esteem, parenting style, and social anxiety in 100 female students from multiple schools. Researchers administered the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale, Parental Authority Questionnaire, and Rosenberg's Self Esteem Scale alongside demographic information. The analysis explored how parental approaches and self-regard relate to social anxiety symptoms in adolescent girls.

Methods and approach

The researchers recruited 100 female students across different schools. Data collection employed three standardized instruments: the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale, the Parental Authority Questionnaire, and Rosenberg's Self Esteem Scale. A demographic sheet accompanied these assessments. Correlational and predictive analyses examined relationships between the variables.

Results

Social anxiety and self-esteem showed negative correlation, though the relationship lacked statistical significance. Lower self-esteem predicted elevated social anxiety. Authoritative parenting style predicted increased social anxiety in girls. Permissive parenting demonstrated negative correlation with social anxiety. Both pessimistic and authoritative parenting styles emerged as significant predictors of social anxiety among the adolescent sample.

Implications

The findings suggest parenting style operates as a meaningful factor in social anxiety development during adolescence. Authoritative approaches, despite theoretical associations with positive outcomes in some contexts, correlated with heightened social anxiety in this female sample. This pattern may reflect differential effects of parental control and structure on girls' anxiety responses, warranting further investigation into how gendered socialization intersects with parenting dimensions.

Therapeutic interventions addressing social anxiety in adolescent girls may benefit from family-level assessment and modification of parenting practices. Permissive approaches showed protective associations, suggesting reduced parental pressure or monitoring may reduce anxiety symptoms. However, the non-significant self-esteem correlation indicates social anxiety etiology involves factors beyond self-regard alone.

Future research should employ larger samples and longitudinal designs to establish temporal ordering and causality. Examination of moderating variables such as cultural context, socioeconomic status, and peer relationships would clarify mechanisms linking parenting style to anxiety outcomes. Distinguishing between dimensions of authoritative parenting (warmth versus control) may reveal more specific pathways to social anxiety in adolescent populations.

Scope and limitations

This summary is based on the study abstract and available metadata. It does not include a full analysis of the complete paper, supplementary materials, or underlying datasets unless explicitly stated. Findings should be interpreted in the context of the original publication.