Parental Styles and Hostility as Predictors of Suicidal Ideation among University Undergraduates

Abstract

The study investigated the relationship between parenting styles, hostility and suicidal ideation among university undergraduates. Purposive sampling method was utilized in the selection of two hundred (200) undergraduates from four different departments; they included 140 female and 60 males. Their age ranged from 18 to 25 years with mean age of 22.50 years and standard deviation of 3.50. Three instruments, namely: Scale for Suicidal Ideation, the Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ) and Buss-Perry Aggression  Questionnaire (BPAQ) were used for data collection. Correlational design was used as the design for the study, while multiple regression analysis was adopted as statistical tools for analysis. The result revealed a positive and significant correlation between authoritarian parenting style and suicidal ideation at F (1,198) = 23.34, p<.001). However, no significant relationship was observed between permissive parenting style and suicidal ideation at F-value of 0.89, p = .067. Furthermore, a significant relationship was
observed between hostility and suicidal ideation at F (1,198) = 15.96, p<.001). Based on the finding, the researcher recommended among others, that child and developmental psychologists should create programs that educate parents on best practices to nurture their children with warmth and control.