THE RELATIONSHIP OF FAMILY BOUNDARY STRUCTURE AND ADOLESCENT SELF-ESTEEM TO ADOLESCENT PROBLEM DRINKING AS MODERATED BY AGE AND SEX.
Contributors: New York University.
Published: 1986
Number of pages: 222
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship of family boundary structure and adolescent self-esteem to adolescent problem drinking, controlling for age and sex. Three dimensions of adolescent problem drinking were investigated: quantity, frequency, and behavioral consequences of teenage alcohol use.

Before the formal study was undertaken, measures were taken to increase the clarity of the Park Problem Drinking Scale (PPDS), the tool used to measure adolescent problem drinking. The PPDS, revised version was reviewed by a panel of judges and a pilot study was conducted with students from a New York surburban high school in the New York City metropolitan area.

The sample selected for the formal study was obtained from the same school setting and consisted of 230 male and female adolescents between the ages of 16 to 18. They conpleted the Family Environment Scale (FES), Form R, Cohesion subscale; the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (CSEI), Adult Form; and the PPDS, revised version; and a Personal Data Sheet.

Nine multivariate hypotheses were proposed, focusing on the interaction between family boundary structure and adolescent self-esteem on the dimensions of adolescent problem drinking. Hypotheses 1 through 6 were tested by multiple regression, but they were not supported. Hypotheses 7 to 9 could not be tested by multiple regression analysis because they violated one of the assumptions of this model, namely, orthogonality of independent variables. Family boundary structure and adolescent self-esteem were multicollinear.

Age and sex were postulated to be moderator variables. Age did not function as a moderator variable. Sex influenced the frequency and the incidence of behavioral consequences of adolescent alcohol use but not the quantity of alcohol consumed. Males tended to drink more frequently and to experience more negative consequences from alcohol use than females.

Ancillary analyses yielded several findings. A high level of problem drinking was not characteristic of subjects. Most adolescents perceived their families as being highly cohesive. Family size, birth order, race, and religious affiliation were found to be associated with the quantity and frequency of alcohol consumed.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-08, Section: B, page: 3295.

Thesis (PH.D.)--NEW YORK UNIVERSITY, 1986.

School code: 0146.