Patterns of Parental Abuse and Psychological Adjustment as Perceived by Adolescents in Light of Some Variables

Abstract

Purpose of this study was to determined Patterns of Parental Abuse as Perceived by Adolescents and their Psychological Adjustment, and to examine the effects of several variables (adolescent's gender, his/here age, family level of education, and family per capita). As well as, to determine the relationship between parental abuse of psychological adjustment among a sample of Irbid Educational Directorate students. The sample of the study consisted of (575) male and female students chosen through multi-stages cluster sampling. To achieve the goal of this study the researchers administrated Patterns of Parental Abuse Scale and Psychological Adjustment Scale after validity and reliability of both scales were ensured. The findings of the study showed that the total degree of the patterns of parental abuse scale in its (father and mother) forms were low. And total degree of the psychological adjustment scale was high. Moreover, findings showed that the lower age group of adolescents had psychological adjustment in all domains more than older age group. The emotional adjustment among males is higher than females while, the social and family adjustment among females was higher than males. The findings indicated that males faced abuse by their mothers and fathers in all domains higher than females. Mothers less than their older counterparts abuse adolescents with lower ages verbally. Furthermore, the findings showed a significant negative correlation coefficient between the pattern of parental abuse and the levels of psychological adjustment among adolescents. Several recommendations were suggested