| Abstract: | Abstract This study attempts to understand the demographical and social–cultural characteristics of adolescents whose parents are divorced; their experiences before and after the divorce; their social support systems; psychological problems they have suffered after the divorce; their ideas about sexuality, flirting, marriage and having a child; and their perceptions about the present and the future. This was a survey-based study. The research population constituted 106 adolescents aged between 16 and 25 years in Ankara, Turkey, and was conducted between 15 March and 30 April 2005. The researcher conducted interviews using a questionnaire. In addition, the Multi-dimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support was used. The findings of this research reveal that demographic characteristics and age, gender and educational level of the adolescents whose parents are divorced have affected the informants on varying levels. It also demonstrates that the adolescents who live with their mother after the divorce have experienced fewer problems than those who live with their father. With regard to the current lifestyle of the subjects, the adolescents' ideas on having a relationship with the opposite sex, focusing on marriage and having children, and their perceptions of the future are not influenced on a significant level. Furthermore, according to the findings, adolescents receive much more social support from their friends than from other sources of support. |
