PhD defence B.I. (İldeniz) Arslan

Below is a brief summary about the dissertation:

How do children grow up to be happy, healthy, and thriving adults? Is it possible to predict a child’s future well-being? The aim of this dissertation was to examine the extent to which individual and contextual factors are related to (mal)adaptive functioning from childhood into emerging adulthood. 

Using different longitudinal approaches, I found that externalizing problems (hyperactivity, aggression) with or without internalizing problems (anxious, withdrawn symptoms) at age 4-8 were associated with developmental outcomes such as psychological, social, and personality problems and general health satisfaction, sixteen years later. The way certain personality traits (emotional stability, extraversion, and imagination) developed during adolescence was related to burnout symptoms and to happiness at age 25. Overprotective parenting was not longitudinally associated with future well-being. Conflict between parents and adolescents and adolescent's well-being affected each other over time: adolescent’s negative and positive emotions predicted conflict with parents, and vice versa. 

These individual and contextual factors were related through common and unique pathways with maladaptive and adaptive functioning. This highlights the importance of approaching well-being through maladaptive (i.e. depression) and adaptive (i.e. happiness) states. 

Taken together, findings in this dissertation show that even earlier in life, we can see signs of a bright future ahead. Recommendations for research and practice include adopting a maladaptive and adaptive approach by focusing on problems ánd strengths in children, caregivers, and families.