Communications on Applied Nonlinear Analysis ISSN: 1074-133X Vol 32 No. ICMASD (2025) 2205 https://internationalpubls.com Comparison of Adolescent-Parent Relationship among Boys & Girls in Rural & Urban Settings Shaheeda Shaban1, Hummera Azim2 1 Research scholar Institute of Home Science, university of Kashmir, Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir, India 2 Associate Professor Institute of Home Science, university of Kashmir, Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir, India Corresponding Author’s email address: shahida.shaban@yahoo.com Article History: Received: 12-12-2024 Revised: 25-01-2025 Accepted: 05-02-2025 Abstract: Much of the empirical research on parent-adolescent relationship is designed to provide a better understanding of processes that foster continuity of parental influences and that minimize the disruption of these influences. The present study advances this goal by delineating descriptive detail about alterations in key aspects of parent-child relationships across adolescence. The study was based on primary data collected directly from the sample and the secondary data was also considered. The study covered boys and girls in the age group of 12-18 years from rural and urban areas of Kashmir region. The sample for the study comprised of 600 adolescents out of which 300 were males and 300 females. To gather information on a sample of 300 male & 300 female respondents, Parent Child Relationship Scale developed by Nalini Rao (1989) was used. The results reveal that there is no significant mean difference between boys and girls on overall parent-child relationship, also no significant mean difference was found between rural and urban adolescents on overall parent-child relationship. It is concluded that majority of the adolescents (both male and female, rural & urban) share a smooth relationship with both the parents, contrary to the old view according to which as adolescents mature, they detach themselves from parents and move into the world of autonomy apart from parents. In the majority of families parent-adolescent conflict is moderate rather than severe and that every day negotiations and minor disputes are normal, serving the positive development function of promoting independence and identity. Keywords: Relationship, Adolescent, Gender, Conservative society. Communications on Applied Nonlinear Analysis ISSN: 1074-133X Vol 32 No. ICMASD (2025) 2206 https://internationalpubls.com 1. Introduction The most important property of humankind is the capacity to form and maintain relationships. These relationships are absolutely necessary for any of us to survive, learn, work, love and procreate (Luthar 2006; Masten 2014). There are many types of human relationships but the most loved and most hurting are those relationships with family, friends and loved ones. Within this inner circle of close relationships, we are attached to each other with “emotional glue” – secured with love. Of the many different relationships people form over the course of the life span, the relationship between parent and child is among the most important (Sameroff 2010; Shah et al., 2018) These relationships lay the foundation of successful pathways which in turn provide a positive foundation for lifelong learning, integration of social, effective, cognitive and emotional processes (Bornstein and Leventhal 2015; Bronfenbrenner and Morris 2006). Adolescence as a term has been taken from a Latin word name, “adolescere” that suggests growing up. Adolescence could also be deemed as the transition between one's childhood and adulthood that entails the changes which are cognitive, physical, and psychological. Adolescence is primarily deemed to start with puberty phase that infuses sexuality. In adolescence brain growth occurs dramatically and it becomes very much sensitive to environment and contextual experiences (Cicchetti and Toth 2016). Biological, cognitive, and neurological changes take place during adolescence rapidly (Crone 2016), these changes in turn have a significant impact on parent adolescent relationship (Collins 2006; Susan Branje 2016). Among the other changes that can influence parent-adolescent relationships are puberty, expanded logical reasoning, increased idealistic thought, & violated expectations, changes in schooling, peers, friendships, dating & movement towards independence (Blos, 1979; Branje, 2018). During adolescence, parent–child relationships are thought to become more equal, interdependent, and reciprocal (Laursen et al., 1998). As a term, adolescence is also said to be the conflict period that consists of emotional turmoil, parental conflict or one with other members of family, adult society alienation, disregarding adult values and reckless behavior (Laursen et al., 1998, Collins 1997). Adolescents tend to take more risks, like to get encouraged and rewarded and try to seek novel things and ideas (Yeager et al., 2015). Several investigations have shown that conflict between parents & adolescents, especially between mothers & sons, is the most stressful during the apex of pubertal growth (Steinberg 1988). Also, early maturing adolescents experience more conflict with their parents than adolescents who mature early or on time (Collins and Steinberg 2006).Tinkew et al., (2006) said to have a father with style of parenting a bit authoritarian would leverage engaging risk in substance abuse and delinquent activities amidst all adolescents. Father Child relationship's positive influence on risky behaviors is seen to be more for male as compared to females. On contrary, Shaban and Mattoo (2012) said parents fail to differ in their levels of protection nature for both male and female children. Peculiar attention has been given to the track of conflict during adolescence, considering both assumptions that parent-child conflict is more common during adolescence than during childhood and beliefs that effective management of conflict promotes a smooth transition to adult roles and responsibilities (Mastrotheodoros et al., 2020). It is important that adolescents develop healthy relationships with their parents since these entire relationships act as template that are carried forward over time to influence the construction of new https://www.tandfonline.com/reader/content/17f2d2a4f38/10.1080/10888691.2017.1398650/format/epub/EPUB/xhtml/index.xhtml#CIT0305 Communications on Applied Nonlinear Analysis ISSN: 1074-133X Vol 32 No. ICMASD (2025) 2207 https://internationalpubls.com relationships. There is ample research to prove that relationships between adolescents and their parents which are characterized by warmth, supportiveness and openness and only few conflicts are positively related to well being of adolescents. These children do much better in their life (Khaleque 2013; Weymouth et al., 2016). On the other hand adolescents having more intense conflicts with their parents tend to have problems like lower levels of self esteem, adjustment in school and well being. (Tucker et al., 2003). Consequently, much of the empirical research on parent-adolescent relationship is designed to provide a better understanding of processes that foster continuity of parental influences and that minimize the disruption of these influences. The present study advances this goal by delineating descriptive detail about alterations in key aspects of parent-child relationships across adolescence. A series of meta-analyses summarizes changes in parent-child conflict rate and affect as a function of adolescent age and pubertal maturation. The key objectives of our study include: To compare the relationship of Kashmiri adolescent boys and girls with their parents and to compare the relationship of rural and urban adolescents of Kashmir with their parents. 2. Methodology 2.1 Sample The study was based on primary data collected directly from the sample and the secondary data was also considered. The study covered boys and girls in the age group of 12-18 years from rural and urban areas of Kashmir region. The sample for the study comprised of 600 adolescents, out of which 300 were males and 300 females. Moreover, the sample was further divided as per location i.e., a sample of 300 adolescent girls and boys was collected from rural areas of Kashmir and remaining 300 from urban areas respectively. In order to select the sample for the present study the investigator visited various educational zones of four districts of Kashmir valley viz, Anantnag, Srinagar, Baramulla and Budgam. Assumptions of regional differences in parenting practices and behavior patterns of adolescents convinced the investigator to collect the sample from north, south & central Kashmir as well, hence, the districts. Purposive random sampling was used to select the sample for the present study. 2.2 Tool: In the present study, Parent Child Relationship Scale (PCRS) devised by Nalini Rao (1989) was administered on children to study the relationships of children with their parents. The tool contains 100 items. The items of the scale are grouped into 10 fairly universal dimensions of children's experience of family interaction with the two parent factor. The dimensions are: Protecting, Symbolic Punishment, Rejecting, object Punishment, Demanding, Indifferent, Symbolic Reward, Loving, Object Reward and Neglecting. Items of the scale are arranged in the same order as the dimensions and they rotate in a cycle through the scale. Each respondent score the tool for both father and mother separately. Items are common for both the parents except for three items, which are different, in the father and mother forms due to the nature of variation in the paternal and maternal relationship with children. 2.3 Statistical Techniques Used: Statistics is the heart of research, so various statistical methods are extensively used in educational research. They provide an indispensable tool for collecting, organizing, analyzing & interpreting data expressed in numerical terms. To draw any conclusion from the gathered Communications on Applied Nonlinear Analysis ISSN: 1074-133X Vol 32 No. ICMASD (2025) 2208 https://internationalpubls.com data (scores on PCR scale), data obtained was analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively with the help of various statistical tools like Mean, Standard Deviation and t- test. 3. Results and discussion 3.1 Protecting dimension Results show that there is a significant difference between boys and girls on protecting (father-form) and t-value (2.342) which exceeds the tabulation value and is significant at 0.05 level (Table 1). It was also observed that there is no significant difference between boys and girls on Mother-protecting dimension and overall-protecting dimension of parent-child relationship (Table 1). Comparison between rural and urban school students on protecting dimension of parent-child relationship is given in table 4. The results indicates that there is significant mean difference between rural and urban school students on father-protecting, mother-protecting and overall-protecting dimension of parent-child relationship and the t-values (3.334), (4.141) and (4.510) which exceeds the tabulation value and is significant at 0.01 level. 3.2 Symbolic Punishment dimension of Parent-Child Relationship The results of the table observed that there is no significant difference between boys and girls on father- symbolic punishment dimension, Mother-symbolic punishment dimension and overall-protecting dimension of parent-child relationship (Table 2).There appears insignificant mean difference between rural and urban school students on father- symbolic punishment and overall-symbolic punishment dimension of parent-child relationship (Table 5). The figures of the table 5 indicates that there is a significant mean difference between rural and urban school students on mother-symbolic punishment dimension of parent-child relationship and the t-value (2.236) which exceeds that tabulation value and is significant at 0.05 level. The mean favors rural school students showing that the rural adolescents were high on mother-symbolic punishment as compared to urban adolescents. 3.3 Loving dimension With respect to loving dimension, no significant difference between boys and girls on father-loving, Mother- loving and overall- loving dimension of parent-child relationship was observed (Table 3). Mean comparison between rural and urban school students on loving dimension of parent-child relationship indicates that there is significant mean difference between rural and urban school students on father- loving, mother-loving and overall-loving dimension of parent-child relationship and the t- values (2.518), (3.708) and (3.612) which exceeds the tabulation value and is significant at 0.01 levels(Table 6). It is further observed that mean favors rural school students, which implies that rural adolescents scored better on father-loving, mother-loving and overall-loving dimension as compared to their urban counterparts. Communications on Applied Nonlinear Analysis ISSN: 1074-133X Vol 32 No. ICMASD (2025) 2209 https://internationalpubls.com Table 1: Mean comparison between boys and girls on protecting dimension of Parent-Child Relationship Dimension Gender N Mean Std. Deviation t-value Protecting (Father-form) Boys 300 39.21 6.120 2.342 Girls 300 40.32 5.398 Protecting (Mother-form) Boys 300 41.66 5.470 0.290 Girls 300 41.79 5.507 Protecting (Overall score) Boys 300 80.87 9.774 1.616 Table 2: Mean comparison between boys and girls on Symbolic Punishment dimension of Parent-Child Relationship Dimension Gender N Mean Std. Deviation t-value Symbolic Punishment (Father-form) Boys 300 35.51 6.506 0.909 Girls 300 35.03 6.430 Symbolic Punishment (Mother-form) Boys 300 34.45 6.599 1.465 Girls 300 35.26 6.831 Symbolic Punishment (Overall score) Boys 300 69.96 11.577 0.343 Girls 300 70.29 11.535 Table 3: Mean comparison between boys and girls on loving dimension of Parent-Child Relationship Dimension Gender N Mean Std. Deviation t-value Loving (Father-form) Boys 300 39.08 7.216 1.640 Girls 300 39.98 6.245 Loving (Mother-form) Boys 300 40.80 6.006 0.264 Girls 300 40.67 6.041 Loving (Overall score) Boys 300 79.88 11.333 0.868 Girls 300 80.65 10.481 Communications on Applied Nonlinear Analysis ISSN: 1074-133X Vol 32 No. ICMASD (2025) 2210 https://internationalpubls.com Table 4: Mean comparison between rural and urban on protecting dimension of Parent-Child Relationship Dimension Dichotomy N Mean Std. Deviation t-value Protecting (Father-form) Rural 300 40.55 6.029 3.334 Urban 300 38.98 5.443 Protecting (Mother-form) Rural 300 42.64 5.509 4.141 Urban 300 40.81 5.314 Protecting (Overall score) Rural 300 83.18 9.272 4.510 Urban 300 79.79 9.158 Table 5: Mean comparison between rural and urban on symbolic punishment dimension of Parent-Child Relationship Dimension Dichotomy N Mean Std. Deviation t-value Symbolic Punishment (Father-form) Rural 300 35.57 6.378 1.149 Urban 300 34.97 6.552 Symbolic Punishment (Mother-form) Rural 300 35.47 6.363 2.236 Urban 300 34.24 7.021 Symbolic Punishment (Overall score) Rural 300 71.04 10.609 1.945 Urban 300 69.21 12.365 Table 6: Mean comparison between rural and urban on loving dimension of Parent-Child Relationship Dimension Dichotomy N Mean Std. Deviation t-value Loving (Father-form) Rural 300 40.22 7.361 2.518 Urban 300 38.84 6.028 Loving (Mother-form) Rural 300 41.64 6.178 3.708 Urban 300 39.83 5.725 Loving (Overall score) Rural 300 81.86 11.003 3.612 Urban 300 78.67 10.604 Communications on Applied Nonlinear Analysis ISSN: 1074-133X Vol 32 No. ICMASD (2025) 2211 https://internationalpubls.com 3.4 Discussion The results reveal that fathers show a significant difference between boys and girls on protecting dimension of the scale. This may be attributed to the fact that girls are considered a delicate gender & fathers are more attached to their daughters as compared to sons so, they feel more protective towards their female children compared to the male counterparts. The great majority of parents have positive and nurturing relationships with their children (Steinberg 2005). In fact, findings from research show that parents and their adolescent children generally have close emotional ties (Collins and Luarsen 2004). These findings run counter to anecdotal portrayals of parents as clueless and unconnected, especially when it comes to relating to their adolescent children. Recently released parent reported data from the 2003 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH), which has a very large, nationally representative sample, provide a window into parent-child relationships by children’s specific ages. Child Trends drew on these data to look at three markers of these relationships for parents living with children between the ages of 6 and 17: parent-child closeness, the degree to which parents share ideas and talk about things that really matter with their children, and parents’ acquaintance with their children’s friends. The analysis show that although some declines are seen in these areas as children get older, high parental involvement and positive parent-child interactions endure throughout childhood into the teenage years for most adolescents. Also it was found that there is no significant difference between boys and girls on father-loving, Mother- loving and overall- loving dimension of parent-child relationship. This might be due to the fact that nowadays both the parents indulge themselves in child rearing & try to spend quality time with their children, treating both the children at par with each other. There is a significant difference in parent- adolescent relationship among rural & urban adolescents as far as protective dimension is concerned. The reason for this might be that rural adolescents are less likely to fall into peer pressure as they spend most of the time with their parents compared to the adolescents living in cities where parents are mostly working and they get to spend less time with their children, so urban adolescents are more likely to feel rejected & they move away finding solace in the company of their friends feeling less secure in the company of their parents. Radziszewska et al., (1996) conducted a study regarding parenting styles and several demographic factors, such as gender and ethnicity. In this study involving 3,993 ninth-grade students, the researchers found a significant relation between gender and parenting styles, such that boys were more likely than girls to have more permissive parents. In addition, they found significant ethnic differences among parenting styles. National Survey of Children’s Health (2003) found that most parents reported close bonds with their children, communicated with their children about important topics, and were acquainted with most of their children’s friends. These findings are apparent even among parents of adolescent children (ages 12-17), who are often presumed to feel distant from their children. Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth also showed positive parent-child relationships for a smaller sample of adolescent respondents. Given the importance of positive communication and relationships for parents and for children of all ages, these findings are reassuring. The findings also suggest that a minority of parents could use help in strengthening their relationships with their children. Communications on Applied Nonlinear Analysis ISSN: 1074-133X Vol 32 No. ICMASD (2025) 2212 https://internationalpubls.com Our results also reveal that there is a significant difference in rural &urban parents when it comes to loving their children. This might be due to the fact that urban adolescents are more likely to be victims of drug abuse & other social crimes, so parents of urban adolescents keep close watch on their children enforcing strict discipline in homes which makes the children feel less warmth & affection in behavior of the parents. Zhang and Fuligni (2006) found the similar findings within a research on city and village teens, evaluated their principles regarding parental command and personal independence, along with facets of their parental relations. City teens specified a better inclination towards disagreeing freely with their parents, a better concentration of clash towards their parents, reduced degrees of unity towards their parents, along with a reduced occurrence of consultations with their fathers. City boys were different from every additional teen with regards to various facets of their familial relations, recounting the initial anticipations for independence, the lowermost stages of intimacy towards their mothers, along with the minimum recurrent consultations with their fathers. 4. Conclusion It is concluded that majority of the adolescents (both male and female, rural & urban) share a smooth relationship with both the parents, contrary to the old view according to which as adolescents mature, they detach themselves from parents and move into the world of autonomy apart from parents. Although some autonomy is inevitable yet for most of the adolescents parents serve as important attachment figures, resources and support systems. In the majority of families parent-adolescent conflict is moderate rather than severe and that every day negotiations and minor disputes are normal, serving the positive development function of promoting independence and identity. 5. Recommendations Smooth relationship of adolescents with parents is very important. Some suggestions which may be helpful for improving relationship between adolescents and parents are as follows: i. Counselling services should be provided to both parents and teachers so that the transition is smooth from childhood to adolescents. ii. Parents should spend quality time with their children. Acknowledgements The authors express gratitude to the all the respondents in this study for their patience and support. Refrences 1. Luthar SS, Sawyer JA, Brown PJ. 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