A Study of Perceived Parental Faith-nurturing Activities and Children’s Psychological Well-being
AUTHORS
Youngju Chun,
ABSTRACT
In this paper, differences between levels of Christian Education at Home (parental faith- nurturing activities) and the psychological well-being of Korean-American children were addressed. The problem of this study was to find out the difference in the indicators of children’s psychological well-being (depressive symptoms, self-worth, and family satisfaction) between two levels (high and low) of children’s perceived parental (paternal and maternal) faith-nurturing activities. The population of this study was the fifth and sixth-grade Korean-American Children in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Four instruments were used for this study: Parent Faith Nurturing Activities Scale-Revised (PFNAS-R), Children’s Depression Inventory-Short Form 2 (CDI-S2), Global Self-Worth Subscale (GSWS), and Family Satisfaction Subscale (FSS). For the statistical analysis, two one-way MANOVA (Multivariate Analysis of Variance) were utilized. This study also included a follow-up interview procedure for ten families that scored high on the parental faith nurturing activities measured by PFNAS-R. In the qualitative study, narrative-based approach was used in order to provide the characteristics and benefits of Christian Education at home among Korean-American families. In the quantitative part of the study, statistically significant differences were detected in children’s psychological well-being indicators (depressive symptoms, self-worth, and family satisfaction) between high and low levels of perceived paternal and maternal faith-nurturing activities: for paternal, F (3,112) = 9.37, p=.000; Wilks’ Lamda = .80; partial eta squared =.20; for maternal, F (3,112) = 8.95, p=.000; Wilks’ Lamda = .81; partial eta squared =.19. That is, children who belonged to the higher perceived parental (both paternal and maternal) faith-nurturing activity group revealed better psychological well-being than those who belonged to the lower group. In qualitative analysis, some unique aspects of Korean-American families’ faith-nurturing activities were detected.
KEYWORDS
Christian Education, Faith-nurturing Activities, Children’s Psychological Well-being, Christian Family, Korean-American Children, Christian Home Education
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