engleski

The role of parental behavior in explaining depression and anxiety of adolescents

Family is the first and the most important environment for child development, and is often viewed as a major socialization agent by a number of different theoretical approaches (e.g. ecological system theory, social learning theory, attachment theory). Parental behavior and child-rearing practices affect the entire socio-emotional development of children. Soenens, Vansteenkiste & Luyten (2010), Lebedina Manzoni, Ricijaš ( 2013) show that parents behavior may render adolescents vulnerable to internalizing problems (anxiety and separation problems) and to depressive symptoms in particular. The aim of study was to examine relation between parental behaviour and depression and anxiety in urban adolescents in Croatia and to explain gender differences. The sample consisted of 940 participants, 7th and 8th grade primary school students and 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade secondary school students, 418 boys and 520 girls ages 12-18 ( M=14, 82). 3 Questionaire were applied: • Worry and Social anxiety subscales from Fear and anxiety scale for children and adolescents (Vulić-Prtorić, 2004). • The Depression Scale for Children and Adolescents (Vulić-Prtorić, 2003), • The Parental Behavior Questionnaire (PBQ-29) (Keresteš, Kuterovac-Jagodić & Brković, 2009) ( 29 items on 7 Subscales: Acceptance, Autonomy, Psychological control, Monitoring, Positive Discipline, Negative Discipline and Permissiveness. A child separately assesses mother and father on a four level scale). The results of regression analysis shows that all the variables of parental behavior contribute in a different way in explaining the variance of social anxiety and depression in both gender. They are more significant predictors when it comes to explaining depression as criterion variables (21%), as compared to the anxiety (8.3% of the variance criteria). Results are discussed separately by gender with respect to predictors of parental behavior in relation to the criteria. The significance of this research is reflected through a separate observation of mother’s and father’s roles, i.e. the existence of 7 measures of parental behavior instead of a general, vague predictor of parental behavior.

depression symptoms; anxiety; adolescents; parents

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