Parent - Young Adult Relationship with Self-esteem among Undergraduate Students

Worldwide, there are over 1.8 billion young people living today and 90 % of who live in developing countries1. Parent–child relationships are central to psychological development and several studies have shown that suboptimal parenting is an important risk factor for psychological disorder in clinical and representative community samples.2 This study is an insight to know the Parent - Young Adult Relationship in the current generation of young adult and its impact on Self - esteem. Research results carried out on this topic suggest & promote Parents and Young Adult to have a better relationship. The aim of the study was to correlate relationship between Parent - Young Adult with Self-esteem among undergraduate students in selected college at Puducherry. Methods: A Quantitative Descriptive Research Design was used to assess the correlation between Parent - Young Adult Relationship with Self-esteem among undergraduate students in selected college at Puducherry. After taking a written consent, both male and female (117) undergraduate students (18 - 21 years) were selected using Simple Random Sampling Technique. The Parent - Young Adult Relationship among undergraduate students was assessed by Parent Adult Child Relationship Questionnaire (PACQ) and level of Self esteem was assessed by Rosenberg's Self - esteem Scale. The data was analyzed by using frequency, percentage, mean and Standard Deviation. Correlate the relationship between Parent - Young Adult Relationship and Self – esteem was analyzed by using Pearson’s correlation coefficient test. The association between the demographic variables between Parent - Young Adult Relationship and Self – esteem was analyzed by using Fisher’s exact test Result: The results show the correlation between Parent - Young Adult Relationship with Self-esteem among 117 undergraduate students. The mean self esteem score was 19.26 ± 3.791 and it ranged from 6 to 29. The level of self - esteem among nursing college students was normal, high and low, for 88.0%, 5.1% and 6.9%, respectively. There was a weak negative correlation observed between Parent - Young Adult relationship (Father) with Self - esteem in control aspect which implies greater the control by father lower the Self - esteem of the students. There was no statistically significant correlation was observed between Parent-Young Adult Relationship (Mother) with self -esteem at the significance level of p>0.05. Statistically significant association was found between Parent-Young Adult Relationship (Father - Regard) with gender, (Father -control) with Occupation, (Father - Responsibility) with feels more attached. Statistically significant association was noted between Parent-Young Adult Relationship (Mother - Responsibility) with year of studying implying B.Sc (N) - II Year and with area of residence, (Mother - Regard) with time spent every day (1-2 hours). Borderline statistically significant association was found in (Father - Control) with feels more attached & area of residence and (Mother - Responsibility) with Occupation. Conclusion: The findings of the study reflect that the Undergraduate relationship with both of their parents and majority Undergraduate students had normal self - esteem. The way parents raise their children influences the development of their self-esteem. Stronger relationship with parents boosts the self-esteem level in an individual. The study participants get benefited by participating in the study. Conducting this research in another society and with a greater sample size and in different setting may generate different results.