Family Characteristics as Determinants of Mental Health in Adolescents Toni MAGLICA, Ina REIĆ ERCEGOVAC & Maja LJUBETIĆ EJMH Vol 16 Issue 2 (2021) 7-30; https://doi.org/10.5708/EJMH.16.2021.2.1 Received: 18 July 2020; accepted: 13 May 2021; online date: 9 December 2021 Section: Research Papers
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Abstract
The family environment is considered to be a micro-ecological system with numerous risk and protective factors for mental health. The goal of this research was to determine how different functional and/or structural family characteristics affect some indicators of mental health in adolescents. A number of 1,239 adolescents (ages 15–19) participated in the research. General Data Questionnaire, Family Life Satisfaction Scale, Family Communication Scale, Positive Mental Health Scale, Anxiety, Depression and Stress Scale, and Stressful Events in the Family Checklist, were applied. The results indicated no connection between sociodemographic characteristics and self-assessed satisfaction. Adolescents with older parents were less satisfied with their family and familial communication. Gender differences in mental health were confirmed, mostly to the detriment of girls. The mother’s age and the father’s level of education significantly correlate with individual mental health. Adolescents with older mothers reported lower mental health. Adolescents with fathers of lower educational status reported higher stress and depression level. Stress within the family proved to be significant in explaining adolescents’ mental health, especially due to financial issues, and conflicts among family members. Finally, the results indicated that family communication and satisfaction, with the control of sociodemographic characteristics and stress in a family, additionally explain the significant part of the variance in adolescents’ mental health.
Keywords
family communication; family satisfaction; adolescents; mental health; internalized problems
Corresponding author
Toni MAGLICA
University of Split, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Early and Preschool Education, Croatia
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0716-0037
Co-authors
Ina REIĆ ERCEGOVAC: University of Split, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Psychology, Croatia
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4228-6054
Maja LJUBETIĆ: University of Split, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Pedagogy, Croatia
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9344-5580
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.