Peculiarities of family relationships that determine the formation of personal helplessness among adolescents

The article is devoted to the nature of personal helplessness. The process of defining personal helplessness as a quality of a subject representing the unity of certain personal characteristics, and determining the low level of subjectivity, raises the question of the environmental factors of its formation among adolescents. The purpose of the research is to reveal features of family relationships and their contribution to the formation of personal helplessness among adolescents. Comparative analysis of the average values in terms of patronage in the process of education has shown that mothers of helpless teenagers are more likely to manifest hyperprotection than mothers of self dependent teenagers (U = 4595, p = 0,000). As a result of comparing the degree of satisfaction of the needs of a child statistically significant differences in the scale of «condoning» among the parents of self dependent and helpless teenagers were also found: (mothers (U = 4782, p = 0,000), fathers (U = 87, p = 0,000). The phenomenon of ignoring the child's needs by mothers of helpless teenagers was found more often than by mothers of children with independence (U = 5024, p = 0,000). It should be noted that the excessive number of requirements and duties was more often presented to teenagers by mothers who have raised helpless adolescents than by mothers of adolescents with independence (U = 5185, p = 0,001). Mothers of helpless teenagers are more likely to produce a large number of requirements and prohibitions to their child (U = 3838, p = 0,000), restricting freedom and autonomy. Lack of requirements and responsibilities, which come from fathers (U = 586, p = 0,000) and mothers (U = 5795, p = 0,05), is more common in parenting styles of self dependent teenagers. Also a father's part in the upbringing of self dependent teenagers revels more often such a feature as a lack of requirements and prohibitions (U = 695, p = 0,000). The severity of sanctions for violations by a child of the requirements from the father (U = 660, p = 0,000), and the mother (U = 5638, p = 0,02) distinguishes the upbringing of adolescents in families with helpless children from families with self dependent children. Among the peculiarities of family relationships in families with helpless teenagers are: a high degree of inconsistency and instability of parental behavior (U = 352, p = 0,000 (fathers), U = 3809, p = 0,000 (mothers)); father's preference for infant qualities in a teenager (U = 771, p = 0,006); the projection on a child parents' own undesirable qualities (U = 679, p = 0,000 (fathers), U = 3088, p = 0,000 (mother)). Significant differences between violations in interpersonal family communications in families with helpless and self dependent teenagers were obtained on the scales: "the imposition by the father of the conflict between the spouses in the sphere of upbringing" (U = 310, p = 0,000), educational uncertainty among parents of helpless teenagers (U = 582, p = 0,000 (fathers), U = 3981, p = 0,000 (mother)), inadequate parental feelings among parents of helpless teenagers (U = 437, p = 0,000 (fathers), U = 4697, p = 0,000 (mother)). The study confirms the hypothesis that the violations of family relationships are the environmental factors of personal helplessness formation.

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