Abstract

This study aims to investigate the relations of parents' child rearing attitudes to stress and coping of college students. The participants were 421 college students (186 males and 235 females), whose ages ranged from 18 to 30 (M=20.57, SD=2.05). The instruments utilized in the present study were Korean version of Parker's Parental Bonding Instrument, the Life Stress Scale, and the Multidimensional Coping Scale. Correlational analysis revealed that perceived parents' child rearing attitudes were associated with stress in interpersonal relationships with family, friends, lovers, and faculties. Parents' child rearing attitudes were correlated with male students' concern about future as well as children's value related stress. Regression analysis revealed that fathers' child rearing attitudes accounted for around 23% variance of life stress for males and 11% for female, while mothers' child rearing attitudes accounted for around 26% variance of life stress for males and 13% for female. Parents' intrusion was positively correlated with active forgetting, self-restraint, obstinacy, concession renunciation, and self-critique, while parents' warmth and autonomy granting toward children were positively correlated with active coping, emotional quiet, and positive interpretation. And the suggestion for future studies and the possible influence of child rearing attitudes to stress and coping of college students were discussed with this results and previous studies. (Korean J Str Res 2008;16:251∼259)

• Keywords: Child rearing attitudes, Stress, Coping, College students;