The Effectiveness of a Program to Increase the Subjective Well-being of Adolescents Whose Parents Are Divorced

Year 2019, Volume: 15 Issue: 2, 491 - 510, 26.08.2019

Asiye Dursun , Ali Eryılmaz

https://doi.org/10.17860/mersinefd.521307

Cited By: 3

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a program to increase the level of subjective well-being of adolescents whose parents were divorced. This study was carried out among students at a vocational high school in Turkey. It was conducted with 18 adolescents attending a vocational high school, nine in the experimental group and nine in the control group. The study implemented its experimental design with both a control and an experimental group. The Positive- Negative Affect and Satisfaction with Life Scales were used. Other measures were also used to evaluate the short-term effects of the program. To examine the effectiveness of the program, the Wilcoxon sign-rank test, the Mann-Whitney U test and repeated-measure analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used. The program was effective for increasing adolescents’ subjective well-being and adjustment in both the short and the long terms. The program could be used for adolescents whose parents will divorce in the future.

Keywords: Adolescent, divorce, subjective well-being 

Keywords

Adolescents, divorce, parents, subjective well-being

References

• Amato, P. R. (1986). Marital conflict, the parent-child relationship and child self esteem. Family Relations, 403-410.
• Amato, P. R. (1993). Children's adjustment to divorce: Theories, hypotheses, and empirical support. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 23-38.
• Amato, P. (2000). The consequences of divorce for adults and children. Journal of Marriage & Family, 62, 1269-1287.
• Amato, P. R. (2010). Research on divorce: Continuing trends and new developments. Journal of marriage and family, 72(3), 650-666.
• Amato, P.R., & Cheadle, J. (2005). The long reach of divorce: Divorce and child well-being across three generations. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67, 191–206.
• Amato, P. R. & Afifi, T. D. (2006). Feeling caught between parents: Adult children’s relations with parents and subjective well-being. Journal of Marriage and Family, 68, 222-235.
• Amato, P.R., & Keith, B. (1991b). Parental divorce and the well-being of children: A meta analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 110, 26–46.
• Blaisure, K. R., & Geasler, M. J. (2006). Educational interventions for separating and divorcing parents and their children. In M. A. Fine & J. H. Harvey (Eds.), Handbook of divorce and relationship dissolution (pp. 575-599). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
• Booth, A., & Amato, P.R. (2001). Parental predivorce relations and offspring postdivorce well-being. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 63, 197–212.
• Cherlin, A.J. (1999). Going to extremes: Family structure, children’s well-being, and social science. Demography, 36, 421-428.
• Corey, M.S. ve Corey, G. (1997). Group: Process And Practice. CA: Brooks/ Cocore
• Collins, W. A., & Laursen, B. (2004). Changing relationships, changing youth: Interpersonal contexts of adolescent development. Journal of Early Adolescence, 24, 55–62.
• Cuhadaroglu, F. (1986). Self-esteem in the adolescent. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey.
• Devore, E. R., & Ginsburg, K. R. (2005). The protective effects of good parenting on adolescents. Current Opinion in Pediatrics, 17, 460−465.
• Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 95, 542-575.
• Diener, E. (1994). Assessing subjective well-being: Progress and opportunities. Social Indicators Research, 31, 103–157.
• Diener, E., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2002). Very happy people. Psychological Science, 13, 81 84.
• Emery, R. (1999). Marriage, divorce, and children’s adjustment. (2nd Edition). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
• Erikson, E. H. (1968). Identity: Youth and crisis. New York: W. W. Norton.
• Eryılmaz, A. (2016). Ergenler için öznel iyi oluşu artırma stratejileri ölçeğinin geliştirilmesi. Türk Psikolojik Danışma ve Rehberlik Dergisi, 4(33), 81-88.
• Eryılmaz, A. (2012b). Investigating of the effectiveness of the extending the goals group guidance program for adolescents with respect to positive psychotherapy. Education & Science, 37, (164), 3-19.
• Eryılmaz, A. (2012a). A model of subjective well-being for adolescents in high school. Journal of Happines Studies. 13(2):275-289.
• Eryılmaz, A., & Ercan, L. (2014). Developing a scale for motivation to study lesson for adolescents. Başkent Unıversıty Journal Of Educatıon, 1, 1, 34-40.
• Eryılmaz, A. (2015). The effectiveness of a peer-helping programme that increases subjective well-being. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, (ahead-of-print). doi: 10.1080/03069885.2015.1057473
• Fordyce, M. W. (1977). Development of a program to increase happiness. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 24, 511–521.
• Fordyce, M. W. (1983). A program to increase happiness: Further studies. Journal o Counseling Psychology, 30, 483–498.
• Fraenkel, J. R., & Wallen, N. E. (1993). How to design and evaluate research in education? New York: Mcgraw Hill.
• Furstenberg, F. F., Kiernan, K. E. (2001). Delayed parental divorce: How much do children benefit? Journal of Marriage and Family, 63(2), 446-457.
• Gençöz, T. (2000). Positive and negative affect schedule: A study of validity and reliability. Turkish Journal of Psychology, 46, 19–26.
• Grych, J. H., & Fincham, F. D. (1993). Children’s appraisals of marital conflict: Initial investigations of the cognitive-contextual framework. Child Development, 64, 215-230.
• Grotevant, H. D., &: Cooper, C. R. (1985). Patterns of interaction in family relationships and the development of identity exploration in adolescence. Child Development, 56, 415-428.
• Goldenberg, H., & Goldenberg, I. (2008). Family therapy: An overview (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole.
• Guli, L. A. (2005). Evidence-based parent consultation with school-related outcomes. School Psychology Quarterly, 20, 455-472.
• Hefferon, K., & Boniwell, I. (2010). Positive psychology: Theory, research and applications. UK: McGraw-Hill Education.
• Huurre, T., Junkkari, H., & Aro, H. (2006). Long-term Psychosocial effects of parental divorce. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 256(4), 256-263.
• Joronen, K.& Kurki, A.(2005). Familial contribution to adolescent subjective well being. International- Journal of Nursing Practice, 11(3), 125-133.
• Kelly, J. B. (2000). Children’s adjustment in conflicted marriage and divorce: A decade review of research. Journal of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 39, 963-973.
• Kelly, J. B., Emery, R. E. (2003). Children's adjustment following divorce: Risk and resilience perspectives. Family Relations, 52(4), 352-362.
• Koker, S. (1991). Comparing the level of the life satisfaction of the normal adolescents and adolescents with problems. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey.
• La Greca, A. M., & Lopez, N. (1998). Social anxiety among adolescents: Linkages with peer relations and friendships. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 26, 83–94.
• Lyubomirsky, S. (2001). Why are some people happier than others? The role of cognitive and motivational processes in well-being. American psychologist,56 (3), 239.
• Morrison, D.R., & Cherlin, A.J. (1995). The divorce process and young children’s well-being: A prospective analysis. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 57, 800–812.
• Myers, D. G., & Diener, E. (1995). Who is happy?. Psychological science, 6(1), 10-19.
• Öner, N. (1977). The validity of state-trait anxiety inventory in a Turkish culture (In Turkish). Ankara: Hacettepe University.
• Park, N.(2004). The role of subjective well-being in positive youth development. The Annals of American Acedemy of Political and Social Science. 591 (1), 25-39.
• Piaget, J., & Inhelder, B. (1973). Memory and intelligence. New York: Basic Books.
• Rask, K., Kurki, P. A., & Paavilainen, E. (2003). Adolescent subjective well-being and family dynamics. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 17, 129–138.
• Seligman, M.E.P., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction. American Psychologist, (55), 5-14.
• Steinberg, L. (2007). Adolescence (8th Edition). New York: McGraw-Hill.
• Trotzer, J.P. (1989). The counsellor and the group. Muncie, IN:Accelerated Development Inc. Bris
• Vélez, C. E., Wolchik, S. A., Tein, J.Y., & Sandler, I. (2011). Protecting children from the consequences of divorce: a longitudinal study of the effects of parenting on children's coping processes. Child Development, 82(1), 244-257. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01553.x
• Walczak, Y., & Burns, S. (1984). Divorce: The child's point of view. London: Harper and Row.
• Yalom, I.D. (1995). The theory and practice of group psychothearpy (3. ed.). New York: Basic Boks.
• Yalom, I.D., & Leszcz, M. (2005). The theory and practice of group psychothearpy (5. ed.). New York: Basic Boks.