AN INVESTIGATION INTO ATTACHMENT STYLES AND PSYCHOLOGICAL RESILIENCE OF ADOLESCENTS FROM INTACT AND NON-INTACT FAMILIES

Abstract

This research aims to examine whether the attachment styles and psychological resilience levels of adolescents from intact and non-intact families differed by gender, age, parents’ survival status, parents’ togetherness status, parents’ separate living arrangements, reasons for family breakdown, age during family breakdown, and cohabitants. The study sample consists of 1355 high school students studying in the Mamak district of Ankara Province. The data were collected through the Three-Dimensional Attachment Styles Scale, the Child and Youth Psychological Resilience Scale, and the Personal Information Form prepared by the researchers. According to the analysis conducted, adolescents from non-intact families exhibited a higher level of anxious-ambivalent attachment compared to those from intact families. The psychological resilience levels of adolescents from non-intact families were lower than those from intact families. While secure and avoidant attachment levels showed no gender difference in both family structures, anxious-ambivalent attachment levels differed. The psychological resilience levels of adolescents from intact families indicated a significant gender difference, whereas there was no significant difference in adolescents from non-intact families. The attachment styles and psychological resilience levels of adolescents from non-intact families did not differ by parents’ separate living arrangements and the reason for family breakdown. There was no difference in attachment styles by cohabitants, parents’ survival status, and age during family breakdown. However, there was a statistically significant difference between their psychological resilience levels, except for their age during family breakdown.