The Impact of Parenting Styles, Academic Pressure, and Academic Dishonesty on Mental Health among Late Adolescents

The mental health of late adolescents in Pakistan is increasingly recognized as a public health concern, shaped by intersecting familial, academic, and behavioral factors. Understanding how parenting styles, academic pressure, and academic dishonesty interact to influence adolescent well-being is critical for developing targeted interventions. This study aimed to examine the relationship between parenting styles (authoritative, authoritarian, permissive) and adolescent mental health along with assessing the predictive strength of parenting styles on mental health as well as investigating the mediating role of academic pressure in the parenting style–mental health relationship coupled with examining whether academic dishonesty moderates the relationship between academic pressure and mental health. A cross-sectional quantitative design was employed. Data were collected from 200 late adolescents (attending schools and colleges in district Karak, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Pakistan. Standardized instruments included the Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ), Mental Health Inventory (MHI-38), Academic Stress Scale (ASS), and Academic Dishonesty Scale (ADS). Statistical analyses comprised descriptive statistics, PROCESS macro mediation and moderation analyses Maternal authoritarian and permissive parenting styles showed significant positive correlations with mental health. However, no parenting style significantly predicted mental health in regression analysis. Academic dishonesty did not significantly moderate the relationship between academic pressure and mental health. Academic pressure significantly mediated the relationship between paternal parenting style and mental health (but did not significantly mediate the maternal parenting style–mental health relationship. Findings highlight the primacy of maternal parenting styles in influencing adolescent academic stress and the indirect pathway through which paternal parenting affects psychological well-being. Culturally tailored interventions promoting balanced parenting practices and academic stress management are recommended to support adolescent mental health in Pakistan.