Perceived Parenting Styles and Their Relation to Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction, Mental Health and Flourishing in a Sample of Lebanese College Youth

Objectives: The current study aimed to evaluate the factor structure of the Arabic version of the Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ) and the relationship of parenting styles to needs satisfaction, negative mental health, and positive mental health. Method: A total of 293 university students (48.1% female) completed Arabic versions of the PAQ, the Basic Needs Satisfaction in General Scale, the Psychological State Scale and the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form Scale. The factor structure of the Arabic PAQ and its relation to the demographic factors of age and gender and the three outcome measures were examined. Results: Three empirically derived and internally consistent factors corresponding to the three parenting styles of authoritative (α=.86), authoritarian (α=.85) and permissive (α=.76) parenting were obtained. Forward regression analyses showed the authoritative parenting style as the better predictor of basic psychological needs (standardized β = 0.34, p .001), mental disorder (standardized β = -0.21, p .001) and positive mental health (standardized β = 0.18, p .01). Conclusion: Findings indicate that college students in Lebanon can differentiate the authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive parenting styles; that authoritative parenting contributes most to the prediction of mental health and flourishing possibly through satisfaction of the basic needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness; and that family-informed interventions may be required to reduce risk for mental disorders and enhance positive mental health in college youth in Lebanon.