Parenting style profiles and adolescents’ creativity: the indirect role of regulatory focus

Parenting style has a profound effect on adolescents’ creative development. This study identified the parenting style profiles perceived by Chinese adolescents and investigated the indirect role of regulatory focus in the relation between parenting style profiles and creativity. The participants were 514 Chinese elementary and middle school students (mean age 13.5 years; 263 boys, 251 girls) who completed the Short Parenting Style Scale, Regulatory Focus Questionnaire, Creativity Self-report Scale, and a task in Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. Latent profile analysis distinguished three parenting style profiles: supportive, disengaged, and harsh. An analysis of variance revealed differences in parenting styles, regulatory focus, and creativity across the three perceived parenting style profiles. Structural equation modeling revealed that, compared with the disengaged profile, the supportive profile was positively associated with both self-reported creativity and creative task performance via promotion focus, but negatively associated with self-reported creativity via prevention focus; the harsh profile was positively associated with self-reported creativity via prevention focus and directly positively associated with creative task performance. Using a person-centered approach, the study enriches the literature and promotes reflection on the association between parenting style, the development of creativity, and its internal pathways. This study also demonstrates the practical value of developing adolescents’ creativity.