Role of Social Comparison and Interpersonal Skills in Positive Parenting and Self-Esteem in Pakistani Adolescents: A Serial Mediation Analysis

The current research explored the serial mediating role of social comparison and interpersonal skills in the association between positive parenting and self-esteem in adolescents. The participants for this study comprised 674 (boys = 47%, girls = 53%) adolescents recruited from the mainstream government school of Lahore, an urbanized city of Pakistan, by using a multistage sampling technique. Participants for this research have an age range of 12–19 years (M = 14.88, SD = 1.33). Parenting Style Scale for Adolescents, Self-Esteem Scale for Children, Social Comparison Scale, and Interpersonal Skills Scale were used to measure the positive parenting, self-esteem, social comparison, and interpersonal skills, respectively. Based on the study results, it was concluded that social comparison and interpersonal skills partially mediate the relationship between positive parenting and self-esteem. The results of the research are discussed in the light of pertinent literature, and some recommendations were given for upcoming studies.