OSRA Grant Cycle 1 Public Reports : Project Title: Parenting Style Influences on Child Academic Achievement and University Adjustment

This longitudinal study in the GCC region investigated the effects of students' perceptions of parenting styles on their academic performance and social adaptability. Employing a year-long research design, the project involved 2267 grade-twelve Omani students in two phases. The first phase revealed significant correlations between various parenting styles and academic achievement, with mother's parenting styles emerging as key predictors, explaining 8% of the variance. The second phase focused on university adjustment and found that parenting styles, particularly permissive mothers and authoritative fathers, significantly influenced academic adaptation, explaining 7.5% of the variance, while not predicting social and psychological adjustment. These findings underscore the potential for enhancing counseling services to support students with parenting-related concerns in higher grades and their initial college year, while also highlighting the role of personal and institutional factors in university experiences.