Parenting styles contributes to overt aggression, but age and gender matters

Background. - Evidence from Euro-American and Eastern cultures suggest that parenting practices are linked to diverse problems, including aggression in youths. Findings from the sub-Saharan region rarely contribute to this debate.Method. - We examined the contributions of Baumrind's parenting style typology to overt aggression among Nigerian adolescents. Adolescents (n = 261) completed measures of parenting styles and overt aggression.Results. - Results revealed that males were more overtly aggressive compared to females. Parenting styles were weakly related to overt aggression in adolescents. Girls who received authoritative parenting styles were the only group noticed to have a decline in overt aggression especially as they grew older. Boys who received authoritative parenting as well as boys and girls who received both authoritarian and permissive parenting reported sustained heightened levels of overt aggression even as they grew older.Conclusion. - Parenting outcomes differ between gender and that authoritative parenting training could help reduce overt aggression among adolescent girls.(c) 2022 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.