Psychological consequences of perceived parental acceptance rejection among metropolitan adolescents

Introduction A nation's economic progress alone won't necessarily help more than one billion children and adolescents living around the world. Attention has to be paid to ensure they are having their basic needs met, receiving an adequate education and getting proper health care if their lives are to improve and they are to contribute productively to their societies and nations in the future. The countries are required to act in the best possible interests of children. Children everywhere have the right to basic survival, to be protected from abuse and exploitation, to develop to their full potential and to participate in family, cultural and social spheres. If this is done, their physical, educational, emotional and psychological well-being will be ensured. Today's adolescents, after all, are tomorrow's adults. Without the proper care and assurance of their basic needs and rights, the places they rule as adults may well be the regions of poverty, instability and violence (Lake, 2011). Adolescence is the transitional phase in human growth and development that occurs after childhood and before adulthood, more approximately, it is the time between 10 to 19 years of age (World Health Organization, WHO, 2015). It is further understood as a time when there is increased autonomy and experimentation, a time when relationships become increasingly important and when the risk of engagement in potentially harmful behavior becomes a salient area of concern (Young, 2013). The meaning of adolescence has changed during the last century as education, social relationships and the importance of peer relations have undergone a considerable change over a period of generations (Hurrelmann, 1987). There are many different contemporary definitions of adolescence available in literature and each of them reflects a somewhat different facet of the interaction between society and the adolescent. Medically, adolescence begins when an individual experiences a number of physical and hormonal changes. Legally, adolescence ends with the assumption of adult responsibility for voting, seeking loans and for girls in India, marriage. Educationally, adolescence is the time spent from junior high to senior secondary school. Psychologically, adolescence is a period of transition during which cognitive, emotional and personality changes occur. These definitions indicate that adolescence is a time between childhood and adulthood during which certain,