The impact of parenting style on fear of crime among adolescent girls and boys

Research on adolescent fear of crime is still relatively limited and often simply applies theoretical explanations proposed for adults. This study strives to extend current knowledge in this field by analyzing the impact of parenting style on fear of crime, namely parental attachment, parental supervision, and parental support of adolescent autonomy, while also considering possible gender differences. Using data from a self-report survey of approximately 1500 Czech adolescents, a hierarchical regression analysis is employed to examine these relationships while controlling for socio-demographic variables, environmental disorder, leisure time indicators, as well as victimization experience. The results suggest that higher parental supervision and lower parental support of adolescent autonomy are associated with increased fear of crime among adolescents. In addition, a gender-specific effect is found for parental attachment which somewhat decreases fear of crime for boys and increases it for girls. Nevertheless, the overall impact of parental indicators on fear of crime is relatively low. The implications and limitations of these findings are discussed.