Abstract
The family environment is considered to be a micro-ecological system with numerous risk and protective factors for mental health. The goal of this research was to determine how different functional and/or structural family characteristics affect some indicators of mental health in adolescents. A number of 1,239 adolescents (ages 15–19) participated in the research. General Data Questionnaire, Family Life Satisfaction Scale, Family Communication Scale, Positive Mental Health Scale, Anxiety, Depression and Stress Scale, and Stressful Events in the Family Checklist, were applied. The results indicated no connection between sociodemographic characteristics and self-assessed satisfaction. Adolescents with older parents were less satisfied with their family and familial communication. Gender differences in mental health were confirmed, mostly to the detriment of girls. The mother’s age and the father’s level of education significantly correlate with individual mental health. Adolescents with older mothers reported lower mental health. Adolescents with fathers of lower educational status reported higher stress and depression level. Stress within the family proved to be significant in explaining adolescents’ mental health, especially due to financial issues, and conflicts among family members. Finally, the results indicated that family communication and satisfaction, with the control of sociodemographic characteristics and stress in a family, additionally explain the significant part of the variance in adolescents’ mental health.
Highlights
Mental health is an integral and essential component of the entirety of human health understood as a wholeness of physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely as the absence of disease or weakness
Concerning the first research question on the connection between the sociodemographic characteristics of adolescents and their families on the one hand, and family communication, family satisfaction, and adolescent mental health on the other, the results showed that adolescents who assess positive family communication show high satisfaction with family relationships and positive mental health
This finding is consistent with a number of studies that speak in favour of the importance of good quality family communication and its connection to good quality family relationships and mental health (Alm et al 2020; Berg et al 2017; Reed et al 2015; Morgan et al 2012; Lutahr & Zelazo 2003; Masten 2001, as cited in Velez et al 2019)
Summary
Mental health is an integral and essential component of the entirety of human health understood as a wholeness of physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely as the absence of disease or weakness. The mental health of adolescents is of particular interest to practitioners and scientists because the period of adolescence encompasses strong and growing changes and formative learning experiences that occur during the transition from childhood to adulthood. During this period, adolescents must navigate their way through overwhelming experiences and feelings of uncertainty, while at the same time they discover new skills and competencies that may be carried through the rest of their lives. The research focused on certain characteristics of the family as the closest environment within the ecological model and their impact on mental health, as well as on some of the mental problems specific to adolescents
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