Parental Emotional Availability and Resilience Among Adolescents: The Role of Emotion Regulation

Adolescence is a period during which individuals experience numerous changes. During this adaptation process, adolescents often feel themselves in a terrible mess. This study examined the mediator role of emotion regulation in the relationship between parental emotional availability and resilience in adolescents. The study was conducted in 4 high schools in the central district of Muş province. The participants were 909 students ages 14–19 years; the average age was 16.01 years (SD = 1.06). The researcher used the Lum Emotional Availability of Parents (LEAP) scale to measure parental emotional availability. The Resilience Scale and the Emotion Regulation Scale were used to collect the data related to adolescents’ resilience and emotional control. The hypothesis model was developed to determine the direct and indirect effects of independent variables on the dependent variables. To test this model, a structural equation modeling was used to analyze paths. Based on modeling results, mother’s emotional availability had no direct effect on resilience; however, father’s emotional availability had a direct effect on resilience. The important result of the study is showing emotion regulation mediated the relationship between parental emotional availability (mother and father) and students’ resilience.