Parental Expectations and Behavioural Patterns among Adolescents: The Moderating Role of Family Composition

Abstract

Adolescence is a critical developmental period when parental expectations may influence young people’s behavioral development, adjustment and interactions in family and school contexts. The present study explores the relationship between perceived parental expectations and behavioral patterns of secondary stage school students, and how family composition moderates this relationship. The study was carried out on adolescents in the age group of 15-17 years studying in Class XI and XII in two private schools in DelhiNCR region. The study will use purposive sampling with group balance and a planned sample of 400 students, 200 of them being single-child adolescents and 200 adolescents from multi-child families. Data were collected using a Parental Expectations Scale measuring expectations in the domains of academic, social, behavioral, extracurricular, family responsibility, moral, digital, independence and sibling/peer, and a Behavioral Patterns Questionnaire assessing social behavior, emotional and sibling-related behavior, independence, family and social adjustment, school behavior, coping, leadership and initiative, and digital and lifestyle behavior. The analysis will include descriptive statistics, internal consistency, relation between parents’ expectations and behavioral patterns, group differences and moderating effect of family composition. The study is likely to contribute to a more contextualized knowledge of the association between parental expectations and adolescents’ behavioral functioning, and whether such association differs by family structure. The findings may have consequences for parents, educators, counsellors, and school-based initiatives promoting adaptive adolescent development.