Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate identity styles, quality of life and behavioral difficulties between adolescents with single and two-parent status. In this causal- comparative study, a total of 214 high school students were selected, then 112 single parent students (59 females and 53 males) were selected by the voluntary response sampling method. Also, 112 students with two parent status were randomly selected. Identity styles Inventory (Bennion & Adams, 1986), quality of life questionnaire and Achenbach Youth Self-Report (YSR) were administered. Analysis of variance and t-test for independent groups were used for analyzing the data. The results showed that in terms of moratorium and Identity diffusion there is no significant difference between single parent and two parent adolescents but there was significant difference in terms of Identity achieved and foreclosure. Single parent adolescents had more Identity achieved and two parent adolescents had more foreclosure. Additionally, the comparisons of quality of life components between these two groups showed that the groups had no significant difference in any of the following measures of the quality of life (e.g., physical health, psychological, social relationships and environmental domains). Finally, the findings showed that there was significant difference between the two groups in terms of behavioral problems. The study showed that single parent adolescents are more anxious/depressive than their two parent peers. This research has some implications for the future studies on investigating the role of family structure in adolescents’ psychological status.

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