The Relationships of the Female High School Students’ Coping Strategies toward Conflict with Their Mothers, Stress Responses, and Differentiation of Self

Abstract

  In this study, we focused on mother - daughter relationships and clarified the relationship between stress and the differentiation of self and how to deal with mothers' attitudes that high school girls find stressful. We conducted a questionnaire survey and created a scale so that we could discuss the attitudes and coping strategies of daughters who feel stressed. Path analysis confirmed that high school girls who communicated their intentions to their mothers and faced them directly had a high differentiation of self. It was also shown that high school girls who gave up and overreacted to conflicts with their mothers had a low differentiation of self, and had strong moody / angry, depressed / anxious feelings. It was shown that coping with conflicts with mothers and the differentiation of self are also related to self-efficacy in fulfilling social roles. It was suggested that facing conflicts and reconsidering their relationship with their mothers is an important task for high school girls in order for them to become independent.