Family Environment and Mental Well-Being among Adolescents

Abstract

The quality of relationships with parents is a major determining factor of mental well-being in adolescents. Several studies have shown that stress in family has the strongest negative impact on an adolescent's mental well-being. Therefore, the family plays a major role where adolescent health is concerned. The present study focuses on the influence of family environment on the mental well-being of adolescents. This study also aims at determining whether the family environment brings about any variations in the mental well-being of adolescent boys and girls. A purposive sampling method was used to select 77 boys and 76 girls between the age group of 13-18 years from schools and colleges of Metropolitan City of Hyderabad. Family Environment Scale by Dr. Harpreet Bhatia and Dr. N. K. Chadda, 1993, and The Warwick-Edinburg Mental Well-Being Scale by researchers at University of Warwick and Edinburg, 2006, were employed for the collection of data. The Family Environment Scale measures the three dimensions of relationship dimensions, personal growth and system maintenance. The results show statistical significance in terms of correlation between family environment and mental well-being in adolescents.