The mediating role of psychological adjustment on the relations among perceived parental acceptance – rejection, perceived parental control and cross – situational coping styles during early adolescence

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to explore the mediating role of psychological adjustment on the relations among perceived parental acceptance-rejection, perceived parental control and early adolescents’ cross-situational coping styles. The relationships among these variables and gender differences were investigated. The sample consisted of 339 students from two secondary schools in Istanbul. All were from intact families with low SES levels. For data collection, child version of the Parental Acceptance–Rejection/Control Questionnaire - Mother and Father Forms, child version of the Personality Assessment Questionnaire and German Stress and Coping Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents were used. The findings indicated that adolescents’ perceptions of parental rejection and parental control additively accounted for 42% of the variance in adolescents’ psychological maladjustment. In combination, perceived parental rejection, perceived parental control and psychological maladjustment explained 36% of the variance in adolescents’ cross-situational anger-related emotion regulation. Adolescents who perceive more rejection from their fathers reported poorer psychological adjustment and consequently they reported less use of social support seeking, problem solving, palliative emotion regulation and anger-related emotion regulation as a coping style across two stressful situations (interpersonal and academic stressors).