The role of respect for parental self, essential needs and self-efficacy in predicting the social emotional adjustment of five/six-year-old children

Abstract

This study was conducted to examine the relationships between five/six-year-old children's social emotional adjustment level and their parents' self-esteem, basic needs and self-efficacy. relational screening model was utilized in the study. The participants of the research consisted of 208 five/six-year-old children attending pre-school education and their parents (208 mothers and 208 fathers). The results showed positive significant correlations between children's social competence level and parents' self-esteem, self-efficacy and basic needs of survival, power, fun, belonging and freedom. There were negative significant correlations between children's anger-aggression level and parents' self-esteem, self-efficacy and basic need of survival, and negative significant correlations between children's anxiety-introversion level and parents' self-esteem, self-efficacy and basic needs of survival, power and belonging. The results also indicated that self-esteem, basic needs and self-efficacy altogether predicted 16% of social competency, 17% of anger-aggression and 24% of anxiety-introversion sub-tests of social emotional adjustment. In the study, implications of the findings were discussed and suggestions were given.