일반청소년과 비행청소년이 지각한 가족기능도와 그에 따른 스트레스 대처방식

Family Functioning and Stress Coping Strategies of Non-delinquent and Delinquent Adolescents

The purpose of this study was to compare family functioning as rated by non-delinquent and delinquent adolescents to examine difference sin perceived family functioning and stress coping strategies as well as the impact of individual and the family socio-demographic variables. Data were collected from 253 participants: a group of adolescents ages 14-17 who had no experience of delinquency, and a group of juvenile delinquents in a correctional institute. Results were as follows: first, non-delinquent adolescents perceived family functioning more positively than juvenile delinquents, indicating that family interaction could have much effect on adolescent delinquency. Second, non-delinquent adolescents who were collectivistic perceived family functioning more positively than non-delinquent adolescents who were individualistic. In addition, non-delinquent adolescents' perception of family functioning differed by social and economic class. In contrast, juvenile delinquents’ ratings of family functioning did not differ by family socio-demographic variables. Third, juvenile delinquents used the strained emotion easing strategy while non-delinquent adolescents favored the problem avoidance strategy. Fourth, with regard to the impact of individual and family socio-demographic variables on stress coping strategy, individualistic versus collectivistic tendency affected stress coping strategy, but stress coping strategy did not differ by family socio-demographic variables. This suggests that family interaction was more important to adolescents' development than was family structure. Fifth, hierarchical regression was conducted to investigate the relative effect of individual, family socio-demographic, and family functioning variables on stress coping strategy. Positive family functioning (especially family rules and respect for autonomy) was associated with effective stress coping strategies