It's More Than Drinking, Drugs, and Sex: College Student Perceptions of Family Problems

The colorful misbehavior of college students trumps Considerations of college students' relationships with their families. With broad coverage of behaviors such as binge drinking, on-line gambling, and risky sexual behavior, the image of the college student is one of a person worrying about what time the bar opens, rather than problems at home. This image may be a myth, just as believing a parent who drinks too much on a given evening forgets about his or her family problems is a myth. Understanding the role of family influence on college students expands the view of the concerns of college students. This study will identify problems facing college students' families today.  Family influence on college students Despite publicity suggesting parents no longer are connected to their young adult children, parents continue to have an influence on their college-age children (Booth-Butterfield & Sidelinger, 1998; Wilks, 1986). Family interaction patterns are a factor in children's subsequent behaviors (Booth-Butterfield & Sidelinger, 1998). Psychologically healthy college students report better communication with their parents (Amerikaner, Monks, Wolfe, & Thomas, 1994). College students pay attention to what is happening with their families. While they are experimenting with a variety of behaviors, college students are still communicating with their family members and learning the status of lingering issues. The ready availability of email and dominance of cell phones has made that communication easier and more frequent. Family Problems Communication behaviors play a key role in diffusing distress. Linker, Stolberg, and Green (1999) found that when parents communicate effectively during a divorce, children experience fewer behavioral problems. Daily communication, or everyday talk, between children and noncustodial parents has been found to be a significant factor in maintaining a close relationship after a divorce (Afifi & Kieth, 2004). The identification of family problems is fundamental to resolving them. Problem identification gives a common understanding of the problem to each family member. Identifying and analyzing the sources of family stress has been a dominant research theme (Rollins, Garrison, & Pierce, 2002). Turner and West (2002) note, however, that shared family perceptions do not mean that every member of the family responds the same way to a stressor. An understanding of family problems from the perspective of the young adult son or daughter is lacking. Thus, the following research question merits further investigation:  What problems do college students identify as affecting their families?  Participants Participants in this study attended a medium sized Midwestern university (N = 156). The average age of the child participant was 21, with a range from 18 years to 45 years old. Participants indicated having a wide range of siblings. From the sample, 58 participants (37.2%) indicated having one sibling, 53 participants (34.0%) had two siblings, and the remaining participants indicated a range of zero to eleven siblings. (1) From the sample, 134 individuals (85.9%) did not live at home with their parents. Additionally, 105 respondents (67.6%) had a job at the time of the survey. Among students who worked, they averaged 24.19 hours a week (SD = 9.49) with a range of 5 to 56 hours. (2) Procedure Students from a variety of classes were asked to complete an open-ended survey during their class session. The surveys were distributed in the summer and fall semesters of 2004. Five individuals transcribed the survey responses. The survey instrument consisted of a section on demographics and eleven open-ended questions. The open-ended questions asked what the participants identified as problems, what they would classify as the most significant problem, why this was the most significant problem, what they wished they could do about the problem, what they would do about the problem, a story of a time a problem was resolved, and any viable solutions for the problem. …

Field of study: Education