The Relationship between Parent-Child Relationship and Perceived Stress among Adolescents in Kerala

Abstract

The 21st century has been plagued with the advent of technological advances that has significantly diminished the value of parent-child relationships among adolescents. The present quantitative study examines how parent child relationship affects stress levels among adolescents and was conducted among a young adolescents group with a sample size of 60 individuals. The tools used for conducting the study was Perceived Stress scale, Parent-Child relationship scale and the socio-demographic sheet. A correlational analysis was conducted to analyze the relationship between stress and parent-child relationship along with simple linear regression to explain the relationship. The results indicate that there is a significant relationship between stress and parent-child relationship with respect to both, mother and father-child relationships. By establishing parental warmth, care, and affection it is possible to regulate any distress resulting in lower stress for adolescents. The effects of a positive-parent child relationship can also be extended to helping manage academic stress by providing parental support and alleviating concerns of loneliness in managing crisis. Other noteworthy benefits of a positive parent-child relationship are in helping children to build confidence among themselves thereby enabling them to handle potentially demanding future events as well. In light of these findings, it may be argued that the effects of parent-child relationship, explored in the present study have long-term implications for children in general.