The purpose of this study was to examine if the quality of college students' relationships with their parents and family-of-origin would predict their academic and psychological adjustment to college, including their openness to cultural diversity. It was hypothesized that in general, higher quality of students' intrafamilial relationships will significantly predict their academic and psychological adjustment to college. It also is hypothesized that higher quality intrafamilial relationships will be significantly associated with increased interest and openness to learning about and interacting with students of diverse cultural backgrounds. Four additional variables were examined in an exploratory manner, to determine if they would predict college adjustment. They were social support, parental support and encouragement specific to helping the students prepare for college, self-efficacy, and ethnic identity. Overall, the results of this study suggest that college students' relationships with other family members as a child have limited influence over their adult adjustment in the context of adapting to the demands of college. Because this finding conflicts with previous research, additional research is needed to clarify the precise influence childhood families have on adult functioning. For example, it is possible that childhood families influence subsequent functioning in some contexts ( e.g., adults' relationships with their own spouses and children) more than in others ( e.g., on a college campus).
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ucf.edu/oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:honorstheses1990-2015-1736 |
| Date | 01 January 2008 |
| Creators | Machado, Claudia Beatriz |
| Publisher | STARS |
| Source Sets | University of Central Florida |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | HIM 1990-2015 |
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