The associations between interpersonal relationships and psychosomatic symptoms in early adolescents in Taiwan: Multi-group path analysis

Abstract

The hypothesized model of interpersonal relationships on psychosomatic symptoms was proposed by the author. The aims were to fit the model into a single case and examine the moderating role of sex on the path coefficients. The author used data from the Taiwan Educational Panel Survey (TEPS). The participants, who were 7th graders, were the author’s major concern. Descriptive statistics and correlations of major variables studied were tested by SPSS. In addition, by running multi-group path analyses simultaneously for both girls and boys, the author identified whether or not path coefficients differ across the two groups. Results showed that the hypothesized path model fit 10,026 cases in the research was acceptable and could be helpful as a basis for following multi-group comparison. The path coefficient between mother-adolescent and father-adolescent relationships and peer relationships for girls differed from boys. The path coefficients between sibling relationships and peer relationships for girls and boys overlapped and the one between peer relationships and psychosomatic symptoms for girls and boys were parallel but not overlapping. In the near future, researchers should dedicate time to finding powerful protective factors for boys and girls individually and propose different paths for the two groups.

Date of Award	2009
Original language	English
Supervisor	Wei-Ming Luh (Supervisor)