Family Adolescents

Family Adolescents

Introduction

This empirical article assignment sets to respond to various questions that are related to the selected article on the parent-adolescent relationship and the best parenting strategy to use when raising children, especially when they are in their adolescence stage.

Question One: Purpose of Study

The purpose of this study by Piko and Balazs (2012), was to critically investigate how the depressive symptomatology in adolescents is influenced by the use of both the authoritative parenting style and various family variables such as positive identification with parents and negative family interactions during parenting (Piko & Balazs, 2012). This study was critical since it enabled the researchers to determine whether there existed an association between the authoritative parenting style and the depressive symptomatology in the Hungarian adolescent students or not.

Question Two: Research Method

In the spring of 2010, Piko and Balazs (2012) carried out a study in all the primary and secondary schools that were existing in Mako and its surroundings in the effort of attaining the purpose of this study (Piko & Balazs, 2012). The researchers used self-administered questionnaires that contained various measurable items such as parental variables beyond socio-demographics and depressive symptoms to collect data from the participants.

Moreover, the researchers used SPSS to conduct statistical analysis, such as calculating the significance level of both the dependent and independent variables. They also used it to perform multiple linear regression analysis and correlation coefficients in the study to establish the existing relationship between depressive scores by gender and parental variables.

Question Three: Participants in the Study

The main participants of this study were Hungarian students in the middle (primary) and high schools located in Mako and various surrounding villages within Mako’s suburban area. After seeking consent from their parents and ensuring that their participation was voluntary, the respondents were required to fill in questionnaire questions during class time. The researchers briefly explained to the participants about the objective of the study and gave them several instructions that they were supposed to follow when filling the questionnaires (Piko & Balazs, 2012). In the questionnaires, the participants were required to provide their responses to questions related to parental variables, adolescents’ depressive symptomatology, parent-children relationships in the family setting, and socio-demographics. These items would help the researcher collect the data that they required on various issues revolving around bringing up adolescents and establish a role that the authoritative parenting style played in determining depressive symptomatology in the Hungarian adolescents.

Question Four: Results of the Study

One of the findings from the study was that there existed a negative association between adolescent mood problems and the authoritative parenting style, and this trend was increasingly common amongst the females who participated in the study. Secondly, only the responsiveness of a mother was recorded as a significant predictor among boys who participated in the survey (Piko & Balazs, 2012). Thirdly, the demandingness and responsiveness of the authoritative parenting style used by fathers played a decisive role in the depressive symptomatology amongst the girls. Moreover, an elevated depressive score for girls went hand in hand with the demandingness of the mothers.

Question Five: Take-Home Message and Benefits of the New Information Found

The take-home message in this study is that positive parenting, such as the use of an authoritative parenting style, is increasingly crucial and helps in practical adolescent problem-solving at the family level due to its ability to provide an optimal compound of both control and connectedness (Piko & Balazs, 2012). Moreover, new information indicates that prevention programs during the growth and development of children cannot be considered as always a reliable and sure way of eliminating adolescent problems. It is unreasonable to ignore the role that a parent plays in solving various moral and growth challenges encountering when children are growing up or transitioning from childhood to adulthood. Therefore, the prevention program should be centered on positive parenting as it promotes the autonomous and strong parent-adolescent relationship.