Perceived Economic Strain and Psychological Well-Being: The Mediational Role of Parental Relations in Turkish Early Adolescents

This study primarily aims to explore the association between perceived economic strain, parent-adolescent relational qualities and psychological well-being and to investigate the dyadic parental relationships during early adolescence. A total of 414 adolescents between the ages of 10 and 14 (M= 12.58, SD =.90) from three different socioeconomic status groups were included. Adolescents from low socioeconomic status families reported more parental conflict and in terms of dyadic relations, both boys and girls perceive more positive communication and less conflict with their fathers. Our findings have shown that the quality of adolescents' relationships with parents partially mediate the association between perceived economic strain and psychological well-being. Although findings related to dyadic relations indicated more positive relationships with fathers than with mothers, it seems that the mediational role of maternal outcome is relatively more powerful on the association between perceived economic strain and the life satisfaction and self-worth of Turkish adolescents.