Perceived Family and School Rejection and Adolescents’ Psychological States*

This study deals with the perceived acceptance-rejection of male and female adolescents at home and at school and their association with the psychological states experienced by them. A sample of 350 female and 220 male 10th grade students filled out two questionnaires: Dwairy’s Rejection Scale, measuring acceptance-rejection by fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, male teachers, female teachers, male classmates and female classmates, and the Psychological State Scale, measuring anxiety, depression, psychosomatic symptoms and conduct disorders. The results show that all perceived acceptance-rejection circuits are associated with and merged in three major factors of rejection: family, teachers, and classmates. All the factors were associated with psychological states experienced by the adolescents with a cross-gender effect. Experienced psychological states of male adolescents were associated with perceived acceptance-rejection circuits at home and at school, in particular when related to female figures, while psychological states of female adolescents were associated with male and female figures at home. The results highlight the need for a systemic approach in research