The role of adverse socioeconomic conditions (poverty) and material deprivation of children in predicting parental behaviour
The role of adverse socioeconomic conditions (poverty) and material deprivation of children in predicting parental behaviour

Summary/Abstract: The global economic crisis has not only shaken up the economy, but also family functioning, in which the most vulnerable groups took the hardest hit – children and adolescents. The goal of this scientific paper is to examine the role of an adverse socioeconomic family environment and the perception of material deprivation of children in forming an experience of parental acceptance, rejection and control.610 participants from primary schools of Croatia were involved in the research (51.6% girls and 44.8% boys, not all respondents provided the information about their sex), with average age being 13.88 years (SD = 0.73). Along with the Questionnaires of general data and SES questionnaire, the research included the Scale of material deprivation of students and Scale of perception of parental behaviour – SPRP (Macuka, 2008).The results of regression analysis indicate that the bigger the material deprivation of children, the smaller the amount of acceptance, and the larger the rejection of both parents and mother’s control. In the case of anticipating the control of the father, it does not have any predictive power. It was indicated that material deprivation of children is a more significant predictor of parental behaviour (acceptance, rejection and control) than the socioeconomic status.The conclusion points out the need for creating a family empowerment program and the importance of caring parental behaviour, along with the devastating effects of inadequate parental actions.

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