Psychopatologic symptoms in Spanish adolescents: relationship with perceived parental styles and self-esteem

The purpose of this research was to study the presence of psychopathologic symptoms in a community sample of 935 Spanish adolescents, and its relationship with perceived parental styles and the self-esteem. Numbers of males and females were 489 and 446, respectively. Age ranged from 12 to 18 years (M = 14.84, SD = 1.83). Fourteen High School centers in Murcia and Castilla-La Mancha agreed to participate in the cur rent study. Five of them were randomly selected to collected data. The results showed age-related differences in all variables (the psychopathologic symptoms, self-esteem and perceived parental styles). On the other hand, females showed less psychopathologic symptoms and better perception of parental styles than males. Significant negative correlations were found between self-esteem, psychopathology and some positive dimensions of parental style. The main predictors of adolescent's mental health were: self-esteem, age, gender, revelation and affect from father and psychological control of mother.