A Study on Parent and Peer Influence on Adolescents’ Mental Health for Future Academic Aspirations

Adolescence (from Latin adolescere, meaning 'to grow up') is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to legal adulthood (age of majority). Rajaswat (2002) studied self-concept, morality and adjustment of school going adolescents. Self-concept of rural girls and urban girls was highly significant. The rural girls were having clear vision of self in all dimensions as compared to urban girls. This study is about finding the level of parental and  peer influence in adolescence mental health for their future academic aspirations. Parents and peers have direct impact on adolescence decisions and mental health so their influence plays a vital role in adolescent’s development. The study reveals the impact of parent and peers influence in adolescents.  The researcher has adapted quota sampling method to draw the samples for the current study. The  researcher targeted first 10 adolescent students entering the school gate from 08:30am to 09:00am and  collected the data during their leisure time. Hence sample sizes of 100 respondents were included for the study through quota sampling technique. The current study focuses on the adolescents in schools.  Hence the universe of the study is school going adolescents. Less than half (42%) of the respondents were studying 11th standard, 24% were studying 9th standard, 23% were studying 8th standard and 11% are studying 10th standard because the questionnaires are distributed to the students above 8th standard. More than 1/4th (30%) of the respondent’s age were 16 years, 21% belong to 15years of age, 20% belong to 13 years of age,17% belong to 14 years of age and 12% belong to 17 years of age because the researcher targeted the students aged between 13-19 years of age. Adolescents should be directed by their parents to have positive impact on their decisions. Parents should concentrate on their children  in moral behavior and academics.