Perceived parenting styles and bonding among adolescents with mental illness: Okasha Institute of Psychiatry experience

Abstract

Worldwide, at least 10% of adolescents have a documented mental illness, which is a leading source of morbidity, mortality, and functional impairment. Among individuals aged between 10 and 24 years, psychiatric disorders account for 45% of all years lived with disability. Parenting discipline styles are fundamental in shaping adolescents’ emotional integrity, cognitive capabilities, and behavioral patterns. To compare parenting styles and parental bonding dimensions in adolescents with different psychiatric disorders versus a group of healthy adolescents matched for age and sex. A case–control study conducted at Okasha Institute of Psychiatry, Ain Shams University Hospitals, involved 50 participants of adolescents diagnosed with variable psychiatric disorders and 50 matched healthy controls. Authoritarian parenting style was evident in mentally ill adolescents, while authoritative parenting style was prevalent in healthy controls. In terms of parental bonding, mentally ill adolescents experienced a low level of care and a high level of overprotection from both parents. The results of the study demonstrated that parenting styles may serve as predictors and predisposing factors for psychiatric disorders in adolescents. Adolescents with psychiatric disorders perceived both parents as more authoritarian, less authoritative. They also received a low level of care and a high level of overprotection from both parents.