The relationship between self-compassion, dimensions of parental behaviour and indicators of psychological functioning

Dosadašnja strana istraživanja ističu samosuosjećanje kao obećavajući psihološki mehanizam zaštite mentalnog zdravlja i otpornosti. Međutim, na adolescentskoj populaciji ona su rijetka i u svojoj ranoj fazi, te smo ovim radom nastojali doprinijeti teorijskim saznanjima o samosuosjećanju upravo na populaciji adolescenata. Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je ispitati odnos samosuosjećanja sa sociodemografskim karakteristikama adolescenata (spolom, vrstom škole i razredom), s dimenzijama roditeljskog ponašanja (prihvaćanjem, odbacivanjem i kontrolom od strane oca i majke) i s pokazateljima psihološkog funkcioniranja (optimizmom, zadovoljstvom životom, otpornosti, pozitivnim afektom i negativnim afektom). Za potrebe rada korištene su sljedeće skale: Ljestvica samosuosjećanja (Neff, 2003), Skala percepcije roditeljskog ponašanja (Macuka, 2007), Revidirani test životnog usmjerenja (Scheier, Carver i Bridges, 1994), Skala zadovoljstva životom (Diener, Emmons, Larsen i Griffin, 1985), Kratka skala otpornosti (Smith i sur., 2008) i Skala pozitivnih i negativnih afektivnih stanja (Watson, Clark i Tellegen, 1988). U istraživanju je sudjelovalo 439 adolescenata (218 adolescenata i 221 adolescentica) iz tri gimnazije i dvije strukovne srednje škole. Rezultati rada pokazuju da djevojke imaju statistički značajno niže samosuosjećanje u odnosu na mladiće. Razlika u razini samosuosjećanja nije se pokazala statistički značajnom s obzirom na vrstu škole i razred koji adolescenti pohađaju. Nadalje, samosuosjećanje je pokazalo značajnu pozitivnu bivarijatnu povezanost s prihvaćanjem od oca i majke, a značajno negativnu bivarijatnu povezanost s odbacivanjem i kontrolom od oca i majke. Regresijske analize pokazale su da su značajni prediktori u objašnjenju indvidualnih razlika u samosuosjećanju bili samo viša razina prihvaćanja od strane oca kod mladića i djevojaka i niža razina kontrole od strane majke kod djevojaka. Osim toga, samosuosjećanje se pokazalo statistički značajno i pozitivno povezanim s optimizmom, zadovoljstvom životom, otpornosti i pozitivnim afektom te značajno negativno povezanim s negativnim afektom.Former foreign research emphasizes self-compassion as a promising psychological mechanism for the protection of mental health and resilience. However, such research has rarely been conducted on adolescents or it is in its early stages. Therefore, with this paper, we seek to contribute to the theoretical knowledge on self-compassion when it comes to adolescents. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between self-compassion and the sociodemographic characteristics of adolescents (gender, type of school and class), the dimensions of parental behavior (acceptance, rejection and control of the parents), as well as the indicators of psychological functioning (optimism, life satisfaction, resilience, positive affect and negative affect). For the purposes of the paper, the following scales were used: Self-compassion Scale (Neff, 2003), Perception of Parental Behavior Scale (Macuka, 2007), Life Orientation Test-Revised (Scheier, Carver and Bridges, 1994), Satisfaction With Life Scale (Diener, Emmons, Larsen and Griffin, 1985), the Brief Resilience Scale (Smith et al., 2008) and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (Watson, Clark and Tellegen, 1988). The study included 439 adolescents (218 male adolescents and 221 female adolescents) from three grammar schools and two vocational schools. The results show that female adolescents have statistically lower self-compassion when compared to male adolescents. The difference in the level of self-compassion did not prove to be statistically significant given the type of school and the grade the adolescents attend. Moreover, self-compassion was found to have significant bivariate positive association with acceptance from the parents, and significant negative bivariate association with their dismissal and control. Regression analyses shown that only significant predictors in explaining individual differences in self-compassion in boys were acceptance by the father, and in girls, acceptance by the father and lower control by the mother. Furthermore, self-compassion was proven to be statistically significant and positively associated with optimism, life satisfaction, resilience and positive affect, and negatively associated with negative affect