Extended Family Relationships: How They Impact the Mental Health of Young Adults
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University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences Family Sciences 2017 Extended Family Relationships: How They Impact the Mental Health of Young Adults Kayla Jansen University of Kentucky, [email protected] Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.13023/ETD.2017.102 Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Jansen, Kayla, "Extended Family Relationships: How They Impact the Mental Health of Young Adults" (2017). Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences. 49. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/hes_etds/49 This Master's Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Family Sciences at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. 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Kayla Jansen, Student Dr. Ronald Werner-Wilson, Major Professor Dr. Hyungsoo Kim, Director of Graduate Studies EXTENDED FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS: HOW THEY IMPACT THE MENTAL HEALTH OF YOUNG ADULTS THESIS A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Family Sciences in the College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment at the University of Kentucky By Kayla Jansen Lexington, Kentucky Director: Ronald Werner-Wilson, Professor of Family Sciences Lexington, Kentucky 2017 Copyright © Kayla Jansen 2017 ABSTRACT OF THESIS EXTENDED FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS: HOW THEY IMPACT THE MENTAL HEALTH OF YOUNG ADULTS This study bridges the gap in literature about the impact of extended family relationships on young adult depression and self-esteem. A sample of 304 undergraduate students between the ages of 18 and 21 at the University of Kentucky was recruited to complete an online survey about their immediate and extended family relationships and their mental health. The largest predictor of self-esteem and depression in early young adults is perceived social support from the family of origin, which is also moderately correlated with perceived support from extended family members. This indicates that extended family support collaborates with family of origin support to benefit self-esteem and depression levels. Depression also decreases through more positive interactions with extended family members. Males benefited less than females from extended family relationships, as evidenced by the result that closer extended kin relationships were the second largest predictor of more depressive symptoms in males. These findings inform therapists about effective ways of conducting therapy with college students and support the use of Bowen family systems therapy. KEYWORDS: Extended Family, Kin, Mental Health, Depression, Self-Esteem Kayla Jansen April 21, 2017 EXTENDED FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS: HOW THEY IMPACT THE MENTAL HEALTH OF YOUNG ADULTS By Kayla Jansen Ronald Werner-Wilson, Ph.D. Director of Thesis Hyungsoo Kim, Ph.D. Director of Graduate Studies TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... iv Chapter One: Introduction ...................................................................................................1 Theoretical Perspectives ..........................................................................................3 Family Systems Theory ...............................................................................3 Human Ecology Theory ...............................................................................5 Social Support Theory .................................................................................7 Literature Review.....................................................................................................9 Purpose ...................................................................................................................14 Chapter Two: Method ........................................................................................................16 Sampling ................................................................................................................16 Participants .............................................................................................................17 Procedure ...............................................................................................................18 Measures ................................................................................................................18 Quality and Quantity of Extended Family Relationships ..........................18 Perceived Social Support – Family of Origin ............................................19 Perceived Social Support – Extended Family ............................................20 Self-Esteem ................................................................................................20 Depressive Symptoms ................................................................................21 Demographics ............................................................................................22 Analytical Approach ..............................................................................................22 Chapter Three: Results .......................................................................................................24 Chapter Four: Discussion ...................................................................................................32 Implications............................................................................................................33 Limitations .............................................................................................................35 Conclusion .............................................................................................................36 Appendices Appendix A: Participant Recruitment E-mails ......................................................37 Appendix B: IRB Approval Letter .........................................................................38 Appendix C: Participant Welcome Page and Consent Form .................................39 Appendix D: Quality and Quantity of Extended Family Relationships Scale .......41 Appendix E: Perceived Social Support Family Scale ............................................44 Appendix F: Perceived Social Support Family Scale (Adapted) ...........................45 Appendix G: Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale ..........................................................46 Appendix H: Brief Symptom Inventory: Depression Subscale .............................47 Appendix I: Demographic Characteristics .............................................................48 References ..........................................................................................................................50 Vita ................................................................................................................................57 iii LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1, Stepwise Linear Regression Coefficients for Self-Esteem ...............................27 Table 3.2, Stepwise Linear Regression Coefficients for Depressive Symptoms with Total Sample....................................................................................................................28 Table 3.3, Stepwise Linear Regression Coefficients for Female Depressive Symptoms ..29 Table 3.4, Stepwise Linear Regression Coefficients for Male Depressive Symptoms .....30 Table 3.5, Pearson Correlations between All Variables for Total Sample ........................31 iv Chapter One: Introduction Family is one of the most important influences in a person’s life, especially because individuals learn by observing the behavior of the family members surrounding them (Ackerman et al., 2013). In family research, the family of origin is emphasized and studied a great deal, but extended family members are often overlooked. If family is essential to a person’s development and life course