The Mediating Role of Social Interaction Between Parenting Style and Academic Achievement Among University Students

The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of parenting styles in social interaction and academic achievements among university students, with a specific focus on the mediating role of social interaction. Additionally, the study examines the impact of demographic variables such as gender on these relationships. A sample of 250 students (156 females and 94 males) age group 19 to 30 was selected by random sampling method from Government College University Faisalabad. In study the Parenting Authority Questionnaire (PAQ) with 30 items to assess parenting styles and the Social Provisions Scale (SPS) with 24 items to measure social interactions are used to collect the data.Correlational analysis run to measure the relationship of parenting behavior, social interaction and academic achievements. Correlation analysis demonstrated significant relationships among various parenting styles, academic and social interaction scales. Authoritative parenting emerged as the most beneficial style positively influencing both social interaction and academic achievement.Authoritarian parenting, while showing some positive correlation with social interaction, did not demonstrate a significant positive impact on academic achievement. This suggests that while the structured and disciplined environment created by authoritarian parents may foster certain social skills, it might also create an environment that restricts creativity, critical thinking, and the intrinsic motivation needed for academic success. To see the mediating role of social interaction, run the regression analysis. Analysis suggests that while parenting style significantly predicts social interaction, social interaction does not appear to mediate the relationship of parenting style and academic performance. To measure out the gender differences,run independent samples t-test that analysis suggests both males and females have similar levels of social interaction skills and there is no significant difference in PAQ scores between males and females (t = 0.589, p = .498). This indicates that there are no significant effects of parenting styles on gender differences.