Final PPT seminar

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

mmatthew@skidmore.edu

Thank You!