International Journal of Psychology, 2015

Vol. 50, No. 3, 240244, DOI: 10.1002/ijop.12111

Mediational role of parenting styles in emotional

intelligence of parents and aggression among adolescents
Syeda Shahida Batool1 and Rod Bond2
1 Department
2

of Psychology, GC University, Lahore, Pakistan

School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK

he present study was designed to examine the relationship between parents emotional intelligence and adolescents
aggression, through the mediation of parenting styles. Two hundred and twenty five undergraduate students (113 boys
& 112 girls; age 1718 years), from four universities in Pakistan, participated with their parents. The Parenting Styles and
Dimensions Questionnaire (Robinson, Mandleco, Olsen, & Hart, 1995), and the Scale of Emotional Intelligence (Batool
& Khalid, 2011) were completed by parents. The Aggression Questionnaire (Buss & Perry, 1992) was completed by
their adolescent offspring. Mediational path analysis supported our hypothesised model. Results indicate that emotional
intelligence of parents indirectly links to aggression among offspring, through parenting styles. It was concluded that
emotional intelligence training will help parents to improve their parenting styles, and it will lower the risk of aggression
in their children.
Keywords: Emotional intelligence; Parenting styles; Aggression; Adolescent.

Parenting style can have both immediate and lasting

effects on childrens social functioning in areas from
moral development to academic achievement (Bornstein
& Bornstein, 2007). However, there is scarce research
addressing sources of differential parenting styles.
Browne, Meunier, OConnor, and Jenkins (2012) proclaim that a parents personality is a significant source
of differential parenting. However, Gianesini (2011)
demonstrates that emotional intelligence (EI) provides
a basis for differential parenting; where EI is the ability
to monitor ones own and others feelings and emotions,
to discriminate among them and to use this information
to guide ones thinking and actions (Salovey & Mayer,
1990). Recent research has demonstrated that the EI of
parents plays a crucial role in the upbringing of a child,
and children of emotionally intelligent parents are better
equipped in controlling their negative emotions. Deuskar
and Bostan (2008) claim that anger control is obvious
among children of emotionally intelligent parents, and
emotionally intelligent parents affect childrens emotional growth in beneficial ways (Stern & Elias, 2007).
Hence, we assume that parents EI provides a basis
for differential parenting, as well as determining anger
control and aggression in their children.

There is controversy regarding the direct and indirect influence of parents traits on child development.
The accumulated evidence with regard to influences of
parents EI on childrens behaviour suggests that modelling parents EI (learning EI or control over emotions
by observing or imitating parents) is a powerful way of
teaching children how to be aware of and manage their
own social-emotional lives (Stern & Elias, 2007). Some
of the researchers argue that children try to understand the
emotions directly through modelling their parents (e.g.,
Raikes & Thompson, 2006). Gottman and Declaires
work (1997), on the other hand, suggests that children
initially learn lessons related to emotions from their parents (e.g., ability to control impulses) directly through the
model parents offer for handling their own feelings, but
also indirectly through the things parents say and do to
their children: parenting styles. Hence, children of emotionally intelligent parents are better equipped to control
their negative emotions.
The role of parental EI in parenting and the aggressive behaviour of a child is a neglected area; however,
the relevance of parenting styles in the development
of behavioural problems of children is an extensively explored area. A substantial body of literature

Correspondence should be addressed to Syeda Shahida Batool, Department of Psychology, GC University, 192 B1 Johar Town, Lahore 54000,
Pakistan. (E-mail: shahidaphd@yahoo.com).

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MEDIATIONAL ROLE OF PARENTING STYLES

demonstrates that parenting styles are differentially associated with childrens pro-social and antisocial behaviour
(e.g., Alink et al., 2009; Romano, Tremblay, Boulerice,
& Swisher, 2005). Negative/authoritarian parenting,
characterised by high levels of control and low levels of
responsiveness, is a possible risk factor in developing
aggression and antisocial behaviour in children, whereas
positive/authoritative parenting, where parents balance
control or demandingness and responsiveness, results in
pro-social behaviour in children and lessens aggression
(Finzi-Dottan, Bilu, & Golubchik, 2011).

Conceptualisation of the study

Most studies establish a linear relationship between parenting styles and aggression in children (e.g., Alegre,
2011; Finzi-Dottan et al., 2011; Georgiou, 2008). However, there is little supportive evidence that parents EI
determines differential parenting styles and aggression
in children (e.g., Deuskar & Bostan, 2008; Gianesini,
2011). Given this background, we constructed the following hypotheses:
H1: There will be significant relationships between parents EI and their parenting styles.
H2: There will be a significant relationship between
parents EI and aggression among their children.
H3: There will be significant relationships between parenting styles and aggression among their children.
H4: Parenting styles will mediate the relationship
between parents EI and aggression among their
children.
The first three hypotheses were constructed to execute
the requirements of mediational analysis (Baron & Kenny,
1986).

METHOD
Participants
The sample consisted of 225 undergraduate students (113
boys & 112 girls) of 1st and 2nd semester, whose age
ranged between 17 and 18 years (M age = 17.01), and their
parents from intact families (mothers M age = 48.75 years,
age range; 4460 years; fathers M age = 51.70 years, age
range: 4564 years). Convenient sampling technique was
used to recruit adolescents from different disciplines at
four public and private universities in Pakistan. Parents
were contacted and approached with the help of students
at their homes or work places. Parents vary in their education (intermediate to masters) and belonged to middle
and high socioeconomic status.
2014 International Union of Psychological Science

241

Materials and procedure

Aggression of adolescents was measured with The
Aggression Questionnaire (Buss & Perry, 1992) which
comprises 29 items answered on a 5-point Likert scale.
The questionnaire was designed to measure four dispositional dimensions of aggression: physical aggression (9
items), verbal aggression (5 items), anger (7 items) and
hostility (8 items). Cronbachs alphas were .80, .89. 72
and .57 for these sub-scales, respectively in the present
study. The validity of the scale in the Pakistani context
has been well established (Batool, 2013).
Parents completed the Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire developed by Robinson et al.
(1995), comprising 32 items answered on a 5-point
Likert scale ranging between 1 = never and 5 = always.
Three subscales to measure authoritative, authoritarian
and permissive parenting styles were used in the study.
Cronbachs alphas for the present study were .90, .79 and
.62, respectively for these subscales. The validity of the
scale in the Pakistani context has been supported (Batool,
2013).
Parents EI was measured by the Scale of Emotional
Intelligence by Batool and Khalid (2011). It is a 56-item
self-report measure. Its psychometric properties have
been verified. Respondents used 4-point Likert scales
(0 = never, 1 = sometimes, 3 = often, and 4 = always true
of me) to respond to the items. The higher score denotes
greater EI. In the present sample, the scale had good internal consistency ( = .84).
Procedure
After institutional approval, permission to translate and
use the questionnaires was taken from the authors. After
getting permission from the relevant universities, students were approached in their classes and the purpose
of the research was explained to them. Students who
showed their willingness were engaged in the study. Contact numbers of parents were gathered from students and
a time and date feasible for parents for data collection
was planned accordingly. A personal information form, EI
scale, and parenting style questionnaire were completed
by parents at their homes or work places. Initially, 300
students completed the Aggression Questionnaire, but 75
students declined because their parents refused to take
part in the study. The final sample consisted of 225 students and their parents. Participation was voluntary and
no incentive was given to the study participants.
ANALYSES AND RESULTS
Before running mediational analysis, correlations were
calculated among variables. Initial correlation analysis of
mothers and fathers scores revealed that parents scores

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BATOOL AND BOND

TABLE 1
Inter correlations among variables

Variables
1. No of siblings
2. Parents income

10

11

r = .06
p = .24

r = .04
p = .53
r = .07
p = .25

r = .02
p = .74
r = .06
p = .38
r = .64
p < .01

r = .16
p = .02
r = .06
p = .24
r = .59
p < .01
r = .65
p < .01

r = .08
p = .19
r = .03
p = .71
r = .15
p = .03
r = .42
p < .01
r = .49
p < .01

r = .09
p = .16
r = .04
p = .56
r = .82
p < .01
r = .83
p < .01
r = .85
p < .01
r = .61
p < .01

r = .06
p = .38
r = .03
p = .76
r = .55
p < .01
r = .14
p = .03
r = .11
p = .11
r = .18
p < .01
r = .26
p < .01

r = .23
p < .01
r = .15
p = .02
r = .47
p < .01
r = .45
p < .01
r = .55
p < .01
r = .01
p = .78
r = .48
p < .01
r = .56
p < .01

r = .21
p < .01
r = .16
p = .02
r = .14
p = .02
r = .05
p = .555
r = .10
p = .11
r = .12
p = .11
r = .14
p = .03
r = .24
p < .01
r = .20
p < .01

r = .05
p = .42
r = .08
p = .29
r = .28
p < .01
r = .24
p < .01
r = .13
p = .04
r = .04
p = .27
r = .19
p < .01
r = .44
p < .01
r = .31
p < .01
r = .14
p = .12

3. Physical aggression
4. Verbal aggression
5. Anger
6. Hostility
7. Total aggression
8. Authoritative parenting
9. Authoritarian parenting
10. Permissive parenting
11. Parents EI
Note. Parents EI = parents emotional intelligence.

showed significant positive correlations on the three subscales of the Parenting Style Questionnaire and Emotional
Intelligence Scale (rs = .68, .78, 71, .56; p < .01, respectively for authoritative, authoritarian, permissive parenting and EI). So the means of these highly correlated scores
of both parents were used in further analyses,
Results in Table 1 demonstrate that most of demographic variables did not significantly correlate with study
variables (viz., physical aggression, verbal aggression,
anger, hostility, authoritative parenting, authoritarian parenting and parents EI), but the number of siblings and
parents income did correlate with authoritarian and permissive parenting.

TABLE 2
Decomposition of standardised effect in path analysis

Predictors

Outcome

Direct
effects

Indirect
effects

Total
effects

Parents EI
Parents EI
Parents EI
Parents EI

Physical aggression
Verbal aggression
Anger
Hostility

.000
.000
.000
.000

.258
.234
.051
.056

.258
.234
.051
.056

(R2 = .28) is accounted for by parents EI via the mediational effect of parenting styles. All betas were significant
beyond .001 levels, except for authoritative parenting
and anger; authoritative parenting and hostility; and
authoritarian parenting and hostility.

Mediation analysis
The Baron and Kenny (1986) steps to run mediational
analysis were followed. Most of the correlations among
study variables were significant, and thereby supported
mediational analysis. Permissive parenting style was not
included in the mediational analysis; because it did not
fulfil the condition of a linear relationship with other
variables in the model (i.e., parents EI and offsprings
aggression). Structural equation modelling was used to
run mediational analysis.
The final mediational model represents the relationship
between parents EI, parenting styles and aggression.
Overall, the model provided an excellent fit to
the data. 2 = 6.86, df = 4, p = .143, CFI = .99, and
RMSEA = .057. A significant amount of variance in
physical aggression (R2 = .34) and verbal aggression

Mediation effect
The direct and indirect influences of parents EI on
aggression of their child were decomposed to see the
mediation.
Table 2 shows that the standardised direct effect of
parents EI on four dimensions of aggression is .000.
The standardised indirect (mediated) effect of parents
EI on physical aggression, verbal aggression, anger and
hostility are .258, .234, .051 and .056, respectively.
This is in addition to any direct (unmediated) effect that
parents EI has on these dimensions of aggression. We
may conclude that a full mediation exists among parents
EI and the four dimensions of aggression (viz., physical
aggression, verbal aggression, anger, and hostility) via
the mediator.
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MEDIATIONAL ROLE OF PARENTING STYLES

243

TABLE 3
Sobels test to determine significance of meditational paths
Meditational paths
1. Parents EI Authoritative parenting Physical aggression
2. Parents EI Authoritative parenting Verbal aggression
3. Parents EI Authoritative parenting Anger
4. Parents EI Authoritative parenting Hostility
5. Parents EI Authoritarian parenting Physical aggression
6. Parents EI Authoritarian parenting Verbal aggression
7. Parents EI Authoritarian parenting Anger
8. Parents EI Authoritarian parenting Hostility

t-Values

SE

p-Values

4.821**
4.254**
1.154
.171
2.951*
2.828*
3.262*
2.229*

.019
.020
.013
.015
.013
.014
.012
.012

.000
.000
.125
.865
.003
.004
.001
.025

Note. Parents EI = emotional intelligence of parents.

*p < .05. **p < .000.

Sobel (1990) test was carried out to examine whether

the indirect effect of the independent variable (IV) on the
dependent variable (DV) via the mediator is significant
overall (Table 3).
The results show that the indirect effects of IV (parents EI) on the DVs (physical aggression & verbal
aggression) of adolescents via the mediators were significantly different from zero, with the exceptions of the path
from EI to anger and hostility via authoritative parenting.
We may conclude that parenting styles are mediators in
our model, as they carry the influence of parents EI to
their childs aggression.

DISCUSSION
The mediational model in the study was evolved from
work on the study variables (parents EI, parenting style
and childrens aggression), which was formerly carried
out to examine simple linear relationships.

The results lent support to previous work, as significant linear correlations emerged among parents EI,
parenting style and childrens aggression (e.g., Alegre,
2011; Deuskar & Bostan, 2008; Gianesini, 2011). The
correlations between parents EI and adolescents physical aggression, verbal aggression and anger were significant (see Table 1). However, these correlations became
insignificant when we add a mediator (parenting style) in
mediational analysis (see Figure 1). Mediational analysis demonstrates that parents EI does not have direct link
to adolescents aggression; however, this relationship is
mediated through parenting styles. It appeared that parents EI influences parenting styles and is indirectly associated with aggression in their offspring (see Figure 1).
Parents, who have higher EI, emerge to use more authoritative parenting styles and their children show lesser
aggression; while parents, who have lower EI, appear to
use more authoritarian parenting styles and their children
show higher aggression. Therefore, we argue that parents
EI is not directly associated with their childs aggression,

Figure 1. Final meditational model representing relationship between parents EI and four dimensions of aggression (PA = physical aggression,
VA = verbal aggression, Ang = anger, Hos = hostility) in adolescents mediated by authoritative and authoritarian parenting styles.

2014 International Union of Psychological Science

244

BATOOL AND BOND

but instead parents EI determines their parenting styles

(Gianesini, 2011), and parenting styles determine aggression in children.
The findings of the study should be interpreted with
caution as it contains certain limitations. The study has
limited generalisability in the sense that the sample was
collected from one province of Pakistan, so a more representative sample from all over the country should be
selected in future studies. Parents in the present study
were educated, so we may not generalise the results to an
uneducated sample. In future studies, children of uneducated parents should also be involved. A cross-sectional
design was used, so the relationship may not be assumed
as causational and longitudinal studies are recommended.
However, despite of all the limitations, the present
study holds up the adaptive value of EI. People differ in their capacity for EI and the difference seems to
lead to differential parenting. Parents EI appeared to be
indirectly associated with aggression in their offspring
through parenting styles. Hence the results of the study do
not support the belief that parents should be harsh in training their children, because the results showed that those
parents who used authoritarian parenting styles had children who showed more aggression. So we recommend
parents to encourage and nurture childrens self-esteem,
independence, expressions of opinions and feelings via
authoritative parenting. The findings suggest that parents EI has a modest yet significant influence to be considered when conceptualising the sources of differential
parenting styles. The results have implications for family counselors to keep into consideration the parents EI
together with parenting styles while managing aggression
and other behavioural problems of children. Hence further
work is required to test the model in other cultures for the
complete understanding of meditational role of parenting
styles in relationship between parents EI and behavioural
problems of children.
Manuscript received August 2014
Revised manuscript accepted October 2014
First published online November 2014

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