Relation between parenting style and confident decision-making in a student population

Several psychosocial variables are conceptually and empirically related to parenting styles. Parenting styles differ in the amount of care and protection given, and are associated with markedly different outcomes in children. While substantial research has been done on the effects of parenting styles on global self-esteem and self-efficacy, surprisingly little is known on how they may relate to decision-confidence in a task. This study examined the possible relation between students’ decision-confidence and the parenting style of their primary caregiver. Participants (N = 246) played a Trust Game and rated their confidence in the choices they made during the game. We found that participants’ confidence in their decisions was not significantly associated with the perceived parenting style of their caregiver. However, decision-confidence was positively correlated with self-efficacy to a small degree. Exploratory analyses indicated that the perceived level of care expressed by the primary caregiver was positively correlated with participants’ self-reported self-efficacy and self-esteem and negatively correlated with depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms; number of adverse childhood experiences; and attachment anxiety and avoidance; while correlations with the perceived level of overprotection showed the opposite pattern. Our results are a step towards understanding the potential effects of parenting style on offspring’s decision-confidence in adulthood, as obtained from a behavioral task and not only a questionnaire measure, and contribute to a growing body of evidence suggesting that perceived parental behaviors have strong associations with a young adult’s mental health, perceived self-efficacy and self-esteem, and relationship attachment.