This study examined whether the widely reported positive relation between "authoritative" parenting and adolescent adjustment is moderated by the ecological context in which adolescents live. A socioeconomically and ethnically diverse sample of approximately 10,000 high school students provided information about their parents' behavior and their family background and completed measures of four indicators of adjustment: school performance, self-reliance, psychological distress, and delinquency. The students were grouped into 16 ecological niches defined by ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and family structure, and analyses were conducted within each niche to contrast the adjustment scores of adolescents from authoritative versus nonauthoritative homes. Analyses indicated that the positive correlates of authoritative parenting transcended ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and family structure. Virtually regardless of their ethnicity, class, or parents' marital status, adolescents whose parents were accepting, firm, and democratic earned higher grades in school, were more self-reliant, reported less anxiety and depression, and were less likely to engage in delinquent behavior. (Author)