Think Family: Examining Family Conflict, Psychological Distress, and Academic Achievement

1. Note. * p<.01, **p<.001 Think Family: Examining Family Conflict, Psychological Distress, and Academic Achievement Jackson, H. M., Shults, L. S., Gibson, B. W., Fox, R. T., & Dula, C. S. APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY LABORATORY East Tennessee State University Johnson City, Tennessee METHOD (cont’d) INTRODUCTION DISCUSSION • Procedure • One week prior to data collection, student’s parents were given a packet containing information about the study and an opt-out consent form. Students who did not have opt-out forms sent back to the school by their parents/guardians were allowed to participate after gaining their assent; participation was voluntary and could be stopped any time. • Participants were excused from one class period and asked to participate in a brief survey. Grades were attained directly from the schools’ offices with consent of parents and assent of students. • Measures • Family Conflict • A subscale of the Family Environment Scale (Moos & Moos, 1986). Consists of six questions that examined specific dimensions of the family environment, such as the interpersonal relationships within a family, the importance placed on personal growth within the family, and the organization of the family structure; all of which are areas important to the positive development of a family. • Psychological Distress • Included five general questions about common factors relating to psychological distress including symptoms of depression and anxiety (α = .748). • Academic Achievement (GPA) • Cumulative GPA for the full academic year the student was in 8th/9th grade. • Academic achievement is influenced by many factors that occur outside of the classroom, including family and social factors. • Level of family conflict, as well as parental support, predicted academic achievement in college students (Caplan, Henderson, Henderson, & Fleming, 2002; Cutrona, Cole, Colangelo, Assouline, & Russell, 1994). • Results from Unger and colleagues (2000) showed that certain dimensions of family support, including family cohesion and parent-school involvement, appear to mediate the relationship between family conflict and academic achievement. • A meta-analysis from Siepp (1991) found that regardless of measuring state or trait anxiety, a link existed between anxiety and academic achievement. • Previous research has demonstrated a negative relationship between psychological distress and academic achievement with students from parts of the world including England (Rothon, Head, Clark, Klineberg, Cattell, & Stansfield, 2009) Australia (Stallman, 2010), and China (Yu, 2000). Clearly, the harmful effects of psychological distress on academic achievement are a problem that impact students across cultures. • Family conflict, in addition to physical and sexual abuse, was shown to predict depression and distress. Research has shown that both physically and sexually abused females perceived their level of family conflict to be much higher than females that did not report abuse. (Meyerson, Long, Miranda, & Marx, 2002). • Hannum & Dvorak (2004) found a consistent relationship between family conflict and psychological distress, with a partial mediator of maternal attachment. • Shaw (2000) hypothesized that family environment moderates the effects of depression on academic performance. • The objective of the current study was to assess relationships between level of family conflict, level of psychological distress, and academic achievement. • Results showed a significant negative relationship between level of family conflict and GPA., supporting H1. • Results also showed a significant negative relationship between level of psychological distress and GPA, supporting H2. • Supporting H3, a significant positive relationship was found between level of family conflict and level of psychological distress. • Consistent with previous research, there is a strong positive relationship between family conflict and psychological distress and a negative relationship between family conflict and academic achievement. This illustrates the impact family environment has on multiple aspects of a student’s life. • The negative relationship observed between family conflict and GPA illustrates the reality that students’ family lives have a significant impact on students’ performance in the classroom. • The presence of psychological distress in a student’s life influences their academic achievement. This is a factor that is often overlooked and further demonstrates that learning does not occur in a vacuum. • Our study supports previous research and further sheds light on the impact of familial and psychological stresses on academic performance. • Limitations • Sample consisted of middle school aged students from a specific rural geographic region. Thus, results may not fully generalize to students of other ages or from other areas of the country. • The data were collected from the survey using self-report measures, thus limiting validity due to common factors such as social desirability and context dependency. • Future Research • In the future, research should include samples with greater diversity with regard to culture, ethnicity, geographical location, and age. • Establish a program to decrease psychological distress and execute the program before and after the distribution of the survey. RESULTS • A Pearson’s correlation was calculated to assess the relationship between levels of family conflict, levels of psychological distress, and academic achievement (GPA). • A negative relationship was observed between level of family conflict and academic achievement • (r = -.207, p < .001). • Results indicate a negative relationship between psychological distress and academic achievement • (r = -.189, p < .001). • There was a significant positive relationship between level of family conflict and level of psychological distress (r = .546, p < .001). HYPOTHESES • H1: There will be a significant negative relationship between family conflict and academic achievement (GPA). • H2: There will be a significant negative relationship between psychological distress and academic achievement (GPA). • H3: There will be a significant positive relationship between family conflict and levels of psychological distress. REFERENCES Pearson Correlations for Family Conflict, Psychological Distress, and GPA • Caplan, S.M., Henderson, C.E., Henderson, J., & Fleming, D.L. (2002). Socioemotional factors contributing to adjustment among early-entrance college students. Gifted Child Quarterly, 46 (2), 124-134. • Cutrona, C. E., Cole, V., Colangelo, N., Assouline, S. G., & Russell, D. W. (1994). Perceived parental social support and academic achievement: An attachment theory perspective. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66 (2), 369-378. • Hannum,, J. W., & Dvorak, D. M. (2004). Effects of Family Conflict, Divorce, and Attachment Patterns on the Psychological Distress and Social Adjustment of College Freshman. Journal of College Student Development, 45 (1), 27-42. • Meyerson, L. A., Long, P. L., Miranda, R. R., & Marx, B. P. (2002). The influence of childhood sexual abuse, physical abuse, family environment, and gendewr on the psychological adjustment of adolescents. Child Abuse & Neglect, 26 (4), 387-405. • Rothon, C., Head, J., Clark, C., Klineberg, E., Cattell, V., & Stansfeld, S. (2009). The impact of psychological distress on the educational achievement of adolescents at the end of compulsory education. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 44 (5), 421-427. • Siepp, B. (1991). Anxiety and academic performance: A meta-analysis of findings. Anxiety Research, 4 (1), 27-41. • Shaw, R. B. (2000). The relationship of academic performance to depression and perceived home environment among gifted high school students. Dissertation Abstracts International Section A: Humanities and Social Sciences, 61(1-A), 86. • Stallman, H. M. (2010). Psychological distress in university students: A comparison with general population data. Australian Psychologist, 45 (4), 249-257. • Unger, D. G., McLeod, L., Brown, M. B., & Tressell, P. A. (2000). The role of family support in interparental conflict and adolescent academic achievement. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 9 (2), 191-202. • Yu, L. (2000). Preventing depressive symptoms in Chinese children. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences and Engineering, 60(12-B), 6389. METHOD • Participants • Participants included 499 8th and 9th grade students from rural middle schools in the Southeastern United States. • A total of 250 were male (50.1%) and 249 were female (49.9%). • A total of 232 (46.5%) were from the 8th grade, 267 (53.5%) were from the 9th grade. Note. ** p < .001 For more information, contact: Heather Jackson at zhmj7@goldmail.etsu.edu or Chris S. Dula at dulac@etsu.edu