Parental Attitudes and Coping Strategies in Parents as Indicators of the Prognosis of Aggressive and Task-Oriented Coping Strategies in Adolescents in Situations of Social Conflict

Abstract

The aim of the study was to identify family-related factors connected with aggressive and task-oriented coping strategies in adolescent youth in situations of social conflict. The study was conducted on a sample of 893 adolescents aged 13 to 15. M. Plopa’s Parental Attitude Scale (Skala Postaw Rodzicielskich, SPR), the Questionnaire for Coping Strategies in Parents in Situations of Social Conflict (Kwestionariusz Strategii Radzenia sobie Rodziców w Sytuacji Konfliktu Społecznego, KSRwSK) by D. Borecka-Biernat, and Questionnaire for Coping Strategies in Adolescents in Situations of Social Conflict (Kwestionariusz do Badania Strategii Radzenia sobie Młodzieży w Sytuacji Konfliktu Społecznego, KSMK) by D. Borecka-Biernat were used in the study. An analysis of the results of the study has indicated family discriminants of aggressive and task-oriented coping strategies in adolescents in situations of social conflict; those discriminants include the perceived parental attitudes in father, including the inconsistent, autonomous, and demanding attitude; the perceived aggressive strategy in mother and father in situations of social conflict, as well as the task-oriented strategy in mother in situations of social conflict. Identifying the determinants of aggressive and task-oriented strategies in youth might allow the caretakers of adolescents to better understand their behaviour in situations of social conflict and look at its roots from the young people’s perspective. Understanding the determinants of these behaviours is a necessary step in designing strategies that can shape individuals capable of coping with conflicts in a mature manner.