A study of childhood trauma, self-esteem, and identity development in young adults

This research was conducted to examine the relationship between childhood traumatic experiences, self-esteem and identity development in young adults. Participants of the study were 256 young adults (149 women and 107 men) residing in the province of Istanbul and voluntered to take part in the study. Personal Information Form, Childhood Trauma Scale, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Dimensions of Identity Development Scale were used to collect the personal information of the participants. ANOVA and t-test were used as comparison tests in the analysis of the scores obtained from the scales. Pearson Correlation and multiple regression analysis were applied to examine the relationship between variables and their predictive effect. In the study, the self-esteem, identity development and childhood trauma dimensions of the participants were compared with various sociodemographic variables. According to the findings, a significant difference was found in identity development, self-esteem and childhood trauma scores in terms of gender, parental education level and income level variables. When the relationship between childhood traumas, self-esteem and identity development variables was examined, a negative and significant relationship was found between childhood traumas and self-esteem. In addition, there is a positive relationship between childhood traumas and negative identity development dimensions; A negative and significant relationship was found with the dimensions of positive identity development. When the relationship between self-esteem and identity development is examined, there is a negative relationship between negative identity development dimensions and self-esteem; A positive and significant relationship was found with the dimensions of positive identity development. Self-esteem of individuals is negatively and significantly predicted by emotional neglect and emotional abuse from childhood traumas. In addition, it was found that identity development significantly predicted self-esteem. The findings obtained in the study contribute to the literature in terms of understanding the early experiences and developmental factors that may affect the self-esteem of individuals. It is thought that the research findings can be supported by further research.