Authoritarian Parenting Style and Stress as Predictors of Suicidal Ideations among University Undergraduates

Could Resilience Play a Moderating Role

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between authoritarian parenting styles and stress as predictors of suicidal ideation among university undergraduates. Purposive sampling method was utilized in the selection of two hundred (200) undergraduates from four different departments; they include 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. Four instruments, namely: Scale for Suicidal Ideation, Authoritarian Sub-Scale of Parental Authority Questionnaire, Stress Sub-Scale of Depression Anxiety and Stress, and Brief Resilience Scale were used for data collection. Correlational design was used as the design for the study, while moderated regression analysis was adopted as statistical tool for analysis. The result revealed that authoritarian parenting style positively and significantly predicted suicidal
ideation at (β=2.76, t=5.50, p<.001). Also, stress positively and significantly predicted suicidal
ideation at (β=2.64, t=5.96, p<.001). It was also found that resilience moderated the predictive relationship between authoritarian parenting style and suicidal ideation at (β=-3.71, t=-4.35, p<.001). Furthermore, resilience also moderated the relationship between stress and suicidal ideation at (β=-1.96, t=-2.52, p<.05). Based on the finding, the researchers recommended among others, that university undergraduates’ should be properly oriented on the possible stressors that they should expect to see in their journey of student hood, so as not to be taken unaware (preparedness).