The effects of gender and family structure on family functioning and problem-solving skills of African American college students
Abstract
This researcher investigated the effects of gender and family structure on family functioning and problem-solving skills of African American college students. The Independent Variables in this research project were family structure, and sociodemographic variables (age, classification, gender). The specific family structures of interest are Dual Intact Families, Single-Parent Families, and Extended Families. The two dependent variables of family functioning and problem-solving skills were measured by the Family Functioning Scale and the Problem-Solving Inventory respectively. The total subjects were 270 students (94 males, 176 females) recruited from psychology and sociology courses as well as by using the subject pool in the Department of Psychology at Tennessee State University. The data were analyzed in a variety of ways. A frequency distribution was conducted to describe the demographic data of participants. One frequency distribution was conducted to describe the demographic data of participants (age, gender, school classification). Another frequency distribution was conducted to describe participants from 11 different family structures, nine of which were used for further analysis. Since participants from various extended families were recoded using SPSS and combined into one group, an additional frequency distribution was conducted to describe participants from nine different family structures into three family structures (intact families, extended families, single parent families). Group means, standard deviations, mean difference between groups, and interaction effects were computed on total scale scores for each questionnaires by 2 Two-Way Analyses of Variance. The results of the two-way analysis of variance for total family score revealed no significant effects of gender on the family functioning of African American college students, F (1, 264) = .546, p > .05, no significant effects of family structure on the family functioning of African American college students, F (2, 264) = .253, p > .05, and no significant interaction effects of gender and family structure on the family functioning of African American college students, F (2, 264) = .048, p > .05. The results of the two-way analysis of variance for the total problem score revealed no significant effects of genderon the problem-solving skills of African American college students, F (1, 264) .098, p > .05, no significant effects of family structure on the problem-solving skills of African American College students, F (2, 264) = 2.554, p > .05, and no significant interaction effects of gender and family structure on the problem-solving skills of African American college students, F (2, 264) = .296, p > .05. In these respects, the difference between African American males and females mean family functioning score and mean problem-solving score did not depend on their family structure.
Subject Area
Cognitive psychology|Individual & family studies|Black studies|African American Studies|Sociology
Recommended Citation
Fernelle Lekoyne Warren,
"The effects of gender and family structure on family functioning and problem-solving skills of African American college students"
(2000).
ETD Collection for Tennessee State University.
Paper AAI3007626.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI3007626