Examining Parents’ Ways of Coping With Their Children’s Problem Behaviors and Their Perceptions of Causality

Abstract

This study explored parents' ways of coping with their children's problem behaviors and their perceptions of causality. The study group was composed of 164 children aged 7-12 years (84 females and 80 males) and their parents (120 mothers and 44 fathers). In order to collect data, “General Information Form” for the demographical statistics and “Problem behavior Scale – Coping – Parents Form” and “Problem behavior Scale – Causal Factors – Parents Form” which was developed by Kaner (2007) were used. The study findings revealed that there was no significant difference between he subtest scores of both scales according to children’s sex. Also, mothers use defective coping, negative coping, and preventive coping approaches more than the fathers. Compared to mothers who graduated from high school, mothers who graduated from elementary school and middle school used more effective coping methods while coping with their children’s problem behaviors. Furthermore, compared to mothers who graduated from elementary school and middle school, mothers who graduated from university and above attributed their children’s problem behaviors more to their children’s negative relationships with the people important in their lives. Mothers who graduated from university and above believed that negative socioeconomic conditions of the family were more effective in the causality of their children's problem behaviors compared to mothers who graduated from elementary school and middle school. In addition, fathers with under graduate and higher degrees attributed the causality of their children’s problem behavior to their children’s negative relationships with the people important in their lives compared to fathers who graduated from elementary school and middle school.