An Adlerian overview to physical abuse, emotional abuse and problem solving on romantic relationships: the social interest

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between physical abuse, emotional abuse and problem solving on romantic relationships and social interest. Methods: The study was carried out at 300 freshmen at Ondokuz May's University. The average age of the adolescents is 17.90 +/- 0.78). Two tools were used for data gathering. Problem Solving on Romantic Relationships Scale for Adolescents was used to determine the behaviors of the problem solving and abuse on romantic relationships and The Adlerian Social Interest Scale-Romantic Relationship Form was used to determine the level of social interest of the participants As a statistical analysis method Pearson correlation coefficient, linear regression analysis and t-test were used. Results: The results of the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient showed that social interest related to emotional abuse (r=-0.35, p<0.01), physical abuse (r=-0.40, p<0.01) and problem solving subscale (r=0.51, p>0.05). The results of the regression analysis indicated that social interest predicted significantly adolescents' emotional abuse (R(2)=0.122), physical abuse (R(2)=0.160) and problem solving (R(2)=0.259). The result of the t-test on the social interest (t=2.70, p<0.01), physical abuse (t=3.46, p<0.01) and problem solving (t=2.47, p<0.01) showed that the differences between the scores of the female and male adolescents were significant. Conclusion: This study may help psychologists and counselors in order to provide violence prevention programs and to plan appropriate counseling programs for social interest enrichment. (Anatolian Journal of Psychiatry 2010; 11:242-247)