PERCEIVED PARENTAL ACCEPTANCE AND EARLY ADOLESCENT SELF-COMPETENCE

Relationships between perceived parental acceptance and adolescent sel f-competence were examined in 214 sixth- and seventh-grade students by both adolescent and parental gender. Results indicated that for boys, paternal but not maternal, acceptance significantly predicted self-co mpetence, while the opposite pattern was found for girls. In addition, self-worth significantly predicted maternal and paternal acceptance f or both boys and girls. The consistency of these findings with current models of human development is discussed, along with their implicatio ns for research.