Influence of Maternal Stress on the Self-Esteem of Teenage Children

The present study investigated the influence of maternal stress on the self esteem of their teenaged children. The study comprised of 60 respondents (30 mothers and 30 of their children aged between 13 and 15) chosen by purposive sampling method. Parental stress scale (PSS) by Berry and Jones (1995) and the self esteem scale by S.Karunanidhi (1996), were used for this study. Pearson's Correlation was used for the analysis of the data collected. Results showed that there was a significant negative relationship between parenting stress and the self esteem of their teenaged children. Results also showed that there was no significant relationship between parenting stress competency, and global self esteem levels of the teenaged children indicating that the competency self esteem and global self esteem remain unaffected by the influence of parenting stress. This finding implies that the ability of the teenagers to perform their scholastic tasks remain uninfluenced by the parenting stress of their mothers.