Turkish adolescents' level of psychological adjustment in relation to adolescents' perception of parental psychological maltreatment and physical punishment

Abstract

This study investigated the inter-relationship between adolescents' psychological adjustment, perception of parental psychological maltreatment, and perceived physical punishment from parents in terms of justness and harshness. The sample was selected from ninth grade students in four high schools in İstanbul. The five variables in this study are adolescents' level of psychological adjustment, perception of maternal psychological maltreatment, perception of paternal psychological maltreatment, perception of physical punishment in terms of justness and harshness. The specific questions investigated were the impact of perceived maternal and paternal psychological maltreatment and physical punishment in terms of justness and harshness on perceived psychological adjustment. Also, the possible variance of perception of parental psychological maltreatment according to perceived harshness and justness were explored. Four instruments were used for data collection, specifically Demographic Information Form (DIF), Personality Assessment Questionnaire (PAQ)-Turkish Form, Perception of Psychological Maltreatment Inventory (POPMIFA), and Physical Punishment Questionnaire (PPQ)-Turkish Form. Data was analyzed through structural equation modeling, in AMOS software statistics program. The results showed that perceived parental psychological maltreatment has a significant impact on perceived psychological adjustment (β=.40, p<.01), whereas harshness and unjustness do not have direct impact on perceived psychological adjustment but the impact is mediated by perceived psychological maltreatment (β=.34, p<.000; β=.23, p<.000, respectively). The impact of perceived harshness of physical punishment on perceived psychological adjustment varies according to adolescents' perception of parental maltreatment.