The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between adolescent family roles, family dysfunction and adolescent suicidal behavior. An attempt was made to differentiate between adolescents hospitalized for suicidal behavior and non-clinical adolescents with regard to family roles and family dysfunction. / The research hypotheses were investigated by administering instrumentation to 104 adolescents aged 13-18. Fifty two adolescents hospitalized for suicidal behavior and 52 non-suicidal adolescents from Florida High School comprised the two study groups. The instruments used in this study were the Role Behavior Inventory (Verdiano, 1986), the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale III (Olson, Portner & LaVee, 1985) and a Demographic Data Sheet. Following administration and collection, the questionnaires were scored and the data were analyzed using a discriminant analysis and one-tailed T-tests. / All hypotheses and the research question were tested at the p $<$.05 level of significance. Support was found for all the hypotheses and partial support was found for the research question. Suicidal adolescents differed from non-suicidal adolescents with suicidal adolescents perceiving themselves as occupying more rigid roles than non-suicidal adolescents. Suicidal adolescents also perceived their family systems as more dysfunctional than non-suicidal adolescents. The combination of the family role and family dysfunction variables did allow for differentiation between the two study groups. The addition of adolescents reported level of family dysfunction to perceived family roles only slightly increased the ability to classify individuals in correct study groups. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-03, Section: A, page: 1015. / Major Professor: Mary W. Hicks. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_78195 |
| Contributors | Livingston, Steve Eldon., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 144 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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