The Relationship between Parenting Styles and Primary School Student's Physical and Relational Aggression

This research was undertaken to study the relationship between parenting styles and primary school students’ physical and relational aggression. The statistical population of the study comprised all primary school students of four educational zones in Shiraz. The sample consisted of 410 students (268 girls and 142 boys) who were selected through multi-stage cluster sampling method. The instrumentation comprised overt and relational aggression questionnaire as well as Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire (PSDQ). Cronbach's Alpha and factor analysis were used and the given instruments had a reasonable validity and reliability. Results showed that there was a significant relationship between parenting styles and physical as well as relational aggression. In addition, the results of simultaneous multiple regression indicated that authoritative parenting style was a meaningful and negative predictor for physical and relational aggression. Furthermore, authoritarian parenting style was a positive predictor for relational aggression. Examining gender differences also showed that there was no meaningful difference between boys and girls regarding physical and relational aggression (p<0.05).