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International Journal of Informative & Futuristic Research ISSN: 2347-1697
Relationship between Parental Influence
and Anxiety of Adolescents at Secondary
School Level
Paper ID IJIFR/V4/ E9/ 078 Page No. 7716-7720 Subject Area Education

Key Words Parental Influence, Anxiety, Adolescents, Secondary School Students

Research Scholar,
Rony S. Robert School of Pedagogical Sciences,
Mahatma Gandhi University Kottayam, Kerala

Abstract
Parents are the most influential persons in a child’s life and adolescence is a
period where the child gets more exposed to anxiety.The investigator here
tried to find out the relationship between Parental Influence and Anxiety
among adolescents at secondary school level through the study. The present
study was carried out on a sample of 150 adolescents from Kollam District,
Kerala, India. Normative survey method was used for the study.
Questionnaire on parental influence and anxiety check scale were the tools
used to collect data. Computation of percentages, critical ratio and
correlation ‘r’ were performed as a part of statistical data analysis of the
present study. The study revealed that there was a significant negative
relationship between the variables selected.

I. INTRODUCTION
In the present everyone complains about distorted relationships. Even then a most sort
out relationship that everyone would eagerly love to maintain is one that of parent
children relation. This knowledge gave way for the selection of parents into the study
and most tensions in family is brought about when anxiety creeps in, so anxiety was
selected as the next variable for the study.When thinking about the present we often say
that the ‘future of any country is its youngsters’. This thought helped the selection of the
area for the sample of the study that of adolescents.

II. NEED AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The generation to come will experience greater developments in the world
around us. But what will be the condition of relationship’s in the world to come? Will it
be in safer hands? These questions prompted the researcher to select this topic for

This work is published under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License 7716

Copyright©IJIFR 2017
 ISSN: 2347-1697
International Journal of Informative & Futuristic Research (IJIFR)
Volume - 4, Issue -9, May 2017
Continuous 45th Edition, Page No.: 7716-7720

research. To know about the future one must know the condition of the present.
Adolescence being a period of ‘stress and storm’ is often linked with emotional
development. Emotional development during adolescence involves establishing a
realistic and coherent sense of identity in the context of relating to others and learning to
cope with stress and manage emotions (Santrock, 2001). This also is a period of higher
order thinking, which allows them to think about the future, evaluate alternatives, and
set personal goals (Keating, 1990). This in a way increases the amount of anxiety they
are likely to encounter. During such anxious times will the childhood’s most influential
persons (parents) be considered by the adolescents?

III. OBJECTIVES
1) To find out the Parental Influence and Anxiety of adolescents at secondary school
level.
2) To find out whether the adolescents at secondary school level differ in their Parental
Influence based on a) Gender and b) Locale
3) To find out whether the adolescents at secondary school level differ in their Anxiety
based on a) Gender and b) Locale
4) To find out the relationship between Parental Influence and Anxiety of adolescents at
secondary school level.

IV. METHODOLOGY
The normative survey method was adopted for the study. The population comprised of
150 secondary school adolescents of Kollam District of Kerala in India. Stratified
random sampling technique was used for the study. The tools used were ‘Parental
Influence Scale’ and‘Anxiety Check Scale’ which were prepared and standardized by
the Investigator. Computation of percentages, critical ratio and correlation ‘r’ were
performed as a part of statistical data analysis of the present study.

V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

5.1 : Classification of Adolescents
To find out the parental influence and anxiety of adolescents at secondary school level,
the adolescents were classified based on the scores as High, Average and Low in
parental influence and High, Average and Low in anxiety as shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Classification of Adolescents
Variables Group Scores % of
Adolescents
Parental influence High M+SD=112&above 20
Average Between M+SD and M-SD=87-111 67
Low M-SD= below 87 12
Anxiety High M+SD=107&above 12
Average Between M+SD and M-SD=93-107 73
Low M-SD= below93 15

Rony S. Robert :: Relationship between Parental Influence and

Anxiety of Adolescents at Secondary School Level 7717
 ISSN: 2347-1697
International Journal of Informative & Futuristic Research (IJIFR)
Volume - 4, Issue -9, May 2017
Continuous 45th Edition, Page No.: 7716-7720

From Table 1 it is clear that only (20%) of adolescents have high parental influence,
majority of them (67%) are average in parental influenceand (12%) are low in parental
influence. When it comes to anxiety (12%) of adolescents have high anxiety, while
majority of them (73%) have average anxiety and only (15%) have low anxiety.
5.2: Comparison of Parental Influence among different Sub-groups
Table 2: Test of significance of the difference between the means of parental influence
among different sub-groups based on gender and locality of schools.
Groups Subgroups Number of Mean SD Critical
Adolescents Ratio
GENDER MALE 71 100.21 9.50 2.31*
FEMALE 79 104.85 14.27
LOCALE URBAN 41 99.71 8.59 1.79
RURAL 109 103.76 13.46
*p<0.05
The mean and standard deviation of parental influence in male adolescents are
100.21 and 9.50 and that of female adolescents are 104.85 and 14.27 respectively. The
critical ratio obtained is 2.31 which is higher than the value set for significance, i.e., 1.96
at 0.05 levels. It indicates that there is significant difference between the parental
influence of male and female adolescents.
The mean and standard deviation of parental influence in urban adolescents are
99.71 and 8.59 and that of rural adolescents are 103.76 and 13.46 respectively. The
critical ratio obtained is 1.79 which is lower than the value set for significance, i.e., 1.96
at 0.05 levels. It indicates that there is no significant difference between the parental
influence of urban and rural adolescents.
5.3: Comparison of anxiety among Sub-groups
Table 3: Test of significance of the difference between the means of anxiety among
different sub-groups based on gender and locality of schools.
Groups Subgroups Number of Mean SD Critical
Adolescents Ratio
GENDER MALE 71 101 2.90 5.10**
FEMALE 79 96.19 8.35
LOCALE URBAN 41 103 2.72 5.03**
RURAL 109 97.10 7.30
**p<0.05
The mean and standard deviation of anxiety in male adolescents are 101 and 2.90
and that of female adolescents are 96.19 and 8.35 respectively. The critical ratio
obtained is 5.10which is higher than the value set for significance, i.e., 2.58 at 0.01 and
1.96 at 0.05 levels. It indicates that there is significant difference between the anxiety of
male and female adolescents.
The mean and standard deviation of anxiety in urban adolescents are 103
and2.72 and that of rural adolescents are 97.10 and 7.30 respectively. The critical ratio
obtained is 5.03 which is higher than the value set for significance, i.e., 2.58 at 0.01
level. It indicates that there is significant difference between the anxiety of urban and

Rony S. Robert :: Relationship between Parental Influence and

Anxiety of Adolescents at Secondary School Level 7718
 ISSN: 2347-1697
International Journal of Informative & Futuristic Research (IJIFR)
Volume - 4, Issue -9, May 2017
Continuous 45th Edition, Page No.: 7716-7720

rural adolescents.To study the relationship between parental influence and anxiety of
adolescents at Secondary school level the correlation between the two was calculated
and the result thus obtained is shown in Table 4.
5.4 Relationship between parental influence and anxiety of Adolescents at
Secondary School Level
Table 4: Result of correlation between parental influence and anxiety among adolescents at
secondary school level
Variable1 Variable 2 N Correlation ‘r’
Parental Influence Anxiety 150 -.60
From table 4 it is clear thatparental influence and anxiety among adolescents are
negatively correlated as the obtained ‘r’ value is acceptable.

VI. CONCLUSION
The findings of the study reveal that there is significant negative correlation between
parental influence and anxiety among adolescents at secondary school level. It is seen
that the female adolescents have better parental influence than the male adolescents. The
study also reveals there is no significant difference between the parental influence of
urban and rural adolescents. It is seen that the anxiety of male adolescents is higher than
the female adolescent students and also that the anxiety levels of urban school
adolescents is higher than the rural school students.

VII. EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATION

The purpose of the present study was to understand the relationship between parental
influence and anxiety among adolescents secondary school level and the study did reveal
that parental influence has influence over anxiety among students. The study revealed
that there is significant negative relationship between parental influence and anxiety.
This emphasises the role of parents in reducing the anxiety of the adolescents at
secondary school level. The influence of the parents was found very high for students
with low anxiety in the study .This ensures that parents are still the best medicine for
anxiety for adolescents. So to get rid of anxiety of students’ parents should spend time
with them than running after others for help. This study and the findings related to it
may serve as a basement for further research in this area.

VIII. REFERENCES
[1] Best, J.W., & Khan, J.V. (2006). Research in education. (10th ed.) New Delhi: Prentice
Hall ofIndia.
[2] Keating, D. P. (1990). Adolescent thinking. In S. S. Feldman & G. R. Elliot (Eds.), At the
threshold: The developing adolescent. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
[3] Garret, H.E. (1981). Statistics in Psychology and Education. Bombay: Vakils, Fiffer and
[4] Simons Ltd.
[5] Santrock, J. W. (2011). Adolescence (12th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Rony S. Robert :: Relationship between Parental Influence and

Anxiety of Adolescents at Secondary School Level 7719
 ISSN: 2347-1697
International Journal of Informative & Futuristic Research (IJIFR)
Volume - 4, Issue -9, May 2017
Continuous 45th Edition, Page No.: 7716-7720

TO CITE THIS PAPER

Robert, S.R. (2017) :: “Relationship between Parental Influence and Anxiety of
Adolescents at Secondary School Level” International Journal of Informative &
Futuristic Research (ISSN: 2347-1697), Vol. (4) No. (9), May 2017, pp. 7716-7720,
Paper ID: IJIFR/V4/E9/078.
Available online through- http://www.ijifr.com/searchjournal.aspx

Rony S. Robert :: Relationship between Parental Influence and

Anxiety of Adolescents at Secondary School Level 7720