Role of Family Structure on Mental Health of Adolescents: A Comparative Study

Adolescents is a period during which mental, physical, social abilities and potentials are developed, during this time parental presence, guidance and family environment plays a crucial role in guiding the child to understand himself/herself, accept the changes taking place within and outside the body and develop healthy body and mind. Objective: The purpose of the study was to investigate the role of family structure on Mental Health of adolescents. Joint and nuclear family structure are investigated in this research work. Method: Data for the present study was collected through Random Sampling Method from 400 male and female adolescent students studying in different schools of Lucknow City. Adolescents with Age range of 13-18 years were administered with Mental Health Inventory by Dr. Jadgish and Dr. A.K. Srivastava (1983) to investigate mental health and Personal Data Sheet to investigate family structure. Results:Significant differences on the mental health of adolescents from different family structure were observed. Adolescents from joint family had higher mental health than nuclear family adolescents. Gender differences were also observed on mental health, results showed that female adolescents had better mental health than male adolescents. Thus, it can be concluded that family structure is related to love, care, support and affection towards the child and its members. It acts as a mode of catharsis and emotional ventilation for the adolescents and parents. Expression of emotions, sharing of experiences and feelings is very important because piling up of emotions and experiences may lead to mental disturbances and distorted brain functioning. Thus, family is a significant part of an individual’s life and his overall development.