Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Cumulative Risk Factors and Family Relationship Quality in Understanding Turkish Emerging Adults’ Resilience

  • Published:
Journal of Adult Development Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

As a developmental turning point, emerging adulthood has been a recent focus for researchers investigating both resilience and psychopathology. The aim of this study was to examine the roles of negative experiences and the nature of the relationship with parents and siblings in the resilience of college students as emerging adults. The study group included Turkish college students as emerging adults (199 females and 101 males) who lived apart from their parents, had at least one sibling and had experienced at least one negative event. Data were collected from Child and Youth Resilience, Adverse Life Events Form, Parent–Adolescent Relationship Scale, and Lifespan Sibling Relationship Scale. Hierarchical regression analysis was performed to determine the extent to which the independent variables explained the resilience variance. The results revealed that negative life experiences were significant factors in explaining resilience. Moreover, neither a positive nor a negative relationship with the mother had an effect on explaining the resilience, while a positive relationship with the father was an important factor in explaining resilience. Meantime, the role of protective factors in terms of family relationships and the quality of sibling relationships sustained in this period were significant relational strengths for resilience. All these results are considered to be significant contributions to the culturally meaningful family functionality and the resilience of college students as emerging adults.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Arnett, J. J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American Psychologist,55(5), 469–480. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.5.469.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arnett, J. J. (2001). Adolescence and emerging adulthood, A cultural approach (1st ed.). New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnett, J. J. (2003). Conceptions of the transition to adulthood among emerging adults in American ethnic groups. New Directions in Child and Adolescent Development,100, 63–75. https://doi.org/10.1002/cd.75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arnett, J. J. (2004). Emerging adulthood: The winding road from the late teens through the twenties. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnett, J. J., & Tanner, J. (Eds.). (2005). Emerging adults in America: Coming of age in the 21st century (1st ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aquilino, W. S. (1997). From adolescent to young adult: A prospective study of parent-child relations during the transition to adulthood. Journal of Marriage and the Family,59(3), 670–686. https://doi.org/10.2307/353953.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aquilino, W. S. (2006) Family relationships and support systems in emerging adulthood. In J. J. Arnett, & J. L. Tanner (Eds.), Emerging adults in America: Coming of age in the 21st century. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Atak, H. (2005). Emerging adulthood: Examining a new period in human life (Unpublished master thesis). Turkey: Ankara University.

  • Atak, H. (2011). Gradual transition to adulthood: Is emerging adulthood the only main road? Elementary Education Online,10(1), 51–67.

    Google Scholar 

  • Atak, H., & Taştan, N. (2012). Agency in the emerging adulthood period: An introductory study in Turkey. European Journal of Social Sciences,32(1), 97–107.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aydogan, D., Terzi, Ş., Eşici, H., & Tomar, I. H. (2012). Validation of resilience scale for Turkish youth and adults, 33rd International Conference of the Stress and Anxiety Research Society. Spain: Palma De Malorca.

    Google Scholar 

  • Banyard, V. L., & Cantor, E. N. (2004). Adjustment to college among trauma survivors: An exploratory study of resilience. Journal of College Student Development,45(2), 207–221. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2004.0017.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Başbug, S., Cesur, G., & Batıgün Durak, A. (2017). Perceived parental styles and adult separation anxiety: The mediating role of interpersonal cognitive distortions. Turkish Journal of Clinical Psychiatry,28(4), 255–267.

    Google Scholar 

  • Batıgün Durak, A., & Say, G. (2015). Quality of parent-adolescent relationship scale of psychometric properties on university students. Turkish Journal of Clinical Psychiatry,18(2), 49–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Belsky, J., Jaffee, S. R., Hsieh, K. H., & Silva, P. A. (2001). Child-rearing antecedents of intergenerational relations in young adulthood: A prospective study. Developmental Psychology,37(6), 801–813. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.37.6.801.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). Ecology of human development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bronfenbrenner, U. (1989). Ecological systems theory. Annals of Child Development,6, 187–249.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buhrmester, D., & Furman, W. (1990). Perceptions of sibling relationships during middle childhood and adolescence. Child Development,61(5), 1387–1398. https://doi.org/10.2307/1130750.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cicirelli, V. G. (1980). A comparison of college women's feelings toward their siblings and parents. Journal of Marriage and the Family,42, 95–102. https://doi.org/10.2307/351939.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cicirelli, V. G. (1995). Sibling relationships across the life span. New York, NY: Plenum Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Cowan, P. A., Cowan, C. P., & Schulz, M. S. (1996). Thinking about risk and resilience in families. In E. M. Hetherington & E. Blechman (Eds.), Stress, coping, and resiliency in children and families, advances in family research (Vol. 5, pp. 1–38). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deater-Deckard, K., Dunn, J., & Lussier, G. (2002). Sibling relationships and social-emotional adjustment in different family context. Social Development,11(4), 571–590. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9507.00216.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dogan, A., & Cebioglu, S. (2011). Emerging adulthood: A period between adolescence and adulthood. Turkish Psychological Articles,14(28), 11–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunn, J. (1996). Brothers and sisters in middle childhood and early adolescence: Continuity and change in individual differences. In G. H. Brody (Ed.), Sibling relationships: Their causes and consequences (pp. 31–46). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fingerman, K. L., Cheng, Y. P., Tighe, L., Birditt, K. S., & Zarit, S. (2012). Relationships between young adults and their parents. In A. Booth, S. L. Brown, N. S. Landale, W. D. Manning, & S. M. McHale (Eds.), Early adulthood in a family context (pp. 59–85). New York: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Frederick, J., & Goddard, C. (2008). Living on an island: Consequences of childhood maltreatment, attachment disruption and adversity in later life. Child & Family Social Work,13(3), 300–310. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2206.2008.00554.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Furman, W. (1996). The measurement of friendship perceptions: Conceptual and methodological issues. In W. M. Bukowski, A. F. Newcomb, & W. W. Harput (Eds.), The company they keep: Friendship in childhood and adolescence. Cambridge studies in social and emotional development (pp. 41–65). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Furman, W., & Buhrmester, D. (1985). Children’s perceptions of the personal relationships in their social networks. Developmental Psychology,21(6), 1016–1024. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.21.6.1016.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Galanaki, E., & Leontopoulou, S. (2016). Criteria for the transition to adulthood, developmental features of emerging adulthood, and views of the future among Greek studying youth. Europe's Journal of Psychology,13(3), 417–440. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v13i3.1327.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goel, K. S., Amatya, K., Jones, R. T., & Ollendick, T. H. (2014). Child and adolescent resiliency following a residential fire: The role of social support and ethnicity. Journal of Child and Family Studies,23(3), 537–547. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-013-9715-4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, S. H., Hoven, C. W., Narrow, W. E., Cohen, P., Fielding, B. Alegria, M., & Dulcan, M. K. (1998). Measurement of risk for mental disorders and competence in a psychiatric epidemiologic community survey: The National Institute of Mental Health Methods for the Epidemiology of Child and Adolescent Mental Disorders (MECA) study. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology,33, 162–173.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Govender, K., Cowden, R. G., Oppong Asante, K., George, G., & Reardon, C. (2017). Validation of the child and youth resilience measure among South African adolescents. PLoS ONE,12(10), e0185815. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0185815.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Güngör, D., & Bornstein, M. H. (2010). Culture-general and -specific associations of attachment avoidance and anxiety with perceived parental warmth and psychological control among Turk and Belgian adolescents. Journal of Adolescence,33(5), 593–632. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2009.12.005.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Holdsworth, C., & Morgan, D. (2005). Transitions in context Leaving home, independence and adulthood. Oxford, England: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Howard Sharp, K. M., Schwartz, L. E., Barnes, S. E., Jamison, L. E., Miller-Graff, L. E., & Howell, K. H. (2017). Differential influence of social support in emerging adulthood across sources of support and profiles of interpersonal and non-interpersonal potentially traumatic experiences. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma,26(7), 736–755. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926771.2017.1289999.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kağıtçıbaşı, Ç. (2010). Benlik, Aile ve İnsan Gelişimi: Kültürel Psikoloji [Self, family and human development: Cultural psychology]. İstanbul: Koç Üniversitesi Yayınları.

    Google Scholar 

  • Karataş, S., Levpušček, P. M., & Komidar, L. (2017). Demographic factors and individuation in relation to parents predicting attachment avoidance and anxiety in Turkish emerging adults. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-017-9691-8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kenny, M. E., & Sirin, S. R. (2006). Parental attachment, self-worth, and depressive symptoms among emerging adults. Journal of Counseling and Development,84(1), 61–71. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1556-6678.2006.tb00380.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, J., McHale, S. M., Osgood, D. W., & Crouter, A. C. (2006). Longitudinal course and family correlates of sibling relationships from childhood through adolescence. Child Development.,77(6), 1746–1761. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033207.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, J., & Kang, S. (2018). Perceived helicopter parenting and Korean emerging adults’ psychological adjustment: The mediational role of parent-child affection and pressure from parental career expectations. Journal of Child and Family Studies,27(11), 3672–3686. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-018-1193-2.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Lefkowitz, E. S. (2005). “Things have gotten better”: Developmental changes among emerging adults after the transition to university. Journal of Adolescence Research,20(1), 40–63. https://doi.org/10.1177/0743558404271236.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liebenberg, L., Ungar, M., & Vijver, F. V. D. (2012). Validation of the child and youth resilience measure-28 (CYRM-28) among Canadian youth. Research on Social Work Practice,22(2), 219–226. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731511428619.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lindell, A. K., & Campione-Barr, N. (2017). Continuity and change in the family system across the transition from adolescence to emerging adulthood. Marriage & Family Review,53(4), 388–416. https://doi.org/10.1080/01494929.2016.1184212.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luthar, S. S., & Cicchetti, D. (2000). The construct of resilience: Implications for interventions and social policies. Development and Psychopathology,12(4), 857–885. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579400004156.

    Article  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Masten, A. S. (1994). Resilience in individual development: Successful adaptation despite risk and adversity. In M. C. Wang & E. W. Gordon (Eds.), Educational resilience in inner-city America: Challenges and prospects (pp. 3–25). Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Masten, A. S. (2004). Regulatory processes, risk, and resilience in adolescent development. In R. E. Dahl & L. P. Spear (Eds.), Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences adolescent brain development: Vulnerabilities and opportunities (Vol. 1021, pp. 310–319). New York, NY: New York Academy of Sciences.

    Google Scholar 

  • Masten, A. S. (2007). Resilience in developing systems: Progress and promise as the fourth wave rises. Development and Psychopathology,19(3), 921–930.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Masten, A. S. (2014). Ordinary magic: Resilience in development. New York, NY, US: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Masten, A. S., & Barnes, A. J. (2018). Resilience in children: Developmental perspectives. Children (Basel).,5(7), 98. https://doi.org/10.3390/children5070098.

    Article  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Masten, A. S., Burt, K. B., Roisman, G. I., Obradović, J., Long, J. D., & Tellegen, A. (2004). Resources and resilience in the transition to adulthood: Continuity and change. Developmental Psychopathology,6, 1071–1094. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579404040143.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCalman, J., Bainbridge, R. G., Redman-MacLaren, M., Russo, S., Rutherford, K. Tsey, K., & Hunter, E. (2017). The development of a survey instrument to assess aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students' resilience and risk for self-harm. Frontiers in Education,2, 1–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milevsky, A. (2005). Compensatory patterns of sibling support in emerging adulthood: Variations in loneliness, self-esteem, depression and life satisfaction. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships,22(6), 743–755. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407505056447.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Connor, M., Sanson, A., Hawkins, M. T., Toumbourou, J. W., Letcher, P., & Frydenberg, E. (2011). Differentiating three conceptualisations of the relationship between positive development and psychopathology during the transition to adulthood. Journal of Adolescence,34(3), 475–484. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2010.06.005.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Öz Soysal, F. S., Yurdabakan, İ., Baş Uz., A., & Aysan, F. (2016). The study of the reliability and validity of lifespan sibling relationship scale in young adults. Journal of Human Sciences,13(3), 5351–5361.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Padilla-Walker, L. M., Nelson, L. J., & Carroll, J. S. (2012). Affording emerging adulthood: Parental financial assistance of their college-aged children. Journal of Adult Development,19(1), 50–58. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10804-011-9134-y.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parmaksız, R. (2008). The participation to the cultural activities in emerging adulthood (Unpublished master thesis). Turkey: Ankara University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parra, A., Oliva, A., & Reina, M. D. (2013). Family relationships from adolescence to emerging adulthood a longitudinal study. Journal of Family Issues,36(14), 2002–2020. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10804-011-9134-y.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Portner, L. C., Riggs, S. A. (2016). Sibling relationships in emerging adulthood: Associations with parent–child relationship. Journal of Child and Family Studies,25(6), 1755–1764. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-015-0358-5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Resilience Research Center. (2009). The child and youth resilience measure-28: User manual. Halifax, NS: Resilience Research Center, Dalhousie University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Riggio, H. R. (2000). Measuring attitudes toward adult sibling relationships: The lifespan sibling relationship scale. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships,17(6), 707–728. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407500176001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rutter, M. (1987). Psychosocial resilience and protective mechanisms. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry,57(3), 316–331. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1939-0025.1987.tb03541.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rutter, M. (2006). Implications of resilience concepts for scientific understanding. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences,1094, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1196/annals.1376.002.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Scharf, M., Shulman, S., & Avigad-Spitz, L. (2005). Sibling relationships in emerging adulthood and in adolescence. Journal of Adolescent Research,20(1), 64–90. https://doi.org/10.1177/0743558404271133.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schoon, I., & Bynner, J. (2003). Risk and resilience in the life course: Implications for interventions and social policies. Journal of Youth Studies,6(1), 1–31. https://doi.org/10.1080/1367626032000068145.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shanahan, M. J. (2000). Pathways to adulthood: Variability and mechanisms in life course perspective. Annual Review of Sociology,26(1), 667–692. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.26.1.667.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stewart, R. B., Kozak, A. L., Tingley, L. M., Goddard, J. M., Blake, E. M., & Cassel, W. A. (2001). Adult sibling relationship: A validation of a typology. Personal Relationships,8(3), 299–324. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6811.2001.tb00042.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2013). Using multivariate statistics (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tercanlı Metin, G., Harma, M., & Gökçay, G. (2017). Negative life events, behavior problems and self-regulation of adolescents from low socio-economic status. Turkish Journal of Psychology,32(79), 1–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thornton, A., Orbuch, T., & Axinn, W. (1995). Parent-child relationships during the transition to adulthood. Journal of Family Issues.,16(5), 538–564. https://doi.org/10.1177/019251395016005003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tiet, Q. Q., Bird, H. R., Davies, M., Hoven, C., Cohen, P., Jensen, P. S., et al. (1998). Adverse life events and resilience. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry,37(11), 1191–1200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ungar, M. (2005). Introduction: Resilience across cultures and contexts. In M. Ungar (Ed.) Handbook for working with children and youth: Pathways to resilience across cultures and contexts (s. xv-xxxix). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ungar, M. (2013). The impact of youth-adult relationship on resilience. International Journal of Child, Youth and Family Studies,4(3), 328–336. https://doi.org/10.18357/ijcyfs43201312431.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ungar, M., & Liebenberg, L. (2011). Assessing resilience across cultures using mixed methods: Construction of the child and youth resilience measure. Journal of Mixed Methods Research,5(2), 126–149. https://doi.org/10.1177/1558689811400607.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Valdez, C. R., Chavez, T., & Woulfe, J. (2013). Emerging adults’ formative lived experience of family stress: The enduring influence of the family. Qualitative Health Research,23(8), 1089–1102. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732313494271.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Werner, E. E., & Smith, R. S. (1992). Overcoming the odds: High risk children from birth to adulthood. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Whiteman, S. D., McHale, S. M., & Crouter, A. C. (2011). Family relationships from adolescence to early adulthood: Changes in the family system following firstborns’ leaving home. Journal of Research on Adolescence,21(2), 461–474. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-7795.2010.00683.x.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Wood, D., Crapnell, T., Lau, L., Bennett, A., Lotstein, D., Feris, M., et al. (2018). Emerging adulthood as a critical stage in the life course. In N. Halfon, C. Forrest, R. Lerner, & E. Faustman (Eds.), Handbook of life course health development (pp. 123–143). Cham: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

The authors declared that she received no financial support for her research and/or authorship of this article.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychological Counseling and Guidance, Faculty of Education, Hasan Kalyoncu University, Gaziantep, Turkey

    Yaşar Ozbay

  2. Department of Psychological Counseling and Guidance, Faculty of Education, Aydın Adnan Menderes University, Central Campus, 09100, Merkez/Aydın, Turkey

    Didem Aydogan

Authors
  1. Yaşar Ozbay
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Didem Aydogan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Didem Aydogan.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This study was approved by University of Hasan Kalyoncu, Research Ethics Committee.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ozbay, Y., Aydogan, D. Cumulative Risk Factors and Family Relationship Quality in Understanding Turkish Emerging Adults’ Resilience. J Adult Dev 27, 95–107 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10804-019-09344-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10804-019-09344-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation