The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to explore the relationships in the perceived quality of the parental relationship, coping strategies, received support, and well-being in adolescents from separated/divorced and married parents. Two hundred and forty-four matched adolescents from separated/divorced and married households were drawn from an initial sample of 1044 students who were tested at five colleges and three high schools of a large metropolitan and rural area. Regression analyses supported the hypothesis that a perceived poor parental relationship, and not family status, was associated with low life satisfaction and sense of future, and high anxiety in adolescents of divorced and intact households. Path analytic techniques revealed that coping strategies and received support did not mediate the association between a perceived poor parental relationship and low levels of well-being in adolescents from divorced and intact households. However, in both groups, problem-focused coping mediated by nondirect support was associated with more life satisfaction and sense of future, and less anxiety than the direct effects of problem-focused coping alone. In addition, emotion-focused coping mediated by direct guidance was associated with higher levels of well-being than the direct effects of emotion-focused coping alone. In contrast, problem-focused coping in conjunction with direct guidance was associated with the lowest levels of adolescent well-being. The findings contribute to the field of adolescent stress and coping by suggesting that coping strategies may influence the type of support received by adolescents. The study extends current research findings by considering the combined effects of coping and received support in relation to measures of well-being. Finally the study contributes to the field of nursing by demonstrating that personal and social mediators may enhance the health oriented aspects of well-being.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.39330 |
| Date | January 1992 |
| Creators | Grossman, Mary, 1950- |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (School of Nursing.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001277597, proquestno: NN74823, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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