Parental Inconsistency Versus Parental Authoritarianism: Associations with Symptoms of Psychological Disorders

While in western countries, such as the US and Europe, authoritarian parenting is associated with negative psycho-social outcomes. Studies have indicated that this is not the case in collective/authoritarian cultures. It has been hypothesized that inconsistency in parenting style and culture contributes to these negative outcomes. In this study a scale of authoritarian parenting and parental inconsistency has been developed. This scale and other scales of authoritarian parenting, adolescent-family connectedness, and psychological disorders were administered to 72 female and 106 male 11th grade Arab students. The results show that, while no measures of authoritarian parenting were associated with psychological disorders, all the measures of parental inconsistency were so associated. The results give empirical support to theories that indicate that parental inconsistency is an important factor in psychopathology. More research that is focused on inconsistency is needed across different psychological symptoms and across cultures. Marwan Dwairy, D.Sc., is associated professor of psychology in Emek Yezreel college and Oranim college. He is a licensed expert and supervisor in three areas: educational, medical, and developmental psychology. He received his B.A. and M.A. degrees in psychology from Haifa University, and his D.Sc. from the Faculty of Medicine at the Technion in 1991. http://Web:www.marwandwairy.com.