The relationship between emotional availability of parent, coping strategies and social problem solving skills in adolescence: The mediating role of resilience

The aim of this study is to examine the mediating role of resilience in the relationship between social problem-solving skills, emotional availability of parent, and coping strategies among individuals in early and middle adolescence. The sample for the study comprised 391 adolescents, including early adolescents attending middle schools (7th and 8th grades, n = 147; aged 12-15) and middle adolescents attending high schools (11th and 12th grades, n = 244; aged 16-20) affiliated with the Provincial Directorate of National Education in Ankara. According to the results, adolescents who perceive high emotional availability from their parents also perceive higher academic achievement. Young people who open up to their parents regarding their issues have a greater sense of emotional availability from their mothers, while those who tell their friends about their problems have a lesser sense of emotional availability from their fathers. Teenagers whose moms and dads are married perceive their fathers as more emotionally available. Adolescents who perceive their socioeconomic level as high have higher perceived emotional availability from their fathers. Those who have achieved high levels of academic success have higher overall scores, optimistic approaches and rational problem-solving skills when dealing with social issues, while those with lower academic achievements have more negative outlooks, inattentive and evasive problem-solving approaches. Adolescents with low academic achievement have fewer active coping preferences and more avoidant coping preferences. Resilience was higher in early adolescents compared to middle adolescents. Adolescents with high academic achievement have higher resilience. As parents become increasingly emotionally available, resilience and social problem-solving skills improve. As the use of active coping strategies increases, social problem-solving skills also increase, while the use of negative and avoidant coping strategies decreases social problem-solving skills. Resilience played a full mediator role in the relationship between parental emotional availability and social problem-solving skills, and a partial mediator role in the relationship between active and negative coping and social problem-solving skills.