The Relationship among Japanese Mothers' Parenting Skills towards Early Adolescents, Adolescents' Sense of Mutual Trust, and Psychological Adjustment

Abstract

　　The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among Japanese mothers' parenting skills towards early adolescents, adolescents' sense of mutual trust, and psychological adjustment. Parenting skills is defined here as “mothers’ actions for constructing and maintaining good relations with their early adolescent children.” A parenting scale is composed of three subscales: Morality skill (9 items), Self-esteem skill (8 items), and Understanding-interest skill (6 items). The scale for the sense of mutual trust in the mother-adolescent relationship is defined here as “mother and child mutually and sincerely understanding each other, and their relationship is based on a sense of trust and security.” Items were collected from descriptions provided by 3 graduate students and 2 psychologists. They examined the validity of the content of the questionnaire, and a 12-item “Adolescents’ Sense of Mutual Trust Scale” was developed. The result of this principal component analysis showed a composition of 10 items.

　　Antecedent research and the gender difference of parenting skills will reveal the gender differences of this study. This study analyzed the gender distinction of the correlation analysis and the multiple regression analysis. As a result, “adolescents’ sense of mutual trust” significantly predicted for “maladjustment,” and “self-esteem” towards only males. “Understanding-interest skill” significantly predicted for “adolescents’ sense of mutual trust,” and “self-esteem skill” significantly predicted for “adolescents’ sense of mutual trust” and “self-esteem” towards only females.