19th Annual Student Research Conference
Education
Effects of Childhood Family Environment on Marital Attitudes
Kristine M. Carey♦
Dr. Christopher Maglio, Faculty Mentor
Family plays a significant role throughout the lives of most people. The familial environment in which a person is raised can have a large effect on the attitudes of people into their adulthood. Certain events people experience as they grow older may reinforce experiences they have had within their family growing up or may contradict them. The purpose of this study is to examine the strength of the influence of childhood family environment on young adults’ attitudes toward marriage and family throughout the course of their time spent in college. Attitudes toward marriage were correlated with childhood family functioning and attitudes toward marriage were also compared between first-year students, sophomores, juniors and seniors at Truman State University. Two hundred seventy students participated in the study. Results showed students' attitudes toward marriage were related to family functioning. However, no statistically significant relationship was found between class status and attitudes toward marriage.
Keywords: marital attitudes, family environment, family functioning, childhood, college
Topic(s):Counseling
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: 60-5
Location: OP Lobby and Atrium
Time: 4:15