Parenting and self-control: A three-level meta-analysis

Self-control is a crucial psychological function and plays a significant role in positive youth development. While numerous self-control challenges occur during adolescence, some adolescents better control themselves than others. Parenting is considered a critical factordistinguishing adolescents with good and poor self-control, but existing findings are inconsistent. The meta-analysis summarized the overall relationship between parenting and self-control among adolescents aged 10 to 22. One hundred and ninety-one articles reporting 1,540 effect sizes (N=164,459) were included in the analysis. The results showed that parenting is associated with adolescents’ self-control both concurrently (r=.204, p<.001) and longitudinally (r=.157, p<.001). Longitudinal studies also revealed that adolescents’ self-control influences subsequent parenting (r=.155, p<.001). Moderator analyses showed that the effect sizes were largely invariant across cultures, ethnicities, age of adolescents, and parent and youth gender. Our results point to the importance of parenting in individual differences in adolescent self-control and vice versa.