Impact of family environment on mental well-being of adolescent girls: A cross-sectional survey

Sushil Kumar Maheshwari; Rintu Chaturvedi; Sandhya Gupta

doi:10.4103/IOPN.IOPN_19_19

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Year : 2020 | Volume : 17 | Issue : 1 | Page : 24-28

Impact of family environment on mental well-being of adolescent girls: A cross-sectional survey

Sushil Kumar Maheshwari¹, Rintu Chaturvedi², Sandhya Gupta³
¹ Associate Professor, University College of Nursing, BFUHS, Faridkot, Punjab, India
² Principal, Royal Institute of Nursing, Gurdaspur, Punjab, India
³ Principal, College of Nursing, AIIMS, New Delhi, India

Date of Submission	20-Aug-2019
Date of Decision	18-Sep-2019
Date of Acceptance	29-Apr-2020
Date of Web Publication	08-Aug-2020

Correspondence Address:
Dr. Sushil Kumar Maheshwari
University College of Nursing, BFUHS, Faridkot, Punjab
India

Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None

DOI: 10.4103/IOPN.IOPN_19_19

Abstract

Background: Family is the only institution which provides security and support without any rewards in return. The family environment influences adolescence psychological adjustment and problem-solving strategies as well as self-confidence and abilities to set clear goals. The healthy functioning of these interaction patterns enhances the mental well-being of an individual. Aim: This study is aimed to assess the impact of family environment on the mental well-being of adolescent girls in selected villages of Western Punjab, India. Materials and Methods: Quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional survey approach was used to assess the family environment and mental well-being of conveniently selected 900 adolescent girls (age of 11–19 years) in selected villages of Punjab using sociodemographic data sheet, Family Environment Scale and Warwick Edinburgh mental well-being scale. Results: Approximately two-third (36.7%) of the adolescent's girls have below-average mental well-being, whereas the majority (62.2%) of adolescent girls have average, and only 1.1% have above-average mental well-being. Mental well-being was positively correlated with cohesion, acceptance, and caring at P < 0.01 level, and expressiveness, independence, active recreational orientation, and organization were positively correlated at P < 0.05 level. Conflict and control were not significantly correlated with mental well-being. Conclusion: It can be concluded that there was a significant positive relationship between various domains of family environment with mental well-being among adolescent girls. Mental health professionals and community health nurses should take the early initiative to identify any malfunction in families to avoid possible deterioration in mental well-being and psychological problems among adolescent girls.

Keywords: Adolescent girls, family environment, mental well-being

How to cite this article:
Maheshwari SK, Chaturvedi R, Gupta S. Impact of family environment on mental well-being of adolescent girls: A cross-sectional survey. Indian J Psy Nsg 2020;17:24-8

How to cite this URL:
Maheshwari SK, Chaturvedi R, Gupta S. Impact of family environment on mental well-being of adolescent girls: A cross-sectional survey. Indian J Psy Nsg [serial online] 2020 [cited 2023 May 31];17:24-8. Available from: https://www.ijpn.in/text.asp?2020/17/1/24/291614

Introduction

The family interactions play an important role in the development of an individual. The effectiveness of family functioning in conditioning the children's personality and social development has an outstanding importance. The family environment is the nucleus of all other social institutions. The healthy functioning of these interaction patterns enhances the mental well-being of an individual.^[1]

As the population of India moves toward the 1.36 billion marks, our estimated number of adolescents is 250 million. If one were to extrapolate the prevalence figures to a reasonable and approximate 20%, in India alone, the numbers would be 48 million adolescents in need of therapeutic mental health services.^[2]

Children life is shaped by their parents from birth through adulthood.^[3] In adolescence, the friends and peers group have great pressure on various decisions of adolescents, but literature clearly shows the continued importance of parents in shaping the behaviors and choices of adolescents as they face the challenges of growing up. Positive parents-adolescents relationship, good parenting skills, shared family responsibilities, and optimistic parent role modeling all have well-documented effects on adolescents' health, growth, and development. These are the areas where the parent can make choices to make positive changes for their children.^[4]

Studies have shown that adolescents who have limited family support systems have a low level of well-being and are at risk of substance abuse.^[5] When family relationships are marked by conflicts, misunderstanding, feeling of insecurity, and adolescents will be deprived of the opportunity to develop poise and more mature pattern of behavior.^[6] Family cohesion and supportive relationships between family members are associated with adolescence psychological adaptation and lower depression. Numerous studies have shown that youngsters growing up in families with a happy, harmonious parental marriage experience fewer problems and higher well-being than those from divorced or martially distressed families.^[7]

The main cause of the psychological problem in adolescence are due to Disrupted family structure which includes low-income family connection, domestic violence, and abuse or overprotection, stressful life events include traumatic events such as the death of loved ones, divorce of parents, and social problems such as poverty and unemployment.^[8] The type of family has a significant effect on the development and adjustment patterns of the adolescents and significant impact of the family might be due to the reason that in the joint family system, there are more members in the family so are more chances of disclosure of pent up emotions where such intimacy is not found in the nuclear family.^[9]

The emotional maturity is also affected by the home environment and mental health which means that these two factors also play an important role in shaping the emotional maturity of an individual or adolescence.^[10] Because of the important role of psychological functioning for youngsters in their daily lives and their further social adaptation, it is apparently relevant to study on the relationship of family environment on mental well-being of adolescent girls. The present study is a deliberate attempt to assess the mental well-being and family environment of adolescents girls and to seek a relationship of both. Study in this area will help to plan and teach effective cognitive and behavioral strategies for the target population, help the adolescents to analyze their problems associated with the family environment.

Materials and Methods

A quantitative, nonexperimental, descriptive, cross-sectional survey research approach was used to assess the family environment and mental well-being of conveniently selected 900 adolescent girls (age of 11–19 years) in selected villages of Punjab. The study was conducted at Bahadurpur, Hardo-Jhande, Kaler, Saroopwali, Sohadpur, and Thikriwal villages of District Gurdaspur (Punjab), India through a door–to-door contact. The villages were selected on the basis of the expected availability of participants, giving permission to conduct the study and convenience in terms of distance. Adolescent girls who gave consent to participate in the study and available at the time of data collection were included in the study. A total of three research tools were used for the data collection which are as follows:

Sociodemographic data sheet

It is a self-administered tool prepared by the investigators and used to measure the sociodemographic profile of participants. It consists of eight items which are age, literacy status, education of father, education of mother, family type, ordinal position, monthly income, and religion. The total administration time for this tool was approximately 3–5 min. Content validity of the tool is determined by an expert in the field of psychiatry, psychology, and nursing, respectively. Reliability was done by the test-retest method and it was found r = 0.93.

Family environment scale

Family Environment Scale (FES) is a standardized and reliable scale to measure the family environment of the participants. It consists of 69 items which were taken under three major dimensions. These are: (1) Relationship Dimensions (Cohesion, Expressiveness, Conflict, and Acceptance and Caring As such), (2) Personal Growth Dimensions (Independence and Active Recreational Orientation), and (3) System Maintenance Dimensions (Organization and Control). Items range from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Face validity and Content validity of FES were tested. The split-half method was employed to find out the reliability of FES. However, the reliability coefficient of the entire scale was estimated using the Spearman–Brown Prophecy formula and the Reliability Coefficient of the FES was 0.92.

Warwick Edinburgh mental well-being scale

The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale was specifically developed to assess positive mental well-being at a general population level. It comprises 14 positively worded items to which participants respond using a 5-point Likert scale (scored 1, none of the time; 2, rarely; 3, some of the time; 4, often; 5, all of the time), thereby providing a total score of 14–70. Responses are based on a participant's feelings over the previous 2 weeks. Score between 14 and 41 was taken as below average, 42–59 as average and 60–70 was considered as above average.^[11] Higher levels of positive mental well-being are indicated by higher scores. Total administration time is approximately 5–10 min. Reliability of the scale was determined by the test-retest reliability which was (r = 0.89).

Try out of the tool was done to ensure the reliability and understanding of the tool. Tools were translated into the Punjabi language and back translation was done. Again reliability was established and found suitable for the selected population. The pilot study was conducted and the study was found to be feasible.

Before administration to tools, a participant information sheet explaining the purpose of the study was handed over to the participant and asked to read. All the questions and queries were discussed and sort out before actual data collection. An informed written consent form was signed by each participant before data collection along with consent from available parents. All the participants were ensured that confidentiality and anonymity were maintained throughout the study. Permission was obtained from the Institutional Ethical Committee of the College of Nursing to carry out the study. Written permission was also obtained from various significant leaders or gram panchayat of the village before data collection. The study was conducted from Feb 2019 to May 2019.

The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, India, version 16. The P < 0.05 level was established as a criterion of statistical significance for all the statistical procedures performed. Appropriate descriptive and inferential statistics were employed to analyze data.

Results

Sociodemographic profile

[Table 1] shows the frequency and percentage distribution of the adolescent girls as per their sociodemographic characteristics. Maximum of the participants were 14–16 years age group and were educated up to middle (46.8%).

Table 1: Frequency and percentage distribution of adolescent girls as per their sociodemographic characteristics (n=900)

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[Table 2] shows the level of mental well-being of adolescent girls. The results reveal that majority 561 (62.3%) have average mental well-being, 329 (36.6%) have below-average mental well-being, and only 10 (1.1%) have above average mental well-being.

Table 2: Frequency and percentage distribution of adolescent girls according to their level of mental wellbeing (n=900)

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[Table 3] reveals that the mental well-being of adolescent girls was significantly positively correlated with the family environment (r = 0.405**, P =< 0.01). Hence, it can be concluded that a good family environment may have a positive impact on the mental well-being of adolescent girls. Moreover, mental well-being is positively correlated with cohesion and acceptance and caring on (0.300 and 0.449, respectively) at (P = 0.01 level) and expressiveness, independence, active recreational orientation, and organization at (0.230, 0.253, 0.254 and 0.263, respectively) at (P = 0.05 level).

Table 3: Correlation of mental well-being with the family environment (including various dimension) of the adolescent girls (n=900)

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Discussion

The aim of this study was to assess mental well-being as well as the family environment of adolescents girls and to find out the relationship between both. The present study showed that various dimensions of the family environment were significantly correlated with each other. It is supported by a study done by Punam and Kumar^[7] on the relationship between family environment, and well-being of adolescent girls concluded that most of the factors of the family environment were significantly correlated with each other. Results also revealed that the mental well-being of adolescent girls was significantly correlated with various dimensions of the family environment. It is supported by a study on family environment and adolescent mental health done by B Sathyabama and Jeryda Gnanajane Eljo^[12] showed that there was a significant positive relationship between the family environment and mental health of adolescent girls.

Similarly, results were found in a study conducted by Tajpreet and Maheshwari,^[13] which showed that poorer family functioning was significantly associated with lower levels of adolescent life satisfaction and psychological well-being.

Furthermore, Wolman et al.^[14] pointed that there is a strong association between family connectedness and adolescent well-being. In another study by Amanpreet et al. 2018^[15] observed that family is a significantly important contributor of well-being. Hair et al. 2005^[16] suggest that adolescents who have positive relationships with their families are more likely to report high levels of perceived well-being. These researches^[17] show that family and home environment plays a major role in adolescence general well-being.

Conclusion

This study concluded that a good family environment may have a positive impact on the mental well-being of adolescent girls. Family members, especially parents, should spend qualitative time with their adolescent girls and create a home atmosphere to feel free for them. Therefore, it helps them not only to ensure their mental health but also a safe and secure environment for them. Appropriate guidance should be given to parents and teachers to handle adolescent girls and promote their mental health. The health and other achievements of future generations are directly related to the physical and intellectual conditions of the present period. If the conditions at home are congenial, then their mental health is high. A secured emotional base is essential for the positive development of young girls. When the family members understand their girls appropriately and offer supports, their positive mental health will improve to a great extent. This study recommends that mental health professionals and community health nurses should take the early initiative to identify any malfunction in families to avoid possible deterioration in mental well-being and psychological problems among adolescent girls.

The present study was limited to a group of adolescent girls. Hence, further studies should be conducted on a large sample size with different variables on the different populations to assess the relationship of family environment on mental well being.

Acknowledgment

We are sincerely thankful to S. Harjinder Singh, S. Muktar Singh, S. Balkar Singh, S. Balraj Singh, S. Rajwinder Singh Sarpanch of Bahadurpur, Saroopwali, Hardochande, Jaitosarja and Sahadpur respectively, for the kind permission to conduct a study in these villages.

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.

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