Abstract
In this study, we examined the demographic and psychological variables associated with seeking help from parents, friends, and professionals for coping with emotional problems during early and middle adolescence. Two-hundred and twentyone adolescents (109 males, 112 females), ranging in age from 13 to 18years (mean age=15.0 years), completed measures assessing self-worth, self-consciousness, and locus of control. Adolescents were also asked to report whether or not they had sought help from mothers, fathers, friends, and professionals for assistance in coping with a recent stress event. Descriptive analyses revealed that more adolescent females and middle adolescents reported seeking assistance from mothers, friends, and professionals than males and early adolescents. While no difference emerged between early and middle adolescent females in their utilization of mothers and fathers as support providers, middle adolescent males were more likely to report seeking help from their fathers than were younger adolescent males. A series of stepwise discriminant function analyses were conducted in order to determine the extent to which age, gender, self-worth, self-consciousness, and locus of control predicted seeking help. Differential patterns of predictor variables emerged for each helping resource. For example, females and adolescents with an internal locus of control were more likely to report seeking help from their mothers than males and adolescents with an external locus of control. With respect to fathers, adolescents who sought help from their fathers were less self-conscious than those who did not seek help. Those adolescents who reported seeking help from professionals were older, had lower self-worth, and were less self-consciousness than those adolescents who reported that they did not seek help from professionals. Results are discussed with regard to mechanisms of differential gender socialization during adolescence.
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Received Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. Research interests include adolescent social cognitive development, developmental psychopathology, and stress and coping.
Research interests include stress and coping in adolescence and social competence.
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Schonert-Reichl, K.A., Muller, J.R. Correlates of help-seeking in adolescence. J Youth Adolescence 25, 705–731 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01537450
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01537450
Keywords
- Discriminant Function
- Emotional Problem
- Early Adolescent
- Adolescent Female
- Adolescent Male