PARENTAL SUPPORT AND ITS ROLE ON YOUTH AND ADULT SELF-EFFICACY

Alexandra Maria ROȘU (1), Andreea ȘIȚOIU (2), Georgeta PÂNIȘOARĂ (3)
Keywords: parental support, self-efficacy, recognition of feelings.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.26758/14.1.14

(1) (2) (3) University of Bucharest, Doctoral School of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Bucharest, Romania;  e-mail: (1) alexandra.rosu43@drd.unibuc.ro ;(2) andreea.sitoiu.20@drd.unibuc.ro; (3) georgeta.panisoara@fpse.unibuc.ro;

(2) Transilvania University, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Brasov, Romania; e-mail: andreea.sitoiu@unitbv.ro

Address correspondence to: Andreea Șițoiu, Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Transilvania University, Boulevard of Heroes, 29 Brasov, Romania; Phone: +40785946659; E-mail: andreea.sitoiu@unitbv.ro

Abstract

Objectives. Parental support has become an important element for the complete development of today’s child, who will become the young person and adult of the future, as well as for effective parenting. This study aimed to determine the extent to which parental support is experienced and its impact on youth and adult self-efficacy.

Material and methods. This study was conducted on a sample of 247 respondents, 226 (91%) female, 20 (8%) male, and 1 respondent who did not state gender. The method used was the indirect survey, and the research instrument used was the questionnaire.

Results. A significant effect of the established relationship with parents on parental support was obtained, F(2, 70.50) = 4.31, p = .01, p < .05. A statistically significant difference (t = – 6.33, p < .001) was established between the variance of the self-efficacy means in the case of respondents whose feelings were recognized by their parents, as a specific strategy for parental support compared to respondents who did not experience this strategy during childhood. A significant effect of the relationship established with the parents on the self-efficacy level of the respondents was identified and perceived parental support was associated with self-efficacy.

Conclusions. The study demonstrates the importance of parental support for the acquisition of self-efficacy and subsequent development of the young person, recognizing that it becomes all the stronger as it is provided equally by both parents.

Keywords: parental support, self-efficacy, recognition of feelings.

Introduction

Parental support refers to a wide range of activities, such as guidance, connection, and involvement in children’s lives (lifestyle, academic achievement), so that children perceive the positive resources they can obtain from their relationship with their parents (Youn, Napolitano, Han, Lee, & Rounds, 2023).

Along with parental support, self-efficacy is a key concept in the psychology of learning, as it has strong implications for achieving success. Young people must build a strong sense of self-efficacy to be able to cope with the situations to which they are exposed and to support their perseverance and courage at an optimal level in subsequent situations that will require different skills, capacities, and competences (Pânișoară, 2019).

Parental support

Thomas (1974) defines parental support as the behavior shown by a parent towards his child, making him feel comfortable in the parent’s presence, which conveys in the child’s mind that he is accepted and approved as a person by the parent. For example, parents show support when they praise their children, show them affection, and pay attention when children talk.

A differentiation between the concepts of parental involvement and parental support is necessary. According to Ruholt, Gore, & Dukes (2015), parental involvement refers to the presence of the parent in the child’s daily life and school activities, and parental support considers the emotional role the parent has in the child’s life, the role of support in situations varying in level of challenge, focusing on the child’s feelings.

From the perspective of the child’s growth and education, parents with a high level of parental support will demonstrate more qualities in terms of the parenting practices used, showing care and warmth towards the children, but also the willingness to communicate openly with them, also showing the tendency to approach parenting authoritatively. While children who benefit from parental support develop harmoniously multilaterally, those who are not supported by their parents or whose level of support is low frequently experience negative emotions, an inability to cope with stress, and an increased risk of consuming banned substances (Mills, Mann, Smith, & Kristjansson, 2021).

Studies show that parental support is a stimulus, model, or support for young people and is correlated with academic performance and the adoption of healthy habits (Moral-García, Urchaga-Litago, Ramos-Morcillo, & Maneiro, 2020). The same authors emphasize the significant importance of parental support in the education and training of young people.

From the point of view of the parental support offered to improve the academic results of young people, in agreement with UNESCO (2021), the following was found: parents from lower socioeconomic backgrounds or minority groups often face obstacles of both material and psychological nature when they want to get involved in the education of children so that the latter achieve academic performance. Parents from ethnic or minority groups, as well as parents of migrant or refugee children, show a low level of confidence and believe that they do not have the necessary skills to guide their children. This level of self-efficacy perceived by parents becomes lower as children advance in the school curriculum and the tasks present a high degree of difficulty.

Parental influence on their children’s behaviors can be related to social learning theory regarding the regulation of human motivation and action (Aguilar, Vergara, Velásquez, Marina, & García-Hermoso, 2015). Parents must be aware that their role and the support they offer to children are very important in shaping healthy habits.  Parents with a high level of emotional intelligence demonstrate a high level of parental competence as a result of the specific emotional intelligence strategies they use in the parenting process (Șițoiu & Pânișoară, 2023) being more able to demonstrate parental support. Even though parental support is essential for both genders, it appears that maternal modeling of healthy habits has a greater influence on children compared to paternal modeling (Schoeppe, Vandelanotte, Bere, Lien, Verloigne, Kovacs, Van Lippevelde, 2017; Jacobi, Caille, Borys, Lommez, Couet, Charles, & Oppert, 2011).

Self-efficacy of young people

Self-efficacy comes from the principles set out in Bandura’s work involving social cognition and social learning theory (Bandura, 1977) and is defined as representing the evaluative perception that a person builds about his abilities and capacities in a certain activity to achieve success (Ghita, 2019).

Unlike self-esteem, which focuses on “being”, expressing, for example, the feeling that the person is accepted as he is (Ackerman, 2018) self-efficacy focuses more on “doing”, representing the ability of the individual to manage the challenges encountered. Starting from the conceptual differentiation of the two terms, it is recognized that a high level of self-esteem improves the level of self-efficacy, with the reciprocal effect also valid: increased self-efficacy determines a high level of self-esteem (Ackerman, 2018).

Garrido (2023) presents the conceptual differentiation of the terms motivation and self-efficacy, highlighting the fact that a person’s motivation has in mind the desire to achieve a goal, while the self-efficacy of that person is represented by the confidence that he can achieve that goal.

Ghita (2019) indicates that the level of self-efficacy influences personal adaptation, motivation, and performance. The key principles of self-efficacy include:

a) personal performance measures, in which the individual methodically considers possible outcomes before implementing an action;

b) indirect learning, in which the perception of social reality is based on observational experiences and the results associated with those experiences;

c) verbal persuasion, incorporating coaching techniques and constructive feedback during the performance and

d) evaluation of the emotional state of the individual during the performance of the task.

Tsang, Hui, & Law, (2012) describe the four psychological processes through which a person’s self-efficacy beliefs operate:

  1. Cognitive processes refer to the self-evaluation of one’s capacities, abilities, and resources to achieve the objectives, as well as the anticipation of success or failure scenarios in the context of achieving the proposed objectives. Cognitive processes are also represented by the selection of optimal solutions for solving problems, respectively, by maintaining focused attention on the performance of the task.
  2. Motivational processes consider three cognitive motivators that influence beliefs about self-efficacy, namely: attribution, the value of results, and the clarity and value of the objectives that the individual wants to achieve.
  3. Affective processes are represented not only by the individual’s self-perception of coping skills but also by threat management to effectively manage anxiety symptoms when the person is exposed to stress factors.
  4. Selection processes influence a person’s self-efficacy beliefs through personal and professional life decisions. From this perspective, people with a higher level of self-efficacy are more proactive in selecting and creating a physical and social environment based on their own resources and capabilities.

Carey & Forsyth (2009) admit that self-efficacy is also highlighted when the individual has control over his motivation, behavior, and the social environment he is part of. This control influences the achievement of set goals, the amount of energy mobilized to achieve the goal, but also the increase in the chances of achieving performance from a behavioral point of view in different contexts.

Ackerman (2018) describes a series of situations in which individual behaviors indicate a high level of self-efficacy, as follows: a student who is not intellectually gifted but has confidence in his ability to learn better; an individual who has not been successful in terms of romantic relationships but has a positive perception of his ability to handle the next date; a mother-to-be who feels stressed about caring for her child but realizes that she has all the skills to succeed even if the challenge is very great; a recent graduate who accepts a highly challenging job, often suited to experienced people in the field, but is confident that she will be able to cope with the challenges. The last situation described by Ackerman (2018) is represented by the entrepreneur, who uses all his resources to open his business but has the power to implement his new idea when the newly opened business encounters difficulties that have no solution.

Studies on the relationship between parental support and youth self-efficacy

 It has been demonstrated that in educational environments, young people are characterized both by different objectives and by different levels of self-efficacy. Support from teachers and parents alike becomes necessary in this context because, as young people engage in the task, they acquire problem-solving skills, creative thinking, and self-evaluation of learning progress. All this contributes to the development of self-efficacy. The more correctly the adult’s support is perceived by the student, developing a positive perception of the progress made, the more the levels of self-efficacy and motivation increase and the learning skills improve (Schunk, 2001; Betoret, Rosello, & Artiga, 2017).

More recent studies (Youn, Napolitano, Han, Lee, & Rounds, 2023) found that parental support is essential in underpinning youth career self-efficacy. In anyone’s life, self-efficacy plays an important role in building confidence and the ability to perform tasks. Studies show that parents have a significant role in shaping the self-efficacy and emotional intelligence of young people (Nordin, Talib, Saputra, Shah, Ab Raji, & Mokhtar, 2023).

Positive self-perceptions (e.g., self-efficacy, self-esteem) and perceived supportive relationships (social support, parental support) are conceptualized in the literature as resources that promote successful youth adjustment (Saunders, Davis, Williams, & Williams, 2004). A positive self-image and confidence in one’s abilities are also valuable in helping youth successfully cope with emotional difficulties (DuBois, Burk-Braxton, Swenson, Tevendale, Lockerd , & Moran, 2002).

Parental support is also represented by the resources that parents have and can provide to their children, but this support involves competition for those resources. According to resource depletion theory, middle-aged parents face more challenges in terms of time and energy devoted to children, and children from large families experience less success in everyday life and benefit from fewer resources from parents and implicit parental support (Fingerman, Miller, Birditt, & Zarit, 2009).

Other research has concluded that parental support impacts youth self-efficacy through each of four sources of self-efficacy (Lent, Ireland, Penn, Morris, & Sappington, 2017): (1) achievement, (2) vicarious experience, (3) verbal persuasion, and (4) emotional state. For example, parents act as “socializers” and “primary providers of encouragement,” shaping how their children perceive their abilities and how they feel about the decisions they make (Turner & Lapan, 2002). A recent study (Di Giunta, Lunetti, Gliozzo, Rothenberg, Lansford, Eisenberg, & Virzì, 2022) emphasizes the importance of parental involvement in adolescent emotional regulation, such that maternal rejection was associated with depressive symptoms and lower self-efficacy.

Hayek, Schneider, Lahoud, Tueni, & de Vries (2022) draw attention to the need to adopt interventions aimed at optimizing positive parenting strategies because they found in their study that self-efficacy and the intention to get good grades mediate the relationship between parenting style and school performance. Adolescents with authoritative parents develop stronger self-efficacy beliefs and higher intentions and are subsequently more likely to achieve better results in school.

Therefore, studies in the literature emphasize the close relationship between parental support and child/youth self-efficacy, with effects in multiple areas of life, such as emotional regulation, psychosocial adjustment, school performance, and career choice.

Current study. Objectives and research questions

The present study aims to investigate the impact of parental support on youth self-efficacy. Along with this general objective of the study, it is identified how the parent-child relationship influences not only perceived parental support but also the self-efficacy level of young people. The independent variables analyzed in the research are represented by the parent-child relationship, adopted parental strategies, and parental support. The dependent variables analyzed are parental support and self-efficacy level. It is found that the parental support variable is treated alternatively both as an independent variable and as a dependent variable.

Research questions and hypotheses

To investigate the aforementioned objectives, the following research questions and hypotheses were formulated:

RQ1: Can the parent-child relationship be an indicator of parental support in youth/adults?

RQ2: Is the level of self-efficacy of youth/adults higher in the case of parenting practices based on the recognition of feelings as opposed to youth/adults who have not benefited from such parenting practices?

RQ3: How does the level of self-efficacy of young people/adults vary depending on the relationship established with their parents?

RQ4: Is there a positive association between parental support and youth/adult self-efficacy?

H1: The parent-child relationship is an indicator of parental support perceived by young people/adults.

H2: There are differences in the level of self-efficacy in the case of young people/adults depending on the parenting strategies adopted.

H3: As the youth/adult has a close relationship with both parents, a high level of individual self-efficacy is found.

H4: A high level of parental support is associated with a high level of youth/adult self-efficacy.

Material and methods

Participants

The sample for this research consisted of 247 respondents: 226 (91%) female, 20 (8%) male, and 1 respondent who did not state gender. The age ranges vary from under 20 years old to over 45 years old, with the predominant ones being under 20 years old in the case of 38 respondents (15%), 21–25 years old for 69 respondents (28%), and over 45 years old in the case of 44 respondents (18%).

Procedure

Data for the present study were collected online by disseminating the form in a virtual format, predominantly in social media groups. There were no exclusion conditions for participating in the study, and the data was collected from respondents, including adults. Regardless of the respondent’s age, he received the recommendation to complete the retrospective questionnaire regarding the relationship he had with his parents, especially during his childhood. Participants gave their consent to participate and were informed that they could withdraw from the study at any time. In addition to completing the instruments, they also provided a range of demographic information (age, gender).

The collected data were later processed using the Excel database and statistically interpreted using the Jamovi program.

Instruments

To identify the level of parental support experienced by respondents, the Perceived Parental Autonomy Support Scale (P-PASS), validated by Mageau, Ranger, Joussemet, Koestner, Moreau, & Forest (2015), was used and translated into Romanian by Raluca Livinți. The scale is composed of 24 items distributed in 6 factors as follows: Factor 1 – Choice Within Certain Limits; Factor 2 – Rationale for Demands and Limits; Factor 3 –  Acknowledgement of Feelings; Factor 4 – Threats to Punish; Factor 5 – Performance Pressures; Factor 6 – Guilt-Inducing Criticisms. The responses are provided on a five-step Likert scale, ranging from 1 (to a very little extent) to 5 (to a very large extent).

To identify the level of self-efficacy of respondents, the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE) (Schwarzer & Jerusalem, 1995), translated into Romanian by Roxana Dimache and Coralia Sulea, was used. The scale is composed of 10 items. The responses are provided on a five-step Likert scale, ranging from 1 (to a very little extent) to 5 (to a very large extent).

The reliability coefficients (Cronbach’s alpha coefficients – α) in the present study were: α = .82 for the Perceived Parental Autonomy Support Scale (P-PASS) and α = .89 for the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE).

Results

 Descriptive statistics

The means, standard deviations, standard error, minimum, maximum, skewness, and kurtosis for each variable are presented in Table 1. The value of skewness varies between – 1.02 and .44, and the value of kurtosis varies between – 1.19 and .96. Both ranges of values are statistically acceptable. Therefore, after the normality of the research variables was analyzed, all skewness and kurtosis values were within an acceptable range.

Table 1

Descriptive statistics for parental support and self-efficacy variables (to see Table 1, please click here).

Verification of Hypothesis 1: The parent-child relationship is an indicator of parental support perceived by youth/adults.

 To determine how parental support perceived by young people and adults varies depending on the relationship they have established with their parents, an Anova analysis of variance was performed between the dependent variable perception of parental support and the categorical independent variable parent-child relationship. The categorical variable distributed the sample into three groups, namely: the respondents who declared that they have a closer relationship with the mother (N =136), the respondents who declared that they have a closer relationship with the father (N = 29), and the respondents who stated that they have an equally close relationship with both parents (N =82), respectively. Following this analysis, a significant effect of the relationship established with parents on parental support was obtained: F(2, 70.50) = 4.31, p =.01, p < .05.

From the analysis of the averages obtained in terms of parental support, the respondents who have an equally close relationship with both parents obtained an average of 63.79, followed by those close to the mother with an average of 62.01, respectively, and those close to the father with an average of parental support perceived by 55.48 (Table 2). Based on these results, the hypothesis that the parent-child relationship is an indicator of parental support perceived by youth and adults was confirmed.

Table 2

Mean scores of parental support perceived by the respondents according to the relationship with the parents (to see Table 2, please click here).

Testing Hypothesis 2: There are differences in the level of self-efficacy in the case of youth/adults depending on the adopted parenting strategies

To compare the means obtained for the variable self-efficacy according to the recognition of feelings by the parents, the T-test for independent groups was performed. Through the T-test, a statistically significant difference was identified (t = -6.33, p < .001) between the variance of the self-efficacy means in the case of respondents whose feelings were recognized by their parents as a strategy specific to parental support, N = 116 respondents, mean = 42.78, compared to respondents who did not experience this strategy frequently during childhood, N = 131, mean = 38.32 (Table 3). Since the result is statistically significant, the difference in means whose value is -4.46 can be generalized to the entire population of young people and adults; thus, the hypothesis that there are differences in the level of self-efficacy in the case of young people/adults according to adopted parenting strategies was confirmed.

Table 3

Mean self-efficacy scores of respondents according to the level of recognition of feelings by parents (to see Table 3, please click here).

Testing Hypothesis 3: As the youth/adult has a close relationship with both parents, a high level of individual self-efficacy is found

In order to determine how the level of individual self-efficacy depends on the relationship that respondents have established with their parents, an Anova analysis of variance was performed between the dependent variable self-efficacy of individuals and the categorical independent variable parent-respondent relationship: F(2, 76.71) = 3.35, p =.04, p <.05.

The categorical variable divided the sample into three independent groups, namely: respondents who declared that they have a closer relationship with their mother (N = 136), respondents who declared that they have a closer relationship with their father (N = 29), and respondents who stated that they have an equally close relationship with both parents (N = 82), respectively. Following this analysis, a significant effect of the relationship established with the parents on the level of self-efficacy of the respondents was obtained.

From the analysis of the averages obtained from the perspective of self-efficacy, the respondents who have a close relationship with the father obtained an average of 42.3; they are 29, not representing a majority category at the sample level. The respondents who established a close relationship with the mother, numbering 136, obtained an average self-efficacy of 39.58, while those respondents who have an equally close relationship with both parents, numbering 82, obtained an average self-efficacy of 41.13 (Table 4). Based on these results, the hypothesis that, as the youth/adult has a close relationship with both parents, a high level of individual self-efficacy is found was partially confirmed, with no significant differences in the means of self-efficacy according to the close relationship of the adult/young person to one or both parents.

Table 4

Mean self-efficacy scores of respondents according to relationship with parents (to see Table 4, please click here).

Testing Hypothesis 4: High level of parental support is associated with a high level of youth/adult self-efficacy

Following the correlation analysis between the independent variable parental support and the dependent variable self-efficacy, a positive, statistically significant association was obtained, demonstrating that as the level of parental support increases, so does the level of self-efficacy (Table 5).

Table 5

Correlational analysis between perceived parental support and youth self-efficacy (to see Table 5, please click here).

To determine how the level of self-efficacy varies according to parental support, a regression analysis was performed between the two variables. The regression coefficient R = .21 indicated a statistically significant association between the two variables (p < .001), and the value of the coefficient R2 = .04 demonstrated that 4% of the variability of self-efficacy was due to the level of parental support.

In Table 6, a correlation can be observed, which indicates the relationship of association between the variables self-efficacy and perceived parental support of the respondents.

Table 6
Model Coefficients – Linear regression between respondents’ self-efficacy variable and perceived parental support (to see Table 6, please click here).

Following correlational analysis and regression analysis, the hypothesis that high levels of parental support are associated with high levels of youth/adult self-efficacy was confirmed.

Discussions

This study examines the impact of parental support on youth/adult self-efficacy and how the parent-child relationship influences youth/adult perceived parental support and self-efficacy.

Self-efficacy is represented by a set of beliefs from several perspectives that have the role of influencing the way a person feels, the way they think, and also the way they motivate themselves, and the behaviors they adopt in front of tasks, respectively. This is strongly dependent on the young people’s life experiences and skills, as well as the challenges encountered in different fields of activity that contributed to the individual’s personal development (Tsang, Hui, & Law, 2012). Along with the self-efficacy variable, the variable considering parental support is also analyzed. This is highlighted when parents are constantly emotionally available to children, and they perceive them as reliable persons when they need advice or when they want to communicate openly (Ruholt, Gore, & Dukes, 2015).

The role of self-efficacy in Youth/adult development

From an academic perspective, the self-efficacy of young people contributes to increasing their level of motivation in the early periods in which they have contact with educational activities. For these reasons, parents and teachers must take into account the current level of self-efficacy of young people to guide them toward achieving academic performance (Betoret, Rosello, & Artiga, 2017).

Individuals’ perceptions of their abilities to perform in various domains or perceptions of self-efficacy represent a cognitive mechanism that explains behavioral changes (Cervone, 2001). The level of self-efficacy of young people explains individual differences regarding motivation, attitude, learning, and performance in tasks (Liu, 2023), which is perceived as an essential element of an individual’s well-being and also represents a psychological mediator of health and academic achievements.

Mani & Mahendra (2019) admit that the level of self-efficacy determines the level of effort that individuals will mobilize to complete a task, how persistent they will be in achieving the proposed objective, especially in stressful situations, but also how much resistance they will prove themselves in the face of challenges.

Armum & Chellappan (2015) refer to the concept of social self-efficacy, which determines among individuals, when it is at a high level, the reduction of the risk of experiencing social phobia, thus leading to the formation of productive social behaviors. Along with social self-efficacy, the aforementioned authors analyze the concept of emotional self-efficacy, according to which young people’s mental health and resilience are ensured to deal with negative emotional challenges during their development.

The Influence of parental support on Youth/adult development

Parental support becomes important for the development of young people, but at the same time, it represents a protective factor against addictions such as the consumption of alcohol or other prohibited substances that can affect the process of their harmonious growth and development. It was also found that as young people perceive a high level of parental support, the risk of anxiety and depression is reduced (Mills, Mann, Smith, & Kristjansson, 2021).

Dutton, Choi, & Choi (2020) analyze the form of parental support represented by financial support offered to young people. Although this form does not require direct interaction between parents and children, the latter may feel important and valuable as a result of parental investment in tutoring, allowance, or other activities beneficial to their development. Financial parental support contributes to increased self-esteem, self-efficacy, and optimism but does not reduce the risk of anxiety or depression. Even if all forms of parental support are beneficial for the development of young people, the importance of emotional and informational support is noted, which determines the achievement of an increased level of emotional well-being.

As parents noticed that young people were successful in different areas, they demonstrated a higher rate of parental support, represented by managing emotions, giving advice, actively listening, or accompanying them in different activities (Fingerman, Miller, Birditt, & Zarit, 2009).

Parents who highlight the role of effort to achieve the proposed goal, at the same time motivate children to accept failure, encouraging them to think of solutions to solve the problem, thus providing constant parental support and getting involved in their education. When parents believe that children’s difficulties are evidence of their low abilities, they tend to provide reduced levels of parental support (Jiang, Liu, Liu, Guo, Zhou, Lv, Liu & Luo, 2019).

To raise awareness of the importance of parental support for the development of young people, training programs are needed to contribute to the consolidation or modification, when appropriate, of parental attitudes, beliefs, and practices (UNESCO, 2021).

Limitations and future directions

Along with the implications of this study that consider parental support, self-efficacy, and the relationship between young people/adults and their parents, one of the identified limits is represented by the unequal number of respondents who declared that they have a closer relationship with their mother compared to those who stated that they have a closer relationship with their father or both parents. In this sense, the testing of hypotheses that aim to measure the level of perceived parental support and the level of self-efficacy in the relationship between young people/adults and their parents remains debatable. In this context, in the future expanding the research sample is necessary.

Conclusions

This study highlights the importance of parental support and the relationship between parents and the youth/adults on their self-efficacy. The results indicate that the respondents who declared that they have a close relationship with both parents obtained a higher mean score for the perceived parental support variable. As young people/adults experience parental support, represented by the recognition of feelings during childhood, they demonstrate a high level of self-efficacy throughout their development.

The analysis of variance Anova demonstrates that the level of self-efficacy of young people/adults varies according to the perceived relationship with parents, but the analysis of the means of the self-efficacy scores according to the establishment of a close relationship with the mother, with the father, or with both parents does not reveal significant differences in its level under the impact of the established close relationship with one or both parents.

The obtained results also indicate the importance of parental support for improving the self-efficacy of individuals, a positive, statistically significant correlation being established between the two variables, and the fact that self-efficacy varies with perceived parental support.

Based on the present research, the results indicate the importance of parental support for the development of the individual both during childhood and during adulthood, exerting its effects on the self-efficacy of the latter, which can improve the quality of life of individuals and implicitly the skills in various fields of activity. In this context, parents are recommended to pay more attention to the parental support offered to children and to approach some parenting strategies that make the adult look at the evolution of his child in perspective.

Acknowledgements

A summary of this paper was presented at the online international conference: Individual, family, society: contemporary challenges, fifth edition, October 4–5, 2023, Bucharest, Romania, and published in the journal Studii şi Cercetări de Antropologie, No. 8/2023.

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