The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of various parenting styles on the behaviours of adolescent student in Ikwere Local Government Area of Rivers State. The research design adopted in this study was a descriptive survey. The data used were here were obtained from both primary and secondary sources. The primary source involved the distribution of questionnaire to a selected number of senior secondary students. The population of the study comprised of a total of 5,169 senior secondary students in eighteen government secondary schools located in Ikwere. The Taro Yamane was used to determine the sampling size of 370 for the study. The sample was then divided between the male and the female students with a total of 185 students per group. Out of 370 copies of the questionnaire distributed to the target respondents, only 294 was returned and used for the analysis of the study. The reliability of the instrument gave a correlation coefficient of 0.85 which was considered highly reliable. Two research questions and two hypothesis were formulated for the study. The research questions were analyzed using tables, mean and grand mean while the hypothesis were tested with the SPSS version 22 using paired sample independent t-test. The findings of the research shows that authoritarian parenting style and neglectful parenting style are two parenting styles that have produced the worst behaviours among adolescent children. According to the findings authoritarian parenting styles was found to make adolescent children develop a form of resentment for authority and a loss of good character formation. Authoritative parenting however had shown the most positive outcomes in adolescent behaviours. The researcher therefore recommends that parents adopt democratic parenting styles more often than any other parenting style in raising and nurturing their children.

Keywords: parenting styles, adolescent behavior, authoritarian parenting, authoritative parenting, neglectful parenting.