Sense of coherence in adolescents in the context of parents' attitudes and support

Abstract

The subject of the study is the analysis of relations between the sense of coherence (SOC) in adolescents and their perception of parental attitudes and support received from both parents. The dependence between the level of SOC in adolescents and parents’ education and material status of the family have also been taken into account. The study group consisted of 105 people aged 17–18, boys and girls – secondary school pupils. The obtained results confirm a considerable part of the assumptions included in the hypotheses indicating the existence of a significant dependence between the rejection attitude of both parents and SOC, demanding an attitude of both parents and a protective attitude of father and SOC. The dependence between global, information and instrumental support received from mothers and SOC and between emotional support from fathers and SOC were confirmed. However, it turned out that loving and liberal attitudes of both parents do not show any relation with SOC. No dependence was found between evaluative support and the level of the sense of coherence in adolescents. The study shows that the education of both parents and the material status of the family are of significant importance in forming the level of SOC.