The Relationship between Adolescent Risk-Taking and Parental Parenting Styles

Extended Abstract
 
Introduction and Objectives: Adolescence, as a critical and sensitive transitional stage in human development, is accompanied by rapid and profound biological, cognitive, psychological, and social changes that prepare the individual for assuming independent roles in adulthood. The tendency toward risky behaviors, or “risk-taking,” emerges as a relatively common developmental phenomenon during this period, encompassing a wide range of actions including physical, verbal, and relational aggression, rule-breaking, substance use, reckless driving, high-risk sexual behaviors, and delinquency. The persistence and intensification of these behaviors have serious negative consequences for the individual’s health, family, and society. At the individual level, these consequences include physical injuries, mental disorders (such as depression and anxiety), decline in academic performance, and involvement with the judicial system. At the societal level, the significant economic costs arising from healthcare, reduced productivity, and increased insecurity are considerable.
Among the multiple factors influencing the formation and persistence of risky behaviors in adolescents, the central role of the family as the first and most enduring socialization context, and parental parenting styles as a stable pattern of parent-child interaction, is noteworthy. The social necessity of this research is doubled given the alarming increase in risky behaviors among Iranian adolescents and the emergence of new forms of risk-taking, such as unsafe use of cyberspace, as well as the need to consider Iran’s specific cultural context in defining behavioral norms and family interaction patterns. The main research question is: “Can parental parenting styles, considering the moderating role of age and gender, predict the level of adolescent risk-taking?”
Methods: The present study is descriptive-correlational, aiming to investigate the relationship between parental parenting styles and adolescent risk-taking, considering the moderating role of age and gender. In this design, the relationship between predictor variables (parenting styles) and the criterion variable (risk-taking), as well as the effect of moderating variables (age and gender) on this relationship, were analyzed. The statistical population consisted of all adolescent high school students in Ahvaz city during the academic year 2024-2025. Due to the size of the population and geographical dispersion of schools, a multi-stage cluster sampling method was used. Thus, several districts were randomly selected from among the educational districts of Ahvaz. Then, from each district, several girls’ and boys’ schools were randomly selected, and finally, from each school, several classes from different grades were selected as the final clusters, and all students in those classes participated in the study. Based on Cochran’s formula and considering previous similar studies, the sample size was set at 371 male and female students. After distributing questionnaires and excluding incomplete ones, analyzable data were extracted. Two standardized questionnaires were used for data collection: the Iranian Adolescent Risk-Taking Scale (IARS) (Zadeh Mohammadi, Ahmadabadi, & Heydari, 2011) and the Baumrind Parenting Styles Questionnaire (1991) (Minaei & Nikzad, 2017), whose psychometric properties have been confirmed in domestic studies.
Results: Data collected from 370 adolescents (190 boys, 180 girls) were analyzed using SPSS version 28. Pearson correlation coefficients for the relationship between parenting styles and total risk-taking score indicated strong, significant relationships at the p < 0.01 level for all variables. There was a strong, significant negative relationship between authoritative style and total risk-taking score (r = -0.877, p < 0.01). A very strong positive relationship was observed between authoritarian style and total risk-taking score (r = 0.927, p < 0.01). The relationship between permissive style and total risk-taking score was also positive and significant, although its magnitude was weaker compared to the other two styles (r = 0.323, p < 0.01). To examine the moderating role of gender, Spearman correlation analysis was performed separately for boys and girls. Results showed that in both groups, authoritative parenting style had a strong, significant negative correlation with all aggression variables (all p < 0.01), whereas permissive and authoritarian styles showed positive correlations with these variables. Specifically, in boys, authoritarian style had a high correlation with tendency toward risky sexual behavior (ρ = 0.875), and in girls, with tendency toward risky sexual behavior (ρ = 0.881) and total aggression (ρ = 0.848). Also, total aggression score in both genders showed a strong positive correlation with tendency toward the opposite sex (boys: ρ = 0.773, girls: ρ = 0.678) and tendency toward risky sexual behavior (boys: ρ = 0.888, girls: ρ = 0.879). In the small subsample with addiction (19 boys, 18 girls), the correlation of tendency toward addiction was very high and significant in boys (ρ = 0.965) and girls (ρ = 0.844).
Discussion and Conclusion: The findings of the present study provide strong evidence for the determining role of parenting styles in shaping adolescent risky behaviors. These results not only confirm the main hypotheses of the study but also reveal more complex layers of this relationship by analyzing the moderating role of gender.
The first hypothesis of the study, positing a significant positive relationship between authoritarian style and higher levels of risk-taking, was most decisively confirmed by the data. This finding, consistent with extensive domestic (Abdollahi, Dorazi, & Heydari, 2024; Mohammadi Akbarabadi, 2019) and international (Baumrind, 1991; Masud, Ahmad, Cho, & Fakhr, 2019) research, requires analysis of potential causal mechanisms. The authoritarian style is characterized by strict control, inflexible expectations, lack of emotional warmth, and reliance on punitive methods. From the perspective of Self-Determination Theory, this style severely violates the three basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Systematic suppression of the need for autonomy may lead to feelings of helplessness, anger, and a desire to regain control through behavioral rebellion. Risky behaviors may serve as maladaptive strategies for expressing independence and coping with a perceived oppressive family environment. Furthermore, lack of emotional responsiveness may lead to reduced self-esteem and increased sensitivity to rejection (Curran, Gray, & Snowden, 2021). Adolescents with lower self-esteem may turn to risky behaviors to gain status and respect among peers (Ozdemir, Vazsonyi, & Cok, 2017). Recent neuroscientific findings also indicate that chronic stressful environments, such as authoritarian family environments, can negatively affect the development of brain regions involved in impulse control and emotion regulation, such as the prefrontal cortex and amygdala (Hatch et al., 2025).
The confirmation of the second hypothesis affirms the unequivocal protective role of authoritative parenting style. This style, defined by an optimal combination of “responsiveness” (emotional support and open communication) and “demandingness” (setting clear rules and logical monitoring), provides a secure and challenging framework for adolescent development. From the perspective of Social Learning Theory, authoritative parents serve as effective models for adolescents by demonstrating logical behavior, peaceful conflict resolution, and emotion regulation (Bandura, 1977). The balanced approach in this style simultaneously satisfies autonomy, competence, and relatedness needs. Importantly, within Iran’s cultural context, this style is adaptable and can be redefined within collectivistic values that emphasize mutual respect, family responsibility, and social norms.
Although the relationship was weaker in magnitude compared to the authoritarian style, the confirmation of the permissive parenting style hypothesis carries important theoretical implications. The permissive style, characterized by high responsiveness but low demandingness and monitoring, leaves adolescents without clear boundaries and constructive expectations. From the perspective of Self-Regulation Theory, adolescents require “scaffolding” to learn behavioral management. In the absence of this scaffolding, they may fail to develop crucial self-control skills. Insufficient monitoring exposes adolescents to peer influences, increasing conformity to risky behaviors (Li, Li, Liu, & Zhang, 2025).
The analysis of gender as a moderator revealed that although the direction of the basic relationships is the same in both genders, the patterns and intensity of these relationships can differ. The protective relationship of authoritative parenting and the risk-enhancing relationship of permissive parenting appeared stronger in girls. These differences can be explained from the perspective of gender socialization differences, methods of expressing aggression and risk-taking, and sensitivity to relationships. This moderating role suggests that family-based interventions should be gender-sensitive and focus on the specific needs of each gender, their emotional expression patterns, and the differing social pressures they face.
Overall, these findings support a complex interactive model in which parenting style, as a broad familial context, influences adolescents’ tendency toward risk-taking through key mediating psychological variables such as self-esteem, emotion regulation skills, and cognitive beliefs about self and others. These pathways are subsequently moderated by individual characteristics (gender, age, temperament) and broader environmental factors (culture, school support, peers). This research emphasizes the need to move from a monocausal perspective toward a systemic and ecological understanding of adolescent risk-taking, where the family is not the sole factor but a powerful hub within a network of interacting individual and social influences.