Subjective well-being, parentification and self-perception in adolescents who have experienced parental loss

The aim of this study is to determine whether the subjective well-being of high school students who lost a parent due to death is predicted by self-perceptions and parentification. The other aim of the study is to examine whether there is a significant difference in the subjective well-being of adolescents who have experienced parental loss according to their gender, the parent they lost, the type of loss, their age range at the time of loss and the number of siblings. The study group of the research consisted of 340 high school students (60.9% female, 39.1% male) who lost their parents who were reached by using convenient sampling method. Personal Information Form, Adolescent Subjective Well-Being Scale, Parentification Inventory Adolescent Form and Self-Perception Scale for Adolescents were used in the study.The data obtained from the scales were analyzed using independent samples t-test, one-way ANOVA, LSD test and multiple linear regression method using SPSS 26. As a result of multiple linear regression analysis, it was found that self-perception and perceived injustice from parentification, one of the sub-dimensions of parentification, significantly predicted the subjective well-being of adolescents who experienced parental loss. Self-perception positively predicted the subjective well-being of adolescents who experienced parental loss, and perceived injustice from parentification negatively and significantly predicted subjective well-being. As a result of the study, it was found that the subjective well-being of adolescents who experienced parental loss showed a significant difference according to the number of lost parents, type of loss, and number of siblings, but did not show a significant difference according to gender and the age range in which they lost their parents. The findings were discussed according to the literature.