The Influence of Perceived Parental Bonding on the Self- Concept of Adolescents

Adolescence is a transformational stage of moving from childhood where they are dependent over parents to a stage of adulthood where they are independent on their own. Many adjustment problems may arise if this developmental task is not completed says the study by Ryan and Lynch (1989). India is now a transforming society where the numbers of nuclear families have risen and the deep rooted values and traditions are changing (Overgaard, 2010). Hence the current study aimed to study the influence of parental bonding on the self- concept of adolescents. The study was focused on two main domains of parental bonding- perceived parental care and perceived parental over- protectiveness and total scores of self- concepts. 479 adolescents- 202 boys and 275 girls, ages 16- 17 years, living with both their parents from Coimbatore, Tamilnadu were chosen for the study through purposive sampling. They were administered two self- report questionnaires- parental bonding inventory and self- concept questionnaire. Regression analysis was done to find out how perceived parental bonding predicts self- concept of adolescents. The results showed that perceived parental care is a significant predictor of self- concept.