Background: Adolescence is a pivotal developmental stage often marked by elevated anxiety and engagement in risky behaviors. Parenting styles (authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive) are known to influence adolescents’ emotional resilience and behavioral outcomes. Aim and Objectives: This study examined the direct and indirect effects of perceived parenting styles on classroom anxiety and risky behavior among adolescents, with general health as a mediator and gender as a moderator. Methodology: A cross-sectional, quantitative design was employed with a sample of 1,015 adolescents (aged 13–18) from diverse socio-demographic backgrounds. Data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and PROCESS macro models 1, 3, and 4 in R, with bootstrapped confidence intervals (5,000 resamples). Results: The SEM demonstrated excellent model fit (CFI = 1.00, TLI = 1.00, RMSEA = 0.00, SRMR = 0.00). Parenting style significantly predicted classroom anxiety ( β = .16, P .05). Conclusion: A three-way interaction indicated that the effect of parenting style on risky behavior varied by gender and general health ( P = .004), revealing heightened vulnerability among females with lower health. Gender did not moderate the parenting–anxiety relationship.
Prasad et al. (Tue,) studied this question.