Abstract
Parenting is a critical social determinant of the health-related behaviours of adolescents. In this article, we argue that extending transformational leadership theory to parenting presents an opportunity for developing a useful conceptual model for (a) understanding the relationships between parenting and adolescents’ health behaviours and (b) supporting the development of parenting interventions. First, we provide a brief review of the extant literature on parenting styles and practices as it relates to adolescent health. Second, after drawing parallels between parents and leaders, we provide a synopsis of transformational leadership theory, and explain the conceptual utility of this framework for understanding and evaluating parenting behaviours. Third, we draw from the leadership and behavioural medicine literatures to outline potential psychological mechanisms through which transformational parenting might predict adolescent health-related behaviours. We conclude by discussing opportunities for the implementation of evidence-based transformational parenting intervention research designed to support parenting behaviours.
Notes
1. Although the age range that we use to define adolescence is 10–18 (cf. APA, 2002), there currently exists no standard definition of ‘adolescent’. The classification of this age group varies across agencies and organisations (cf. Grace & Patrick, Citation1994), and although it is most often captured as an age range, it can also be defined by factors such as physical, cognitive and social development.