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Parental Emotional Support, Family Functioning and Children's Quality of Life

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Abstract

The healthy development of children and young people is strongly associated with the relationship that they establish with parents and the functioning of their family as a whole, with a special focus on the affective relationship between parents and children. One aspect that has more influence on the well-being and quality of life of children is the affective relationship and family dynamics, so, to deepen knowledge in this area, our study aims to understand and characterize the role of parents' emotional support in their children's quality of life. It is also intended to understand this relationship by taking into account the family functioning style. The sample included 1757 parents of children aged 6 to 16 years, 77.3% female (n = 1359) and 22.7% male (n = 398), aged between 20 and 80 years (M = 41.61 and SD = 5.71). We used a sociodemographic questionnaire and other instruments in order to measure parental styles, family functioning style, and parents' perception of the children's quality of life. Results show that parenting styles, namely, emotional support, and family functioning are influenced by parents’ gender and age. Parental emotional support is better explained by the positive association with control attempt, family cohesion and commitment, and parent’s perception of quality of life, and negative associated to gender (male), rejection and coping strategies. Implications for research, prevention, and psychological intervention in relation to parental skills and family functioning are presented in order to promote children quality of life and health development.

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Abbreviations

EMBU-P:

Egna Minnen Betraffande Uppfostran

ES:

Emotional Support

CA:

Control Sttempt

INE:

Instituto Nacional de Estatística (National Statistical Institute)

M:

Mean

PARTheory:

Parental Acceptance-Rejection Theory

QoL:

Quality of Life

RJ:

Rejection

SD:

Standard deviation

WHO:

World Health Organization

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Acknowledgements

Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), CLISSIS/Lusiada University, ISAMB/Lisbon University

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Lisbon, ISAMB, Lisbon, Portugal

    Tania Gaspar, Fábio Botelho Guedes & Margarida Gaspar de Matos

  2. Faculty of Human Kinetics, Aventura social, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

    Tania Gaspar, Ana Cerqueira, Fábio Botelho Guedes & Margarida Gaspar de Matos

  3. Lusiada University, Lisbon, Portugal

    Tania Gaspar, Ana Cerqueira & Fábio Botelho Guedes

Authors
  1. Tania Gaspar
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  2. Ana Cerqueira
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  3. Fábio Botelho Guedes
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  4. Margarida Gaspar de Matos
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Contributions

TG general coordinator of the manuscript; data analysis and treatment; discussion and conclusions. FBG literature review and presentation and comment the results. AC literature review and presentation and comment the results. MM overall revision of the manuscript; contributions to the discussion and conclusions.

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Correspondence to Tania Gaspar.

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Study was approved by Education Ministry, school-based survey monitoring department.

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The questionnaires are self-fulfilling, and all participants were informed about the purpose of the study and agreed to participate. Was assured and maintain anonymity and confidentiality. Statement—“I declare that I have read and understood the information provided to me. I have been assured that I may, at any time, refuse to participate in this study without having to give any kind of justification. I ACCEPT to participate in this study and allow the use of the data that I voluntarily provide, trusting that they will only be used for this research and in accordance with the guarantees of confidentiality and anonymity indicated to me. Signature”.

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Gaspar, T., Cerqueira, A., Guedes, F.B. et al. Parental Emotional Support, Family Functioning and Children's Quality of Life. Psychol Stud 67, 189–199 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12646-022-00652-z

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