Perceived Parental Rejection and Psychological Maladjustment among Adolescents of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to measure the extent of parental acceptance-rejection and its possible relationship with psychological maladjustment among adolescents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. For this purpose, a sample comprising 321 adolescents, including 166 males and 155 females, having age range between 18 to 25 years, with M = 20.8 and SD = 3.76 was selected from four different regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, namely, Peshawar, Charsadda, Mardan, and Chitral. The data was collected by administering short forms of Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire (Adult PARQ: Father and Mother) and Adult Personality Assessment Questionnaire (Adult PAQ). Both the scales have been devised by Rohner and Khaleque (2012) and translated into
Urdu language by Riaz (2011). The Urdu versions of the scales were used in the study. In addition, a personal data form, devised by the researcher, was used to record the demographic information of the participants. According to the results, parental hostility/aggression was assessed as the predictor of hostility/aggression among adolescents. Scores on Adult PARQ and Adult PAQ revealed that parental hostility/aggression was positively correlated with hostility/aggression in adolescents. Moreover, positive correlation between parental indifference/neglect and emotional instability in adolescents was also analyzed from the data. However, no significant gender difference in perceived parental rejection was evidently found among the respondents. It is, therefore, concluded that adolescents
with perceived parental rejection may be psychologically maladjusted specifically marked by hostility/aggression and emotional instability.