Growing Up Without Father: Fatherless and Adolescents’ Stress Coping in the Context of Sustainable Development Goals

Fathers play a crucial role in the emotional development of adolescents and their ability to cope with life’s pressures. The absence of a father, or a fatherless condition, may lead adolescents to experience difficulties in regulating their emotions and managing stress. This study aims to examine the influence of fatherless conditions on adolescents’ coping stress abilities. The research employed two measurement instruments: the Fatherless Scale (20 items; α = 0.925) and the Coping stress Scale (16 items; α = 0.716). The sampling technique used was purposive sampling, targeting adolescents aged 15 to 20 years who were willing to participate. A total of 380 respondents were included in this study. Hypothesis testing utilized Spearman’s rho correlation analysis, yielding a correlation coefficient of - 0.166 with a significance value of 0.001 (< 0.05). These findings indicate that higher levels of fatherless are associated with lower stress coping abilities among adolescents, highlighting the importance of paternal involvement and the need for family, school, and counseling based interventions to strengthen adaptive coping.