Inter parental Conflict and Its Influence on Adolescents’ Academic Self-Regulation
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Date
2015-04
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Examining the process how the exposure of adolescents to destructive interparental conflicts
influences their academic self-regulation; identifying the major causes of interparental conflicts
and types of conflict tactics that parents of adolescents employed to resolve marital conflicts
were the main purposes of this study. To investigate these problems, seven research questions
were formulated. Data were collected form 421 students of Gion, Fasilo and Bahir Dar
Preparatory schools and from 194 mothers of these students through questionnaire and semistructured
interview. Eighteen questionnaires from adolescents and 6 questionnaires from
mothers were discarded through data screening processes. As a result, the main analysis was
done based on 403 adolescents‟ (193 male and 210 female) and 188 mothers‟ questionnaire
responses. Percentage, one sample t test, repeated sample t test, independent t test, Pearson
Product Moment Correlation Coefficient, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) were
employed to analyze the data collected through questionnaires and description was used to
present the data collected through semi-structured interview. Thus, the percentage result of
mothers‟ ratings of causes revealed that household responsibility; follow up of child education,
child caring, disparity in parenting style, misunderstanding, lack of interest to generate income,
carelessness, insufficient income for the family, extravagance and lack of intimacy were the
major causes of marital conflicts. The t test results showed that these parents practiced more
destructive reasoning than verbal aggression & physical aggression, and more verbal aggression
than physical aggression when they resolve marital disagreements. The result of interview also
revealed that there are some homes that had applied hostile form of conflict resolution tactics. On
the other hand, the independent t test depicted that low self-regulated students reported higher
level of conflict property; threat appraisal; self-blame appraisal, and perception of low parental
support compared to high self-regulated students. Pearson correlation also revealed a statistically
significant negative relationship of academic self-regulation with conflict property, threat, selfblame
and low parental support. Consistently, the SEM analysis depicted that interparental
conflict negatively influences adolescent‟s academic self-regulation mediated by low parental
support and self-blame. Finally, on the basis of these findings conclusions, recommendations and
future research directions were forwarded.
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Keywords
Gion Fasilo