Abstract
Parenting behaviours serve as critical social influences for adolescent health and well-being. In the present research we draw from transformational leadership theory to develop a valid and reliable measure of transformational parenting, and examine the links between transformational parenting and adolescent health-enhancing cognitions. Transformational leadership involves empowering and supporting followers to achieve higher levels of functioning, and it is these processes that make transformational leadership theory (Bass & Riggio, 2006) especially relevant for understanding parenting behaviours. Data were collected from 857 adolescents, who rated the behaviours of their mothers and fathers. The results provide support for a second-order measurement model of transformational parenting. In addition, positive relationships between transformational parenting behaviours, self-regulatory efficacy for physical activity (adj. R² = .10, p = <.001), healthy eating (adj. R² = .12, p = <.001), and adolescent subjective well-being (adj. R² = .25, p < .001) were found. In conclusion, the results of this research support the application of transformational leadership theory to parenting behaviours and adolescent health promotion, and the reliability and validity of the Transformational Parenting Questionnaire (TPQ).
