Parental Treatment and Mental Health of Personality [1 ed.] 9781621004370, 9781607413189

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Copyright © 2009. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved. Parental Treatment and Mental Health of Personality, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated, 2009. ProQuest Ebook Central,

Copyright © 2009. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved. Parental Treatment and Mental Health of Personality, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated, 2009. ProQuest Ebook Central,

HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCH FOCUS SERIES

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PARENTAL TREATMENT AND MENTAL HEALTH OF PERSONALITY

No part of this digital document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means. The publisher has taken reasonable care in the preparation of this digital document, but makes no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of information Parental Treatment MentalThis Health of Personality, NovaisScience Publishers, Incorporated, 2009. ProQuest containedand herein. digital document sold with the clear understanding that theEbook publisher is not engaged in

HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCH FOCUS SERIES

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Parental Treatment and Mental Health of Personality Ferenc Margitics and Zsuzsa Pauwlik 2009. ISBN: 978-1-60741-318-9

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HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCH FOCUS SERIES

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PARENTAL TREATMENT AND MENTAL HEALTH OF PERSONALITY

FERENC MARGITICS AND

ZSUZSA PAUWLIK

Nova Science Publishers, Inc. New York

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NOTICE TO THE READER The Publisher has taken reasonable care in the preparation of this book, but makes no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of information contained in this book. The Publisher shall not be liable for any special, consequential, or exemplary damages resulting, in whole or in part, from the readers’ use of, or reliance upon, this material.

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Independent verification should be sought for any data, advice or recommendations contained in this book. In addition, no responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property arising from any methods, products, instructions, ideas or otherwise contained in this publication. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered herein. It is sold with the clear understanding that the Publisher is not engaged in rendering legal or any other professional services. If legal or any other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent person should be sought. FROM A DECLARATION OF PARTICIPANTS JOINTLY ADOPTED BY A COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION AND A COMMITTEE OF PUBLISHERS.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Margitics, Ferenc. Parental treatment and mental health of personality / Ferenc Margitics and Zsuzsa Pauwlik. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN H%RRN 1. College students--Mental health. 2. Family. I. Pauwlik, Zsuzsa. II. Title. RC451.4.S7M37 2009 616--dc22 2009006394

Published by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. Ô New York

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CONTENTS

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Preface

vii

Chapter 1

Preference of Coping Strategies and Parental Treatment

Chapter 2

Parental Treatment, Temperament and Character

21

Chapter 3

Depressed Mother and Mental Health of Children

39

Chapter 4

Family Socionalizational Factors and Depression

65

Chapter 5

Mental Health of Personality Types

79

Index

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1

97

Copyright © 2009. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved. Parental Treatment and Mental Health of Personality, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated, 2009. ProQuest Ebook

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PREFACE One of the most important objectives of health psychology is to promote people’s mental health. Mental health is a decisive factor in the daily well-being of the individual, improving his quality of life as well as that of those in his direct social environment. Some of the important criteria of mental health include a high level of subjective well-being of the individual, adequate coping strategy, an ability to overcome tensions, an ability for self-expression and social support. The emergence of these abilities are in close relationship with socialization of the individual in the family and the treatment the individual receives from their parents. A number of studies have been produced on the connections between parental attitudes and mental disturbances. Traumas experienced in childhood, ignorance on the side of the parents, or inadequate parental attitudes all play important roles in the emergence of psycho-pathological syndromes and disfunctional behaviour in adulthood, especially if the effects of family socialization are boosted by the genetic vulnerability of the individual. All of these point to the necessity of being familiar with the psycho-social factors that constitute mental health and help in its preservation, as this knowledge is indispensable both for an effective cure and effective prevention. The common objective of the studies summarizing our research in health psychology and included in this volume is to survey the risk and protective factors related to mental health among non-clinical young people (college students). The factors discussed include, among others, family socialization, parental attitudes, and circumstances that threaten mental health as well as those that serve as protective and preventive elements for mental health. With the findings of our research, we would like to contribute to the efficiency of preventive programs dealing with the mental health of young people. Chapter 1 - The objective of our study was to reveal the differences in the preferences of each coping mode between women and men and what correlation

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viii

Ferenc Margitics and Zsuzsa Pauwlik

can be detected between the perceived family socialization influences (family atmosphere, parental educational aims, parental educational attitudes, parental educational style and parental treatment), and the preferences of coping strategies used in stressful situations. 1,104 young people were involved in the study (700 women, 404 men). Participants were college, grammar school and secondary school students. For identifying the coping strategies, we used the Hungarian adaptation of Folkman and Lazarus’s Conflict Solving Questionnaire; for measuring the family socialization and the influence of parental education, we used the Family Socializational Questionnaire developed by Goch and the Hungarian adaptation of the Parental Bonding Instrument developed by Parker et al. Regarding the preferences of coping strategies, we found significant differences between the genders only in the case of three coping modes. Considering the problem-focused coping modes, we found that the girls were more disposed to problem analysis; while examining the emotion-focused coping methods, we found that they were more inclined to becoming reserved than boys. Beyond these, we found that the disposition to request help was a more typical reaction in the case of girls. The results suggested that behind the preference of coping strategies, the effects of family socialization and parental education showed different patterns in the case of girls and boys. In the case of both genders, the emotion-focused coping showed a closer relationship with the family socialization and parental educational effects. Conflict-burden family atmosphere makes boys, while inconsistent and manipulative educational attitudes make girls, disposed primarily to the application of emotion-focused coping. Overprotection and manipulation by mothers and the inconsistent educational behavior of fathers in the case of boys, while the differences between maternal and paternal educational influences, the overprotection by fathers and the conflict-burden family atmosphere in the case of girls, occurred also as disposing factors. Chapter 2 - The objective of the present survey is to reveal the interrelation between the features of personality with respect to temperament and character, as well as certain dimensions of the detected parental treatment (maternal and paternal care, maternal and paternal overprotection, maternal and paternal restricting) in the case of a non-clinical population (college students). It is additionally intended to examine what correlations exist between the parental treatment and the individual personality features composing the sub-scales of the temperament and character scales. The parental treatment was studied by means of the Parental Bonding Instrument, while we used the Hungarian adaptation of Cloninger’s Temperament and Character Inventory for inspecting the personality. 681 college students took part in the survey (465 females and 216 males). In accordance with the results of our surveys – considering both genders –the harm

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Preface

ix

avoidance showed close correlation with the lack of paternal care and the maternal overprotecting, as well as with the paternal overprotecting from among the temperament scales. A significant, nevertheless less close, relationship was revealed between the reward dependence and the maternal care, as well as with the lack of maternal overprotecting. From among the character scales, the selfdirectedness and the self-transcendence were in the closest coherence with the parental treatment. We also managed to detect the close interrelation between the parental treatment and the temperament, as well as certain personality features composing the character scales. Examining the structural dimensions of the parental treatment – on the whole of the inspected samples – we revealed a pattern of parental treatment that was characterized on the one hand by the lack of parental care accompanied by overprotection and on the other hand by the parents’ restrictive attitudes. Inspecting the genders separately, we found considerable differences regarding the parental treatment, the temperament and the character, and the personality features, as well as in the field of the dimensional structuring of parental treatment. Chapter 3 - In the course of our research, we have sought the answer to what roles the risk-transmission mechanisms (genetic-biological, interpersonal, cognitive factors associated with social learning, and stress-related factors), described by Goodman and Gotlib (1999) in their model, play in the increased risk of the transmission of depression from the depressed mother to the children and what interactions exist between such risk-transmission mechanisms. The geneticbiological factor was examined by us through individual temperament characteristics; the interpersonal factors were studied through the mother’s educational objectives, educational attitudes and styles, as well as through maternal rearing; while the factors associated with social learning were investigated through individual temperament characteristics and the attribution style; the stressors were examined through the quality of the family atmosphere and the rate of stress-load in the past half a year. In our survey, we used the “matched groups” method. We have made a comparison of college students brought up by depressed mothers (with clinically diagnosed depression) with their social matches, whose mothers were not depressed (n=50, 32 females, 18 males). The results of the survey have given evidence to the theory that on the one hand, the children of depressed mothers are exposed to an increased risk in terms of potential depression (regarding the symptoms of depression, the exposed group showed a significantly higher level than the control group); on the other hand, we managed to reveal the roles of each mechanism of risk-transmission in the occurrence of the predisposition to depression, in the case of children with depressed mothers.

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Ferenc Margitics and Zsuzsa Pauwlik

Chapter 4 - The aim of this research was to discover in a group of young and healthy people (college students) not belonging to the clinical population, the risk and protective factors having a role in the development of predisposition to depression and being related to family socialization factors. The sample was taken on the basis of the existence or lack of predisposing factors (positive family anamnesis to depression, death of parents, separation and divorce in the first ten years of the child’s life); 232 persons belonged to the group of imperiled people (161 women, 71 men), and 219 persons were in the control group (135 women, 84 men). The group of imperiled persons were further divided on the basis of the results achieved in Beck’s Depression Inventory (BDI) for a group of normal level (n=104, 63 women, 41 men) and a high level depression (n=128, 98 women, 30 men) group. For the examination of the family socialization effects, we used Goch’s Family Socialization Inquiry and the Hungarian adaptation of the Parental Treatment Inquiry developed by Parker et al. On the grounds of a non-clinical sample, our survey substantiated that certain family socialization factors may also play a role as risk and protective factors in the development of depression, particularly in the case of vulnerable persons. We managed to substantiate that the primary risk factors were the punishing and neglecting way of breeding by parents; the manipulative, inconsistent and consistent educational attitudes; the conflict-filled family attitude; and several elements of parental treatment (restraint, lack of affection and care, intensified overprotection). We managed to indicate as a protective factor the defending effect, principally of the supportive and less punishing educational style of parents, the lack of manipulative and inconsistent educational attitude, the tranquil family atmosphere, the homogeneous parental breeding, as well as the paternal treatment showing affection, care, and restrictions, but less over-protection. Chapter 5 - The objective of this study is to scrutinize the interrelations of the temperament and character types that are separable by means of the Cloninger’s Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) with the depressive syndromes, dysfunctional attitudes, and coping strategies among college students. There were 465 female and 216 male students (n=681) involved in the research. The Temperament and Character Inventory was used for separating the temperament and character types, while the abridged version of Beck’s Depression Scale was applied for measuring the rate of depression. The dysfunctional attitudes were determined by the usage of the Hungarian version of Weismann’s Dysfunctional Attitude Scale, and the coping strategies were examined through the Hungarian adaptation of Folkman and Lazarus’s Conflict Solving Questionnaire. The findings of the studies demonstrated that each temperament and character type could be typified with an individual combination of depressive syndromes,

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Preface

xi

dysfunctional attitudes, and coping strategies. During our surveys, we discovered the dysfunctional attitudes and coping strategies being typical of the mature and immature character types. The results of our studies may provide assistance for the work of experts dealing with the mental health of the increasing number of university and college students, and these findings may be utilised efficiently, primarily in counselling practices and processes.

ABOUT AUTHORS

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Dr. Margitics Ferenc, PhD., Associate Professor, the leader of Health Psychology group. E-mail: [email protected] Zsuzsa Pauwlik, PhD Student, Assistant Professor, member of Health Psychology group. E-mail: [email protected]

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Chapter 1

PREFERENCE OF COPING STRATEGIES AND PARENTAL TREATMENT

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ABSTRACT The objective of our study was to reveal the differences in the preferences of each coping mode between women and men and what correlation can be detected between the perceived family socialization influences (family atmosphere, parental educational aims, parental educational attitudes, parental educational style and parental treatment) and the preferences of coping strategies used in stressful situations. 1,104 young people were involved in the study (700 women, 404 men), who were college, grammar school and secondary school students. For identifying the coping strategies, we used the Hungarian adaptation of Folkman and Lazarus’s Conflict Solving Questionnaire; for measuring the family socialization and the influence of parental education, we used the Family Socializational Questionnaire developed by Goch, and the Hungarian adaptation of the Parental Bonding Instrument developed by Parker et al. Regarding the preferences of coping strategies, we found significant differences between the genders only in the case of three coping modes. Considering the problemfocused coping, modes we found that the girls were more disposed to problem analysis; while examining the emotion-focused coping methods, we found that they were more inclined to becoming reserved than boys. Beyond these, we also found that the disposition to request help was a more typical reaction in the case of girls. The results suggested that behind the preference of coping strategies, the effects of family socialization and parental education showed different patterns in the case of girls and boys. In the case of both genders, the emotion-focused coping showed closer relationship with the family socialization and parental educational effects. Conflict-burden family atmosphere makes boys and inconsistent and manipulative educational

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2

Ferenc Margitics and Zsuzsa Pauwlik attitudes make girls disposed primarily to the application of emotion-focused coping. Also occurring as disposing factors were overprotection and manipulation by mothers and the inconsistent educational behaviour of fathers in the case of boys, and the differences between maternal and paternal educational influences, the overprotection by fathers and the conflict burden family atmosphere in the case of girls.

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1. INTRODUCTION The changes that take place in a society affect the physical as well as mental health of the members of the society. The changes that have taken place in Hungary during the past ten years generated a number of psycho-social stressors and reinforced several existing ones in the lives of the individuals constituting the society. Research into public health suggests that Hungarian morbidity and mortality rates are now among the highest in Europe, with the life expectancy of middle-aged men being especially low as compared to the European average [1]. Kopp et al. [2] conducted research in Hungary in 1988 and 1995, and found that the depressive syndrome, combined with inadequate conflict-solving abilities, was the most important psychological background factor of the decline of the physical health of Hungarian population. Overcoming stress depends on the individual’s evaluative and coping abilities. Depression symptoms are indicators of disturbances in the relationship between the individual and his environment and the inability of the individual to cope with problems, which makes it difficult to adopt to the changes that take place in the outside world [3]. Coping strategies indicate how an individual is able to overcome difficult, stressful situations. According to the integrative behaviour regulating model of behaviour studies [3, 4], the man-environment system dynamically shapes the behaviour of the individual. The central element in the model is the decisionmaking procedure. Whenever an individual is not asleep, he or she must continually make decisions as to whether he or she is able to meet the challenges of the environment, to cope with the current situation, and to overcome the difficulties posed by the situation. In the man-environment model, a human individual makes efforts to keep up the balance. Stress occurs when a person deems a situation new or hazardous, which may lead to a loss of balance. Pikó [5] believes that coping is a process in the course of which an individual makes cognitive and behavioural efforts to eliminate or solve the problem that is the source of the stress.

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Preference of Coping Strategies and Parental Treatment

3

The findings of Oláh’s [6] international research project suggest that in each culture examined (Hungarian, Indian, Italian, Swedish and Yemenese) adolescents with a low or medium-high level of depression tend to choose constructive coping strategies, whereas those with a high level used evasive strategies as maladaptive ways of overcoming stress. Herman-Stahl and Petersen [7] also found a higher prevalence of passive and evasive coping and a lower prevalence of approaching coping at adolescents. The results of Chan’s [8] research conducted among Chinese medical students suggest that students in a depressive and those in a non-depressive mood equally used coping strategies such as problem solving and cognitive re-structuring. In the case of students in a depressive mood, however, the efficiency of these strategies was undermined by the fact that they tended to mull over the situation extensively and often were passive. These students also often avoided or denied the very existence of the problems. Margitics [9] in his research examined coping strategies in late adolescent (college students) and found that emotional coping strategies were in the closest interrelation with depression syndrome, with emotion-driven action as a characteristic element and the absence of retrieval and cognitive re-structuring. Coping strategies evolve as part of socialization, especially as part of socialization within the family. Any disturbance in the family socialization process may lead to a disturbance in the development of the individual, making it more difficult for the person concerned to adequately adopt to his or her environment. The objective of our research project has been to reveal the interrelations between the preferred coping strategies and family socialization factors, especially the influence of parents, at Hungarian secondary school and college students. We wished to survey the connections between the various family socialization factors (family atmosphere, educational objectives, means, style and attitudes of the parents, treatment received from parents) and the coping strategies preferred in different situations. Our research hypotheses were the following: • • •

There is a difference between the two sexes in their preference of coping strategies. Problem-based coping strategies are primarily attached to parental acceptance, education for independence and supportive parental attitude. Emotional coping strategies were primarily attached to the lack of parental care, manipulative, inconsistant educational attitude of the parents and punitive educational style of the parents.

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Ferenc Margitics and Zsuzsa Pauwlik

2. METHOD 2.1. Participants The data for the research project were gathered from students of secondary grammar schools, secondary vocational schools and colleges in SzabolcsSzatmár-Bereg County. Participation was always voluntary, the explicit consent of the students had been preliminarily granted. The respondents completed the questionnaires during lectures and other contact classes, with the guidance of the researchers. 1,104 students participated in the project, 700 women and 404 men. The breakdown according to school types was the following: • •

College students: 681 individuals (465 women, 216 men) Students of secondary grammar and secondary vocational schools: 423 individuals (235 girls, 188 boys)

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The average age was 18.52 years (standard deviation: 2,36; minimum: 14, maximum: 26, median: 19).

2.2. Measures The Examination of Coping Strategies: The Hungarian adaptation of the Folkman–Lazarus Conflict Solving Questionnaire [3]. The questionnaire contains 22 items and is used to reveal the behaviour of individuals in difficult situations. Respondents use a four-grade scale for each answer, from "entirely irrelevant” to "fully relevant.” Folkman and Lazarus arranged conflict-solving strategies into problem-based and emotion-based categories. The surveys conducted by Kopp and Skrabski confirmed the validity of this categorization. They found three problem-driven, three emotion-driven and one support-seeking factor. These are the following [4]: • • • •

Problem analysis Cognitive restructuring Conformance Emotion-driven action

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Preference of Coping Strategies and Parental Treatment • • • • •

5

Seeking emotional balance Retrieval Call for help A summary indicator of the problem-driven coping strategy A summary indicator of the emotion-driven coping strategy

Problem-driven coping strategies (problem analysis, cognitive re-structuring, conformance) measure the ability of the individual to analyse the problem, to influence the reasons and to obtain control over it. It also measures the ability of cognitive re-structuring. The second three emotion-driven coping strategies (emotion-driven action, seeking emotional equilibrium, retrieval) and call for help will come forward when the individual is not satisfactorily familiar with the problem or feels unable to obtain control over the situation.

The Examination of Family Socialization: We applied two different questionnaires:

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The Hungarian adaptation of Goch’s Family Socializational Questionnaire [10, 11]. •

The questionnaire describes the following dimensions of family socialization: type of the family atmosphere (rule-oriented family atmosphere, conflict-oriented family atmosphere), breeding target (breeding for autonomy, autonomy as a target of breeding, breeding for conformity, conformity as a breeding target), educational attitudes (consistent educational attitude, manipulative educational attitude, inconsistent educational attitude) and the educational style (supporting educational style, punishing educational style).

The Hungarian adaptation of the Parental Bonding Instrument [12] was the other instrument. The questionnaire has three main scales: love and care, overprotection, and restriction, applied separately to the mother and the father

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Ferenc Margitics and Zsuzsa Pauwlik

3. RESULTS 3.1. Descriptive and Comparative Statistics The descriptive statistics of the findings obtained with the Folkman-Lazarus Conflict Solving Questionnaire are summed up for the whole sample and in a breakdown according to genders in Table 1. Table 1. The average values and standard deviations of the Folkman-Lazarus Conflict Solving Questionnaire in a breakdown according to the two genders. The significant deviations at the two-paired t-test are marked at values higher than the average.

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Conflict Solving Questionnaire Problemfocused coping strategy Problem analysis Cognitive restructuring Conformance Emotionfocused coping strategy Emotion-driven actions Retrieval Seeking emotional balance Call for assistance

Total (n=1104) Mean Value 17,4

Standard Deviation 4,7

Women (n=700) Mean Value 17,5

Standard Deviation 4,7

Men (n=404) Mean Standard Value Deviation 17,2 4,8

6

2,1

6,2**

2

5,7

2,1

6,1

2,5

6,1

2,6

6,3

2,4

5,2 11

2,1 4,1

5,3 11,4**

2,2 3,9

5,1 10,3

2 4,2

2,9

2,2

3

2,2

2,9

2,2

5,1 2,9

2,1 1,5

5,4** 3

2,1 1,5

4,5 2,8

2,1 1,5

5,2

2,1

5,5**

2,1

4,5

2

The chart indicates that out of the problem-driven coping strategies, women tend to choose problem analysis (t=3,149; p