ABSTRACT
Every individual strives for recognition, respect, goals attainment, self-esteem and self-actualization. One feels fulfilled if he or she attains his/her predetermined goal and objectives. On the other hand, when adolescents fail to discover and attain their vision and mission in life, they may end up as a failures as a result of identity crisis. It may results to school drop-out, low self-esteem, cultism, examination malpractice and unfulfilling dreams and anti-social behaviour such as theft, kidnapping, robbery, prostitution, and anti-cybercrime. These adverse effects of identity crisis necessitated this study which examined how Parenting styles and Self-Esteem as correlates of Identity Crisis among Adolescents in Ovia North-East Local Government Area of Edo State. Seven research questions were raised and were converted to hypotheses, tested at 0.05 level of significance to guide the study. Parenting Styles and Self-Esteem are the independent variables while sex and identity crisis are the intervening and dependent variables respectively.
Correlational survey research design was adopted for the study, while the instrument used to collect data was titled Parenting Styles and Self-Esteem Questionnaire (PSSEQ). The instrument was validated by experts and Cronbach Alpha reliability technique was used to ascertain reliability coefficient and it showed that the three (3) parenting styles: Authoritarian, authoritative and permissive parenting style are .587, .876 and .798 respectively while self-esteem and identity crisis are .886 and .787 respectively. The population for this study consisted of three thousand, six hundred (3600) SS1 &SS 2 students from all the 24 public mixed schools in Ovia North-East while three hundred and sixty (360) students were randomly drawn as sample of the study. The data collected were analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Multiple Regression Statistics and Fisher-Z.
The result of this study has shown that, Authoritarian parenting style has a significant contribution to Identity Crisis on In-School adolescents, Authoritative Parenting Style has no relationship with Identity Crisis, Permissive Parenting Style has more significant contribution to Identity Crisis, there is a significant relationship between Self-Esteem and Identity Crisis, Males and females are the same in terms of the relationship between their Parenting Styles and Identity Crisis. Males and females are the same in terms of the relationship between their Self-Esteem and Identity Crisis and the two independent variables ‘parenting Styles and Self-Esteem are significant predictors of the dependent variable (Identity Crisis) among in-school adolescents in Ovia North-East local Government Area of Edo State. Based on the findings of this study, it was recommended that, other parents should adopt authoritative pattern of parenting, as it has been proven to be the most appropriate parenting style with regards to identity crisis. Parents, teachers, school counselors, caregivers and the society at large should assist and properly guide children especially adolescents on how to develop a strong self-esteem in order to raise balance, wholesome and healthy adults that would be able face the world squarely with little or no societal maladjustment.
