In Korean society, the number of single-parent families is increasing by 20,000 every year, and single-parent family is being established as a typical family type. However, few studies on factors which help to psychosocial adjustment of children in si...
In Korean society, the number of single-parent families is increasing by 20,000 every year, and single-parent family is being established as a typical family type. However, few studies on factors which help to psychosocial adjustment of children in single-parent families have been conducted. Against this backdrop, this study aims at examining what effect the raising attitude of parent perceived by childrenin single-parent families, social support and children’s ego-resilience have on psychological adjustment, and providing basic data to develop consultation and treatment program that help psychological adjustment of these children.
For this, this study was conducted focusing on issues below.
First, what about the raising attitude of parent perceived by children in single-parent families, social support and children’s ego-resilience generally?
Second, what difference is found in these children’s psychological adjustment according to the level of the raising attitude of parent perceived by children in single-parent families, social support and children’s ego-resilience?
Third, what effect the raising attitude of parent perceived by childrenin single-parent families, social support and children’s ego-resilience have on these children’s psychological adjustment?
For samples, children in single-parent families who are in the 4^(th) to 6^(th) grade living in Seoul, Kyunggi or North Choongchung province were targeted. Formeasurement scales, the measurement of the raising attitude of parent perceived developed by Oh Seongsum and Lee Jongseung (1982), measurement of social support adapted and developed by Han Mihyun (1996), and measurement of ego-resilience developed by Park Eunhee (1996) were used. The collected data was processed by SPSS/WIN 12.0 and descriptive statistics techniques, ANOVA, Duncan multiple comparisons, multiple regression analysis and successive regression analysis were taken for this study.
The conclusion of this study is as follows.
First, the higher score of the raising attitude of parent perceived by children in single-parent families, social support and children’s ego-resilience means more positive perception, and the scores in three categories turned out somewhat high. The lower score in children’s psychological adjustment means more adjustment, and the scores of target children in this category turned out relatively low.
Second, to figure out the difference of psychological adjustment due to the level of the raising attitude of parent perceived by childrenin single-parent families, social support and children’s ego-resilience, the target groups were divided into 3(high, medium, low) by the average and standard deviation score of each variable,and the difference of psychological adjustment according to each group was analyzed.
The psychological adjustment due to groups by ability in terms of raising attitude of parent perceived by children showed meaningful difference in affection, self-control, accomplishment and rationality by group. The difference of social support due to groups by ability showed significant results in terms of support by friend, family, and teacher. Moreover, the average difference of psychological adjustment due to groups by ability in terms of ego-resilience proved to have relevance to interpersonal relationship, vitality, and optimism.
Third, for the successive regression analysis to figure out the independent influence that the raising attitude of parent perceived by children in single-parent families, social support and children’s ego-resilience have on psychological adjustment, it turned out that the most influential factor about psychological adjustment of children in single-parent families was rationality of the raising attitude of parent perceived by children, followed by support by friend among the subcategories of social support, optimism of ego-resilience, and self-control.
Consequently, if programs to enhance ego-resilience that each child has are developed and usedfor group or individual consultations and treatments aimed at helping psychological adjustment of children in single-parent families, it will contribute to reduce the psychological maladjustment of such children.
Furthermore, the parent who raises children in single-parent families should respect their children’s personality and opinion with raising attitude of rationality and self-control, and also help their children develop habits of thinking by themselves and conducting themselves. Last but not least, support and affection among family members will play an important role in reducing maladjustment of children in single-parent families more than anything else.