Gender Differences in the Associations between Perceived Parenting Styles and Juvenile Delinquency in Pakistan

The present study identified gender differences in adolescents' reports on their mothers’, fathers' parenting styles, and in the associations between perceived parenting styles and juvenile delinquency. For this purpose, five schools were randomly selected from Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. In total, 1140 students (11-17 years, 51% girls and 49% boys) with mean age of 13.4 years (SD = 1.4) filled in an amended version of the Parental Authority Questionnaire (Buri, 1991) and the Self-reported Delinquency Scale (Naqvi & Kamal, 2008). Results showed that reports on parenting styles varied by parental and adolescent gender. Authoritative parenting style was associated with lower levels of juvenile delinquency, whereas neglectful parenting was associated higher levels of delinquency. Moreover, perceived maternal parenting styles showed stronger relationships with juvenile delinquency than paternal parenting styles. Findings suggested that Baumrind’s parenting typology is applicable in developing countries like Pakistan. Therefore, it is concluded that there are more similarities than differences in results between Western countries and Pakistan.