Career problems and resilince of individuals with childhood abuse and neglect experiences

Child abuse and neglect is an essential problem in Turkey as it is worldwide. Abuse and neglect leave marks on physical and psychological well-being and may also cause problems in their career lives. From this point of view, the aim of this study is to examine the career problems of individuals who experienced abuse and/or neglect during childhood. The study group consists of 411 university students, 130 male and 281 female. The Career Stress Inventory, The Career Discrepancy Scale, Brief Resilience Scale, Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, and a demographic information form were utilized to collect data. The Mann-Whitney U test was applied to determine whether the childhood trauma scores differed significantly according to gender. Basic regression analysis was conducted to determine to what extent the childhood trauma score predicted the participants' career stress, career goal discrepancy, and resilience scores. Additionally, multiple regression analysis was conducted to determine to what extent the sub-dimensions of childhood traumas predicted the participants' career stress, career goal discrepancy and resilience scores. According to the findings, male participants were exposed to more abuse and/or neglect than female participants. Another result showed that childhood abuse and neglect is associated with career stress, career goal discrepancy, and resilience. Finally, resilience was predicted by over protection-control and emotional neglect, which are sub-dimensions of childhood traumas; the career stress and career goal discrepancy were predicted by over-protection-control. The findings were discussed within the literature framework, and suggestions were made to researchers and practitioners.