Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Are the Kids All Right?
An Analysis of the Effects of Adolescent Family Structure on Adult Psychological Wellbeing
Margaret MatthewsSkidmore College
Hypothesis
Adults who lived with both parents at age 16 will report having better psychological wellbeing than those who did not.
Life Course Disruption TheoryRoss and Mirowsky (1999) and Bachman, Coley, and Carrano (2012)
Disruptive life events create distress, with higher disruption causing more distress.
Family disruption results in major life changes such as living with a single parent, moving homes, and introduction into a new blended family.
Anomie: The Anomic FamilyEmile Durkheim (1897), Lester D. Jaffe (1963), and Frederich V. Wenz (1978)
Feelings of normlessness result from a family that is disintegrated or lacking of accepted values. The individual struggles to relearn how to self-regulate or adjust to the internal disintegration
Research Methods
2014 General Social Survey47% Response Rate1,235 Respondents
Missing Data Excluded:IAP
Don’t KnowNo Answer
DV: Psychological Wellbeing“Now thinking about your mental health, which includes stress, depression, and problems with emotions, for how many days during the past 30 days was your mental health not good?”
Days Not Good
Label
0 Outstanding
1-4 Very Good
5-9 Good
10-14 Slightly Good
15-19 Slightly Poor
20-24 Poor
25-30 Very Poor
Table 1. Psychological Wellbeing (in percentages)
Days Not Good Percent0 64.11-4 15.45-9 7.810-14 3.715-19 2.320-24 1.725-30 4.9Total 100.0(N) (1235)
IV: Family Structure“Were you living with both your own mother and father around the time you were 16? (IF NO: With whom were you living around that time?)”
Dummy coded:Traditional= 1Nontraditional= 0
Family Structure PercentMother & Father 64.9Father & Stepmother
1.5
Mother & Stepfather
6.2
Father 2.9Mother 19.1Male Relative 0.2Female Relative 1.0Male & Female Relatives
1.9
Other 2.3
Total 100.0
Table 2. Family Structure (in percentages)
Family Structure Percent
Traditional 64.9
Nontraditional 35.1
Total 100.0
(N) (1235)
Number of Siblings
“How many brothers and sisters did you have? Please count those born alive, but no longer living, as well as those alive now. Also include stepbrothers and stepsisters, and children adopted by your parents.”
Range: 0-25
Table 3. Number of Siblings (in percentages)
Siblings Percent0 3.11 18.32 22.13 16.94 11.95 8.46 6.27 4.08 2.89+ 6.2Total 100.0(N) (1235)
Table 4. Age (in percentages)
Age Percent
18-35 31.7
36-55 44.7
56-89 23.6
Total 100.0
(N) (1235)
Gender
Respondent Sex: Male or Female
Dummy coded:
Women = 1Men = 0
Table 5. Gender (in percentages)
Gender Percent
Men 48.8
Women 51.2
Total 100.0
(N) (1235)
Race
Respondent Race: White, Black, or Other
Dummy coded:White = 1Other= 0
Table 6. Race (in percentages)
Race Percent
White 73.5
Other 26.5
Total 100.0
(N) (1235)
Table 7. Means and Standard Deviations for Psychological
Wellbeing, Family Structure, Siblings, Age, Gender, and Race (N=1235)
Variable Mean SD
Psychological Wellbeing
3.34 7.23
Traditional Family .65 .48
Siblings 3.60 2.81
Age 44.09 13.43
Women .51 .50
White .74 .44
Table 8. Correlations (r) between Psychological Wellbeing and Family Structures plus Gender, Age,
Number of Siblings, and Race (listwise deletion, two-tailed test, N=1235)
*p < .01
Traditional Family
Number of Siblings
Age Woman White
Psychological Wellbeing
-.093* .018 -.098* .038 .013
Traditional Family
-.189* .161* -.029 .194*
Number of Siblings
.124* .066 -.187*
Age
-.004 .126*
Women
-.061
Table 9. Regression of Psychological Wellbeing on Traditional Family and
All Variables
R 2 = .019; F(5,1229) = 4.780; p < .01*p < .01
b β
Traditional Family -1.242 -.082*
Age -.050 -.093*
Number of Siblings .052 .020
Women .538 .037
White .759 .046
Constant 5.321
Concept Map
Psychological
WellbeingAge
Family Structur
e
Conclusion Hypothesis Supported!
Adults who grow up in a traditional family are more likely to report better psychological wellbeing than adults whose families did not consist of both biological or adoptive parents.
Theoretical Explanations Life Course Disruption
Anomie
Practical Recommendations
Implications to be considered by: Parents Mental Health Professionals Adults coming from nontraditional families
Further RecommendationsFuture Research
Possible mediating factors Happiness definitions Longitudinal research
AcknowledgementsThank you to Professor Catherine Berheide for your continual input and support. Thanks to my Sociology friends for working with me throughout the semester. It’s been a pleasure learning alongside you all! Additional thanks to Linda Santagato, Johanna Mackay, Professor Rik Scarce, and my other friends and family for their advice on my topic and work with the senior seminar program. And of course, thank you to the entire Skidmore Sociology department for being such an inspiration!
For more information, please contact:
Margaret MatthewsSkidmore College
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
Thank You!
