Mediating Role of Self-Regulation in the Relationship Between Parenting Style and Academic Achievement in Adolescents in Plateau State

This study investigates the mediating role of self-regulation in the relationship between parenting style and academic achievement among adolescents in Plateau State, North Central Nigeria. While the direct effects of parenting style on academic performance are well documented, the mechanisms through which parenting influences achievement remain less thoroughly examined in Nigerian samples. This research employed a cross-sectional mediation design involving 460 SS1 and SS2 students from twelve schools across Jos metropolis and Barkin Ladi, along with their parents. Parenting style was assessed using the Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire, self-regulation using the Self-Regulation Scale for Adolescents, and academic achievement derived from term examination records. Structural equation modelling with bootstrapped mediation testing was applied. Results demonstrate that self-regulation fully mediates the relationship between authoritative parenting and academic achievement, while functioning as a partial mediator in the permissive parenting pathway. Authoritarian parenting exerted a direct negative effect on achievement that operated independently of self-regulation. These findings extend mediation theory to the Nigerian cultural context, where authoritative parenting does not always align neatly with Western conceptualisations. The study recommends parenting intervention programmes in Plateau State that explicitly target the development of adolescent self-regulatory competencies within culturally appropriate frameworks. Keywords: self-regulation, parenting style, academic achievement, adolescents, mediation analysis.