The role of emotional reactions and retrospective assessment of parental attitudes in controlling destructive strategies for coping with a social conflict situation by junior high school students

Abstract

BackgroundThe purpose of our study was to search for the emotional and family aetiology of destructive strategies (aggression, avoidance, submission) for coping with a social conflict situation by adolescents.Participants and procedureThe questionnaire (KSMK) by Borecka-Biernat to study the strategies for coping with a social conflict situation by adolescents, the Three-Factor State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (TISCO) by Spielberger and Wrześniewski, as well as the Parental Attitudes Scale (SPR) by Plopa were applied in the research. The empirical research was carried out in junior high schools in Wroclaw and neighbouring towns. It covered 493 adolescents (269 girls and 224 boys) aged 13-15 years.ResultsAccording to the results of this study, interpersonal competence predicts perceived social support and self-esteem, and perceived social support predicts self-esteem. Perceived social support, which is the main focus of the research, plays a partial mediation role in the relationship between interpersonal competence and self-esteem.ConclusionsThe research result analysis revealed an interesting finding, i.e. few negative emotions and parental upbringing attitudes differentiated adolescents who applied aggression strategies from the ones who used strategies of avoidance and submission in a social conflict situation. This means that adolescents who use strategies of avoidance and submission in a social conflict situation are relatively homogeneous in the scope of the emotional and family variables researched.