Investigation of the relationship between agression levels of 3-6 year-old children and parental self-efficacy and parental anger levels

This study intend to inspect the relastionship between parents' understanding of self-efficacy, their anger levels, and the aggression inclinations of their 3-6 year-old children. Moreover, the relationship between children's aggression inclinations and variables such as gender and age was inspected. The relationship between parents' anger and self efficacy levels and variables such as gender, marital status, age, education level and income level was also analyzed. The research adopts a correlational survey model. The study group comprise of 400 individuals (233 mothers and 167 fathers) aged between 25 and 55, who took part play workshops situated in Sultangazi, İstanbul. Data for the research were gathered using the Personal Information Form, the Aggression Tendency. Scale for Children Aged 36-72 Months, the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory, and the Revised Berkeley Parenting Self Efficacy Scale. For data analysis, the Mann-Whitney U Test and Kruskal-Wallis H Test were implemented. In case of a significant difference between groups, the Games-Howell analysis was used to identify which groups showed significant differences. To examine the direction and power of the relationship between the scales Spearman's Rank-Difference Correlation Coefficient was used. The analyses disclosed a significant positive relationship between parents' anger levels and children's aggression tendencies, and a notable negative relationship between parents' self-efficacy levels and children's aggression tendencies. Moreover, as parents' self efficacy elevated, their anger levels declined. Angrier parents tend to have more aggressive children, while more self-confident parents show less anger and have less aggressive kids. Based on these findings, it is important to promote family-centered psychoeducation programs aimed at improving parents' anger management and self-efficacy skills. Additionally, to reduce aggressive behaviors in children, strengthening family communication and parent-child interaction at an early age is essential.