Ibadan Journal of the Social Sciences
Volume 24, No. 1, 2026
DOI: 10.36108/ijss/6202.42.0190
Perceived Parenting Styles and Age as Predictors of Distress Disclosure among In-School Secondary Students in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria
Patrick Ochege Aleje1, Adejumo Adebayo2, Temitope Oluwagbejami Olabode-Ashaolu3, Nana Hauwa Muhammad4 and Kehinde Oladimeji Ajijola5
1,3,4,5Department of Educational Psychology, Federal University of Education, Zaria, Nigeria
2 Department of Psychology, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
Abstract
One of the major mental health challenges experienced by secondary school students today is psychological distress, which is as a result of bullying. This study examined the influence of parenting styles and age on distress disclosure among secondary school students in Ibadan, Nigeria. A cross sectional survey design was used in this study and questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample size of 1,200 In-school Adolescents, but the properly filled questionnaires for analysis was 1,122 (583 male and 539 female). One thousand, two hundred students were selected through purposive sampling techniques from eight secondary schools in Ibadan metropolis Oyo State, Nigeria. Two scales were adopted in the study. The scales are Perceived Parenting Styles Scale (PPSS) and Distress Disclosure Index (DDI). Two hypotheses were developed and tested in the study. The results revealed that permissive parenting (β=0.68; t=30.94), authoritarian parenting (β=0.33; t=8.3) were significant independent predictors of distress disclosure. Authoritative parenting was not a significant predictor of distress disclosure. It was also revealed that there was no significant difference between young and old secondary school students on distress disclosure (t (1120) =-1.77; Mean=43.68; SD=10.18; Mean=44.77; SD= 8.83). It was concluded that parenting styles has significant influence on distress disclosure among in-school adolescents in Ibadan, particularly, permissive parenting style. It was recommended that parents should give the in-school adolescents some freedom to decide how to behave in school but with guides, rules and regulations. Parents practicing authoritative parenting style should try to be flexible in their approach else, it will continue to hinder distress disclosure as seen in this study. Also, for the obvious fact that both the young and the old in-school adolescents are in secondary school, parents should give them equal attention so as to encouraged distress disclosure among them.
Keywords: Distress disclosure, authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, age