The causal relationship between parenting styles attachment styles and indiscipline mediated by the emotional self-regulating mediation, social skills and Theory of Mind

Indiscipline is a multidimensional phenomenon that has undesirable effects on classroom. The purpose of this study was to investigate the causal relationship between parenting styles and attachment styles in school with mediation of emotional self-regulation, social skills and the Mind Theory in female third grade high school students of Ahwaz. Of this population‚ 440 female students were selected through multistage random sampling method. Instruments used in this study included the Baumrind's Parenting Style Questionnaire (BPSQ), the Adult Attachment Inventory (AAI), a researcher-made indiscipline inventory, the Schering Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (SEIQ), The Teenage Inventory of Social Skills (TISS) and Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET). The results of the modified model showed that the parenting styles (authoritative, authoritarian and permissive) and the attachment styles (secure, avoidant insecure and ambivalent), not only directly affect indiscipline, but also indirectly exert an effect through mediation variables of emotional self-regulation and social skills. Mind reading in the proposed model was not recognized as a mediator variable in the corrected model and could only directly effect the indiscipline. It can be concluded that the parent's knowledge of appropriate parenting style, developing emotional, social skills and guiding them in successful experiences could lead to equipping them with emotional abilities, managing emotions, and wider social relationships, and thereby, reducing their indiscipline.