Influence of Parenting Styles on the Academic Performance of Secondary School Students in Ethiope East Local Government Area Delta State

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International Journal of Educational Technology and Learning
ISSN: 2523-0581
Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 54-58, 2018
DOI: 10.20448/2003.22.54.58
Influence of Parenting Styles on the Academic Performance of Secondary School Students in
Ethiope East Local Government Area Delta State
Rev FR DR Jude J. Obiunu1
1Department of Guidance and Counselling Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria.
Abstract
This study investigated the influence of parenting styles on academic
performance of students in Ethiope East Local Government Area of
Delta State, Nigeria. Three research hypotheses were formulated to
guide the study. Several Literatures that are related to this study
were reviewed. One hundred and twenty (120) copies of
questionnaire were administered to one hundred and twenty (120)
sampled students from four (4) secondary schools to generate data.
Their responses were tallied and put in frequency tables and the
Pearson Product Moment Correlation Co-efficient (r) was used for
the analysis. The findings indicated the following: that there is no
significant relationship between authoritarian parenting style and
academic performance of secondary school students. Secondly, that
there is no significant relationship between permissive parenting
style and academic performance of secondary school students.
Finally, that there is a significant relationship between authoritative
parenting style and academic performance of secondary school
students. Based on the findings, it was concluded that parenting
styles have some measure of influence on the academic performance
of secondary school children. This is because parents set goals and
dictate the pace at which such children should go in most cases in the
sampled population. For further studies and necessary action, some
recommendations were made. Parents should be encouraged to use
reinforcers to motivate children towards academic excellence.
Secondly, parents should be directly involved in the educational
process of their children. Finally, children should be given some
measure of freedom to exercise their creative and learning potentials
to think for themselves and take some decisions.
Keywords:
Education,
Parenting styles
Academic performance.
Licensed:
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution
4.0 License.
Publisher:
Scientific Publishing Institute
1. Introduction
Education is the bedrock of every nation. That is why different measures are put in place to enhance the
standard of education. Though it appears that education seems to be falling in standard, some educationists
seem to put the blame on families. The reason advanced for this is that the family is the first social group the
child comes in contact with. The family is a group of people who are related by blood or kinship. In Nigeria,
there are two major types of family, namely nuclear and extended family. The nuclear family is a simple group,
usually made up of father, mother and children. The extended family is made up of father, mother, children,
grand-parents, in-laws, siblings and other relations. The dominant family type is the nuclear family.
In Nigeria, families are finding it difficult to stay connected with their children’s education, because of life
patterns and nature of social commitments. Parents are becoming isolated from their children and finding it
difficult to keep a careful watch on what needs to be done to help them succeed in school, which eventually
affects their children’s academic performance. Some families are not even managed by a parent, but by grand-
parent, guardian or some other adult. Parents are not able to monitor their children at home, not to think of
the school. Due to these changes in family life, schools are now finding it difficult to keep parents informed of
and actively engaged them in the day to day progress of their children.
Husain (2006) noted that secondary school students often come from different socio-economic background
which also affects their performance in school. Often times, students from poor and average income families

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55
have poor academic performance because of the various problems these families face causing emotional
disturbance among their children and in turn affect their studies. Parents therefore play a role in the
development and academic performance of their children. There are various styles which parents adopt in
rearing their children which might have positive or negative effect on their children’s academics.
According to Baumrind (1991) there are three types of parenting styles which include the authoritarian,
permissive and the authoritative parenting style. The authoritarian parents according to him are conservative,
conformist and norm abiding. These parents see and evaluate things they are seeing in the world as good or
bad, right or wrong. Authoritarian parents normally have children who have low self-esteem and not socially
active because of the high-handedness they train their children with. They sometimes end up raising ‘robots’
instead of children. According to Turner (2009) the authoritarian parenting style is like a system of military
regime. This is because rules and orders are not to be explained but are to be obeyed instantly and without
question. This makes the relationship between children and parents mechanical and artificial. There is no
affection and concern for the feelings of such children. The goal is to listen and obey. This could be very tough
for such children. The academic performance of children from authoritarian homes may likely be high because
they know their parents expects nothing but the best from them. It is a very common phenomenon to observe
that these children may do very well in school. Such students may have good results but end up becoming
introverted and timid.
The second parenting style is the permissive parents. The permissive parents play the role of a ‘friend’
rather than that of a ‘parent’. They believe in the autonomy of the individual and are quick to respond to their
children’s desires in an accepting and affective manner.
Baumrind (2003) is of the opinion that children from permissive homes may pose challenges for this
present generation. The reason is that they completely lack limits, have no consistent routines, no
predictability, causing the child not to adjust well in the school environment. Children of permissive parents
may perform poorly academically. The reason is that permissive parents are very lenient with their children.
They rarely monitor them as to the kind of friends they keep and what they spend their day doing. These
children have the freedom to decide their own cause of actions without reference to anyone and with the
implication of being nonchalant towards their studies. Kelly (2004) states that children of permissive parents
usually have draw backs, and grow up to be juvenile delinquents. She further stated that permissive parenting
style is usually an overly laid-back approach to parenting.
The third parenting style is the authoritative. This is also referred to as democratic parenting. The
authoritative parenting is seen as a sort of middle ground between the authoritarian parenting and permissive
parenting styles. Authoritative parents make an effort to understand their children and teach them how to
understand their own feelings, think of ways to solve problems and encourage them to be independent.
According to Turner (2009)the authoritative parents are more supportive and are involved in their children’s
performance academically. Children of authoritative parents are likely to do well in school. They tend to be
academically sound and they are goal oriented. Children of authoritative parents are so close to their parents
that if they face any difficulties with their school work, they will discuss it with their parents for a way out. It
is in the light of the above background that there is need to investigate parenting style in relation to the
academic performance of secondary school students.
From the foregoing, it is becoming obvious that a person’s upbringing has a profound influence on how
such an individual sees the world and process information. Stevenson (1998) observed that different students
view education as having different goals. This implies that the way a child is brought up and the information
that is available to such a child in the forms of values and ways of behaving can shape the disposition of such a
child towards educational outcome. Recent developments in the fields of parenting and family studies have led
to the renewed interest in the relationship between children’s school achievements and parenting style. The se
developments have heightened the need for the study on children’s school achievement.
Bowman (2005) noted that since the family is the first window of the child, parenting style and its
influence on children could greatly affect their understanding, attitude and school achievements. Bullock
(2000) shares the view that some researchers have observed unique situations where secondary school learners
from some family backgrounds attain significantly high grades than others. Accordingly, there are several
research work done on parent-child relationship and children’s school achievements and behaviours that are
required for a successful adaptation to the society and the family. Most of the studies on parenting style as an
influence on the children’s school achievement, are done in developed countries where characteristics and
experiences differ to some extent. The attempt in this paper is to examine the role of parenting style on the
academic performances of secondary school students.
1.1. Hypotheses
The following hypotheses have been formulated to guide the study.
1. There is no significant relationship between authoritarian parenting style and academic performance
of secondary school students.
2. There is no significant relationship between authoritative parenting style and academic performance
of secondary school students.

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3. There is no significant relationship between permissive parenting style and academic performance of
secondary school students.
2. Methodology
The method of study was a descriptive survey design to investigate “the influence of parenting styles on
academic performance among secondary school students. The population of the study comprises all senior
secondary two (SS2) students in secondary schools in Ethiope East Local Government Area, of Delta State,
Nigeria. The sample for this study was selected through simple random sampling technique. This was to
ensure that each of the schools were given a fair chance of being selected for the study. Four (4) secondary
schools were randomly selected and thirty (30) students from each school were also randomly selected , which
gave a total sample of one hundred and twenty(120) students.
The instrument used for the data collection was a questionnaire. which consist of two main parts. The
first part which is section A measured the demographic variables of the respondent, while section B comprises
fifteen(15) items, which were structured to elicit information on influence of parenting style on the academic
performance of secondary school students. A four-point rating scale of strongly agree (SA)-4 points, agreed(A)
3 points, disagreed (D) -2 points, and strongly disagreed(SD)-1 point was adopted to determine the
respondents degree of agreement or disagreement to the item in the questionnaire.
Data collected were analysed using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Co-efficient (r) to measure
the degree of relationship between parenting style and students academic performances in mathematics and
English language. The hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance.
2.1. Presentation of Result and Discussion of Findings
Hypothesis One
There is no significant relationship between authoritative parenting style and academic performance of
secondary school students.
Table-1. Pearson product moment correlation co efficient analysis of authoritarian parenting style and academic performances of
secondary school student.
Variable
N
X
SD
DF
r-cal
r-crit
Level of sig
Decision
Authoritarian parenting style
120
13.47
2.56
198
0.038
0.195
0.05
Not
Significant
(Accepted)
Academic performance
120
50.77
13.75
The Table 1 above showed that the r-calculated value of 0.038 was less than the r-critical value of 0.195.
Therefore, the null hypothesis was accepted. This implied that there was no significant relationship between
Authoritarian parenting style and academic performance of secondary school students.
Hypothesis Two
There is a significant relationship between authoritative parenting style and Academic Performance of
secondary school students.
Table-2. Pearson product Moment correlation coefficient Analysis of Authoritative parenting style and Academic performance of
secondary school students.
Variable
N
X
SD
DF
r-cal
r-crit
Level of sig
Decision
Authoritarian parenting style
120
12.94
2.41
198
0.212
0.195
0.05
Significant
(Rejected)
Academic performance
120
50.77
13.75
In Table 2 above, the r-calculated value of 0.212 was greater than the r-critical value of 0.195. Therefore
the null hypothesis was rejected. This showed that there was significant relationship between authoritative
parenting styles and academic performance of secondary school students.
Hypothesis Three
There is no significant relationship between permissive parenting style and academic performance of
secondary school students.
Table-3. Pearson product correlation coefficient Analysis of Permissive Parenting style and Academic Performance of secondary school
students.
Variable
N
X
SD
DF
r-cal
r-crit
Level of sig
Decision
Authoritarian parenting style
120
14.69
2.67
198
0.092
0.196
0.05
Not
Significant
(Accepted)
Academic performance
120
50.77
13.75

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The above result in Table 3, indicated that the r-calculated value of 0.092 was less than the r-critical value
of 0.196. Hence, the null hypothesis was accepted. This revealed that there was no significant relationship
between permissive parenting style and academic performance of secondary school students.
3. Discussion of Result
The first hypothesis revealed that there is no significant relationship between authoritarian parenting
style and academic performance of secondary school students. This finding is at variance with the work of
Baumrind (1989) who posited that children of authoritarian parents perform excellently well in school and top
their classes. The finding also disagrees with the finding of Tyler (2005) who noted that Authoritarian parents
provide their children with all necessary materials that will facilitate learning both at home and at school.
However, the findings of this research is in agreement with the work of Leung (1998) who observed that
children from authoritarian parents sometimes have low academic performance due to the confusions that
might have being built up in them during the long night of studying. So many reasons can be advanced for
this variance in research outcome of the same variables as indicated above. Some of the reasons may include
location, type of school, cultural settings of families, the nature of disciplinary measures put in place by
parents, etc. These have the capacity for influencing the response of children to parent’s instructions. In the
sampled population, culturally, children take instructions given very seriously. Non compliance has negative
and painful consequences for such a child. This possibly may have accounted for the correlation between the
authoritarian parenting and academic performance of secondary school children.
The second hypothesis revealed that there is a significant relationship between authoritative parenting
style and academic performance of secondary school students. This finding is in line with Maccoby and Martin
(1983) who observed that authoritative parenting style positively correlates to different developmental
outcomes of children and the most effective in relation to school achievement. This finding also agrees with
the finding of Steinberg, Dornusch, and Brown (1992) who noted that authoritative parenting is one of several
means through which parents can have positive effects on their adolescents’ academic achievement through
their direct involvement and support in school activities. This finding also corroborates the work of Turner
(2009) who posited that in authoritative parenting style, the conversation between parents and children,
positively affects the children’s academic performance. This finding also corresponds with the finding of
Abesha (2012) who noted that adolescent who are reared in authoritative environment consistently score
higher on measures of achievement. It is obvious therefore that the authoritative parenting style influences the
academic performance of secondary school students positively.
Finally, the third hypothesis revealed that there is no significant relationship between permissive
parenting style and academic performance of secondary school students. This finding is not consistent with so
many previous works on this subject matter. Notable among them is the work of Glasgow (1997) who opined
that permissive parenting is negatively associated with academic achievements as a result of parents allowing
their children to choose between work and play. Secondly, the work of Barnhart (2013) noted that children of
permissive parent usually make the lowest grades in school, due to lack of expectations that is not given to
them by their parents. Similarly also, the work of Baumrind (1966) states that parent’ non-punitive and
accepting approach toward their children’s desires does not assist the children in building an appropriate
educational foundation but harm their potential for academic success. Still more also, the finding of Moore
(2011) noted that children of permissive parent are known to be highly involved in extracurricular activities in
school, thereby, losing concentration in classes. While the above works emphasise a negative effect of
permissive parenting on educational outcome of children in such homes, the present study maintains that there
is no relationship between permissive parenting and academic achievement of students.
5. Conclusion
Based on the findings of this study and other relevant literatures that were reviewed, it is obvious that
parenting styles affect children’s academic performance differently. While it may affect some either positively
or negatively, it may not affect some at all. For this present study it was observed that authoritarian and
permissive parenting styles have influence on academic performance of students, while authoritative parenting
has a significant relationship with students academic performance. Also good reasons have been advanced for
these findings.
6. Recommendation
Based on the findings of this study, the following recommendations have been made;
1. Parents should interact more with their children and show concern for their children’s activities in
school. The point is that they should play a more active role in their academic activities.
2. Parents should know the value of reinforcement and motivation and apply those principles in a
positive way to enhance better educational outcome for their children.
3. Parents should sometimes allow their children to use their initiatives. The child should be allowed to
have an opinion in some certain matters and be guided properly by parents on taking final decisions.

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4. The educational administrators should be able to structure the curriculum to meet the needs of each
individual student to enable them perform excellently well academically.
5. Teachers should employ different teaching methods because children come from different homes,
some are withdrawn, timid others are hyperactive. This will help achieve healthy learning in
classroom situations.
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