PARENTAL WARMTH, AFFECTION AND BEHAVIOUR PROBLEMS AMONG SCHOOL STUDENTS

Abstract

There can scarcely be any doubt that today; students are pressurized on three fronts: school, parents, and society. This could lead to poor psychological well-being among them, as is evident from the ever- increasing spate of suicides occurring among India's youth. In order to meet these challenges, parents need to act as a source of unfailing support and encouragement for school-going students. Hence, the present study intends to identify the relationship of parental warmth and affection with behaviour problems of school students. It also aims to identify the influence of gender, grade and mothers' occupational status on behaviour problems among school students. An ex post facto research design was used for the study, and a convenience sampling procedure to collect data. The total sample comprises 99 students studying in Standards (Stds) 8, 9, 10 and 11. Of the total number of students, 53 were boys and 46 girls. The Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire was used to assess parental warmth and affection. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire was used to assess behaviour problems. Pearson's Correlation was used to test the relationship in
question, and a t-test was used to ascertain the difference in behaviour problems based on gender, grade and mothers' occupational status. The findings revealed that parental warmth and affection as negatively related to behaviour problems among school students. It was also found that there were no differences in behaviour problems based on gender and mothers' occupational status. However, students from Standards 8 and 9 were found to have relatively more behaviour problems than those in Standards 10 and 11. The findings were discussed, based on the importance of parenting during adolescence.