Correlations of sense of family coherence in adolescents

Abstract

Theoretical basis of the paper is a salutogenetic model of Aron Antonovski's model and belief that apart from the sense of coherence and sense of family coherence , as central sources of health, generalized and specific health sources are also important. The mentioned health sources Antonovski determines as different characteristics of an individual, group or environment which help mastering tension, which is caused by different stressors or serve for avoiding or suppress different stressors. The paper examines correlation of the sense of family coherence in adolescents with some variables which are included in the research as health sources (resistance sources). The aim of research was to examine the sense of family coherence in adolescents with: satisfaction with family (generally and globally), self-respect, family financial situation, educational level of their parents, success in education so far, number of family members and birth order. The sample consisted of adolescents of both sexes, aged 15 to 24 (N=360). Questionnaire of basic data, Scale for estimation of family coherence, Scale of family adaptation and Scale of self-respect are used for the research purposes. The data was processed by correlative analysis. Results obtained showed that there is a positive correlation of sense of family coherence in adolescents (both as a whole and as components) with general and global satisfaction with family and self-respect, as well as correlation of components with family financial situation and school/academic success. Results obtained point to the conclusion that stronger feeling of family coherence is found in adolescents who are more satisfied with their families (generally and globally), those who posess higher self-respect, have better family financial situation and adolescents who have been more successful in their education. Total attitude of the adolescents towards their families is not in connection with the level of their parents education, order of birth or with the number of family members. Results obtained are in accordance with the majority of hypothesis, theoretical basis of the paper and the results of previous researches.

Keywords

• sense of family coherence
• adolescents
• sources of health
• satisfaction with family
• self-respect