FAMILY FUNCTIONING AND SOCIAL COMPETENCE IN ADOLESCENTS: MEDIATING ROLE OF EMOTIONAL REGULATION

Abstract

The present study aimed at investigating the mediating role of emotion regulation in relationship between family functioning and social competences in adolescents. ICPS Family Functioning Scale (Noller, Seth-Smith, Bouma, & Schweitzer, 1992), Emotion Regulation Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (Gullone & Taffe, 2012) and Social Competence Scale (Smart & Sanson, 2003) were used on 621 adolescents, selected by purposive sampling technique to measure the study variables. Results revealed that family functioning has significant positive relationship with cognitive reappraisal (r=.17, p<0.01), emotional regulation (r=.14, p<0.01) and social competence (r=.36, p<0.01). Social competence has significant positive correlation with suppression (r=.14, p<0.01), cognitive reappraisal (r=.39, p<0.01), and emotional regulation (r=.34, p<0.01). Family functioning (β=.31, p<0.01) and emotional regulation (β=.29, p<0.01) have significantly and positively predicted social competences in college students. Intimacy (β=.39, p<0.01) and conflict (β=.11, p<0.01) have significantly and positively predicted social competences in college students. Cognitive reappraisal (β=.38, p<0.01) has significantly and positively predicted social competences in college students. Cognitive reappraisal has partially mediated between family functioning and social competences of the adolescents. Implications are discussed in the light of the results.

Keywords: Adolescents, Intimacy, Parenting Style, Reappraisal, Social Competence.