Family background and problems at school and in society: The role of family composition, emotional atmosphere and parental education

Abstract

Three studies were carried out to examine the extent to which family composition, size and atmosphere, parental control, and the level of parental education and socioeconomic status, are associated with young people’s problems at school, and later on in society. In study 1, twenty-four 13- to 14-year-old underachievers, and 24 of their matched-pair controls, and 24 overachievers and 24 of their matchedpair controls, were compared according to their family background. In study 2, sixteen low achieving pupils, 20 vocational school pupils and 21 senior high school pupils, aged between 14 and 19, were examined. In study 3, twenty unemployed young adults, 14 students with health problems, and 23 vocational school students were again compared according to their family background variables. The results showed that underachievers, low achievers and “society drop-outs” typically came from a family in which their biological father was not present, either due to single motherhood or re-marriage. They also reported a lower level of parental control, and a more negative family atmosphere than the students in the control groups. In turn, the overachievers came from intact families with a positive atmosphere. Problems at and after school were not associated with the level of parental education.