Examining the self-esteem, interpersonal relationship styles and coping skills of adults who experienced traumatic life events in childhood

Objective: The purpose of this research is to examine the self-esteem, interpersonal relationship styles and coping skills between adults who have lost a parent and adults who did not lose a parent in their childhood. Method: The sample consists of two different groups; one group have a history of living in a foster home and experience of a parent loss and the other group have a history of foster home without an experience of parent loss. Out of 80 participants in the sample, 52 of them had an experience of a parent loss and the control group consisted of 28 participants without an experience of a parent loss. Socio-Demographic Characteristic and Information Form, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Interpersonal Relationship Styles Scale and Coping Skills Assesment Scale (COPE) were used for data collection. The frequency analysis, descriptive statistics, independent samples t-test, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson correlation were used to analyse the data. Results: Although there were no significant differences between two groups regarding the total scores on self-esteem, interpersonal relationship styles, and coping skills, there were significant differences on the sub-dimension of the scales. Participants who did not have an experience of parent loss have been found significantly higher on warmth subscale of the Interpersonal Relationship Styles. The examination of the demographic information also revealed that male participants scored higher on the self-esteem than female participants in the whole sample. Female participants in the group who did not experience a parent loss showed positive attitudes on interpersonal relationship styles and coping skills. Although a positive significant relationship was found between interpersonal relationship styles and coping skills for the participants who did not experience a parent loss, there was no significant correlation between self-esteem and the other variables. Conclusion: The results indicate that adults who did not have an experience of a parent loss have more warmth in their interpersonal relationship styles compared to adults who had an experience of a parent loss during childhood. The male participants being higher on self-esteem compared to female participants was observed. Females who did not experience a parent loss during childhood were indicated as having better coping skills and interpersonal relationship styles. Between inventories, Interpersonal Relationship Styles and Coping Skills were related. As the interpersonal relationship is more positive, better coping skills are observed in this sample. The future studies that use longitudinal approach with follow-ups is recommended. Key words: Trauma, childhood trauma, self-esteem, interpersonal relationship, coping skills, orphanage