A Study on Mental Health and Family Relationship of Adolescents

Abstract

Adolescence is an important developmental phase of human life. Family has most central and enduring influence during this period because it has a fundamental role in different aspects of their mental health (Soroor Parvizy and Fazlollah Ahmadi,2009). The quality of family relationships contributes to the social and emotional competence in adolescence (Huffman et. al, 2000). Although the nature of relationships is changing, the continuity of family connections and a secure emotional base is crucial for the positive development of young people (Howe et al, 1999). Despite the importance of the adolescent transition and the parent–child relationship, there have, unfortunately, been few studies in this direction in Kerala context. In view of these considerations, the present study was aimed to determine the relation of family relationship to mental health and its dimensions among adolescents and also to examine the difference of mental health and family relationship on the basis of gender. Correlational design was used in this study and data were collected from a sample of 100 adolescent (Boys=50 and Girls=50) selected from two schools in Kerala. Mental Health Inventory (Jagdish and Srivastava,1983) containing 54 items measuring six dimensions of mental health- positive self-evaluation, perception of reality, integration of personality, autonomy, group-oriented attitudes and environmental competence- and Family Relationship Scale (David, 1997) containing 40 items were used to collect data. Independent sample ‘t’ test and Pearson correlation test were used to test the hypotheses. Major findings revealed that adolescents with better family interactions showed higher integrated personality. However, the family interaction is not significantly correlated with overall mental health. Male adolescents have better positive self-evaluation than females. While females have higher integration of personality. Implications- Findings are discussed within the context of mental health and family relationship.