How the parent-adolescent relationship affects well-being in Dutch parents?

The focus of scientific research on the parental well-being has been mainly placed on parents of pre-school children. However, recent findings indicated that parents of pre-school children show lower levels of depression and higher levels of self-efficacy and self-esteem, compared to parents of older children. The purpose of this paper is to establish to what extent the parent-adolescent relationship, coping strategies and co-parent relationship, influences the parental well-being.

This study was conducted to establish to what extent the parent-adolescent relationship, coping strategies and co-parent relationship, influences the parental well-being of parents in a sample of 310 Dutch parents with children aged 12-18. Participants filled out questionnaires on the parental well-being and coping. Path analysis using a structural equation model (SEM) was performed.

The SEM revealed that active problem-focused coping strategies were predictive of higher levels of parenting-related well-being. The satisfaction of the relationship with the co-parent predicted both higher levels of parenting- and individual-related well-being. Lower levels of parenting-related well-being were significantly related to more problems in the parent-adolescent relationship, which, in turn, were related to decreased individual-related well-being.

Future studies on the influence of coping strategies and the co-parent relationship satisfaction are recommended to create greater understanding of the underlying mechanisms and their positive effect on the parental well-being.

This study could lead to improvements in the support system for parents raising adolescents.

The present study shows that the parent-child relationship is an important predictive factor in parental well-being. This study also shows that the more highly parents scored on co-parent relationship satisfaction, the less they saw parenting as a burden and the more they felt they had the parenting skills to control the behavior of their child.