Abstract
Unpredictability within the family environment has been consistently linked to anxiety and depressive symptomology in early adulthood. The current investigation sought to examine how individual and family factors may serve to protect college students from the potentially detrimental effects of growing up with family chaos. A multi-dimensional survey, including measures assessing family unpredictability, coping behavior, anxiety, and depressive symptoms, was administered to 260 (68% female) undergraduate college students. A series of regression models found mediating and moderating effects: the relationship between family unpredictability and psychological distress was explained in part by less family closeness, and this was especially true among students who engaged in more emotion-focused coping. Individuals who used less emotion-focused coping did not appear to suffer from psychological distress associated with family unpredictability. Conversely, task-focused coping did not moderate the association between family unpredictability and psychological distress; yet, individuals who used more task-focused coping, in general, experienced less distress. These findings could be used to inform intervention efforts targeted at improving parenting and caregiving practices as well as the development of campus programs aimed at improving students’ coping strategies.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Thousand Oaks, CA, US: Sage Publications, Inc.
American College Health Association. (2009). American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment II: Reference Group Executive Summary Fall 2008. Baltimore, MD: American College Health Association.
American College Health Association. (2017). American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment II: Reference Group Executive Summary Fall 2016. Hanover, MD: American College Health Association.
Arch, J. J., & Landy, L. N. (2015). Emotional benefits of mindfulness. In K. W. Brown, J. D. Creswell, R. M. Ryan, (Eds.) Handbook of mindfulness: Theory, research, and practice. (pp. 208–224). New York, NY, US: Guilford Press.
Arnett, J. J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American Psychologist, 55(5), 469–480. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.5.469.
Arnett, J. J. (2016). The Oxford handbook of emerging adulthood. New York, NY, US: Oxford University Press.
Astin, A. W., & Oseguera, L. (2004). The declining ‘equity’ of American higher education. Review of Higher Education: Journal of the Association for the Study of Higher Education, 27(3), 321–341. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2004.0001.
Ayers, T. S., Sandler, I. N., West, S. G., & Roosa, M. W. (1996). A dispositional and situational assessment of children’s coping: Testing alternative models of coping. Journal of Personality, 64(4), 923–958. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1996.tb00949.x.
Ballard, R. (1992). Short forms of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. Psychological Reports, 71, 1155–1160. https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.1992.71.3f.1155.
Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84(2), 191–215. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.84.2.191.
Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51(6), 1173–1182. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.51.6.1173.
Bowlby, J. (1982). Attachment and loss: Retrospect and prospect. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 52(4), 664–678. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1939-0025.1982.tb01456.x.
Bretherton, I. (1990). Communication patterns, internal working models, and the intergenerational transmission of attachment relationships. Infant Mental Health Journal, 11(3), 237–252. https://doi.org/10.1002/1097-0355(199023)11:3<237::AID-IMHJ2280110306>3.0.CO;2-X.
Brewin, C. R., Andrews, B., & Gotlib, I. H. (1993). Psychopathology and early experience: A reappraisal of retrospective reports. Psychological Bulletin, 113(1), 82–98. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.113.1.82.
Calvete, E., Camara, M., Estevez, A., & Villardón, L. (2011). The role of coping with social stressors in the development of depressive symptoms: Gender differences. Anxiety, Stress & Coping: An International Journal, 24(4), 387–406. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2010.515982.
Chorot, P., Valiente, R. M., Magaz, A. M., Santed, M. A., & Sandin, B. (2017). Perceived parental child rearing and attachment as predictors of anxiety and depressive disorder symptoms in children: The mediational role of attachment. Psychiatry Research, 253, 287–295. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2017.04.015.
Cohan, S. L., Jang, K. L., & Stein, M. B. (2006). Confirmatory factor analysis of a short form of the coping inventory for stressful situations. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 62(3), 273–283. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.20211.
Compañ, E., Moreno, J., Ruiz, M. T., & Pascual, E. (2002). Doing things together: Adolescent health and family rituals. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 56(2), 89–94. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech.56.2.89.
Compas, B. E., Banez, G. A., Malcarne, V., & Worsham, N. (1991). Perceived control and coping with stress: A developmental perspective. Journal of Social Issues, 47(4), 23–34. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1991.tb01832.x.
Compas, B. E., Malcarne, V. L., & Fondacaro, K. M. (1988). Coping with stressful events in older children and young adolescents. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56(3), 405–411. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.56.3.405.
Davies, P. T., & Cummings, E. M. (1994). Marital conflict and child adjustment: An emotional security hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 116(3), 387–411. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.116.3.387.
Dumas, J. E., Nissley, J., Nordstrom, A., Smith, E. P., Prinz, R. J., & Levine, D. W. (2005). Home chaos: Sociodemographic, parenting, interactional, and child correlates. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 34(1), 93–104. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15374424jccp3401_9.
Dwairy, M. A. (2008). Parental inconsistency versus parental authoritarianism: Associations with symptoms of psychological disorders. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 37(5), 616–626. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-007-9169-3.
Ehrenreich, J. T., Micco, J. A., Fisher, P. H., & Warner, C. M. (2009). Assessment of relevant parenting factors in families of clinically anxious children: The Family Assessment Clinician-Rated Interview (FACI). Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 40(3), 331–342. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-009-0128-y.
Evans, G. W., Gonnella, C., Marcynyszyn, L. A., Gentile, L., & Salpekar, N. (2005). The role of chaos in poverty and children’s socioemotional adjustment. Psychological Science, 16(7), 560–565. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0956-7976.2005.01575.x.
Feinauer, I. D., Larson, J. H., & Harper, J. M. (2010). Implicit family process rules and adolescent psychological symptoms. American Journal of Family Therapy, 38(1), 63–72. https://doi.org/10.1080/01926180902961548.
Fiese, B. H., & Winter, M. A. (2010). The dynamics of family chaos and its relation to children’s socioemotional well-being. In G. W. Evans, T. D. Wachs, (Eds.) Chaos and its influence on children’s development: An ecological perspective.
Folkman, S., & Lazarus, R. S. (1985). If it changes it must be a process: Study of emotion and coping during three stages of a college examination. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48(1), 150–170. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.48.1.150.
Forsythe, C. J., & Compas, B. E. (1987). Interaction of cognitive appraisals of stressful events and coping: Testing the goodness of fit hypothesis. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 11(4), 473–485. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01175357.
Han, G., Helm, J., Iucha, C., Zahn-Waxler, C., Hastings, P. D., & Klimes-Dougan, B. (2016). Are executive functioning deficits concurrently and predictively associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms in adolescents? Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 45(1), 44–58. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2015.1041592.
Hinchliff, G. M., Kelly, A. B., Chan, G. K., Patton, G. C., & Williams, J. (2016). Risky dieting amongst adolescent girls: Associations with family relationship problems and depressed mood. Eating Behaviors, 22, 222–224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2016.06.001.
Hood, C. O., Ross, L. T., & Wills, N. L. (2016). Self-compassion moderates the family unpredictability-depression relationship. Poster presented at the Society of Southeastern Social Psychologists meeting, Asheville, NC.
Jensen, E. W., James, S. A., Boyce, W. T., & Hartnett, S. A. (1983). The family routines inventory: Development and validation. Social Science & Medicine, 17(4), 201–211. https://doi.org/10.1016/0277-9536(83)90117-X.
Johnson, J. G. (1993). Associations between family relationships and psychiatric symptomatology in undergraduate students: An investigation of gender differences. Journal of College Student Psychotherapy, 7(3), 79–95. https://doi.org/10.1300/J035v07n03_09.
Kasch, K. L., Klein, D. N., & Lara, M. E. (2001). A construct validation study of the Response Styles Questionnaire Rumination scale in participants with a recent-onset major depressive episode. Psychological Assessment, 13(3), 375–383. https://doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.13.3.375.
Martel, M. M., Nigg, J. T., Wong, M. M., Fitzgerald, H. E., Jester, J. M., Puttler, L. I., & Zucker, R. A. (2007). Childhood and adolescent resiliency, regulation, and executive functioning in relation to adolescent problems and competence in a high-risk sample. Development and Psychopathology, 19(2), 541–563. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579407070265.
Muller, D., Judd, C. M., & Yzerbyt, V. Y. (2005). When moderation is mediated and mediation is moderated. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89(6), 852–863. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.89.6.852.
Ngamake, S. T., Walch, S. E., & Raveepatarakul, J. (2016). Discrimination and sexual minority mental health: Mediation and moderation effects of coping. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 3(2), 213–226. https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000163.
Penley, J. A., Tomaka, J., & Wiebe, J. S. (2002). The association of coping to physical and psychological health outcomes: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 25(6), 551–603. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020641400589.
Poliseo, J. M., & McDonough, M. H. (2012). Coping effectiveness in competitive sport: Linking goodness of fit and coping outcomes. Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology, 1(2), 106–119. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0026382.
Procidano, M. E., & Heller, K. (1983). Measures of perceived social support from friends and from family: Three validation studies. American Journal of Community Psychology, 11(1), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00898416.
Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D Scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1(3), 385–401. https://doi.org/10.1177/014662167700100306.
Reetz, D. R., Bershad, C., LeViness, P., & Whitlock, M. (2016). The Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors Annual Survey. Indianapolis, IN: AUCCCD. Retrieved from Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors: https://www.aucccd.org/
Rice, K. G. (1990). Attachment in adolescence: A narrative and meta-analytic review. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 19, 511–538. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01537478.
Ross, L. T., Hood, C. O., & Short, S. D. (2016). Unpredictability and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 35(5), 371–385. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2016.35.5.371.
Ross, L. T., & Hill, E. M. (2000). The Family Unpredictability Scale: Reliability and validity. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 62(2), 549–562. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2000.00549.x.
Ross, L. T., & McDuff, J. A. (2008). The Retrospective Family Unpredictability Scale: Reliability and validity. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 17(1), 13–27. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-007-9138-1.
Ross, L. T., Short, S. D., & Garofano, M. (2016). Scale of unpredictability beliefs: Reliability and validity. The Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied, 150(8), 976–1003. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.2016.1225660.
Ross, L. T., & Wynne, S. (2010). Parental depression and divorce and adult children’s well-being: The role of family unpredictability. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 19(6), 757–761. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-010-9366-7.
Sanders, W., & Abaied, J. (2015). Motivational systems and autonomic functioning: Overlapping and differential contributions to anhedonic depression and anxious arousal. Motivation and Emotion, 39(4), 602–612. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-015-9470-5.
Shisslak, C. M., McKeon, R. T., & Cargo, M. (1990). Family dysfunction in normal weight bulimic and bulimic anorexic families. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 46, 185–189. https://doi.org/10.1002/1097-4679(199003)46:2<185::AID-JCLP2270460210>3.0.CO;2-B.
Simms, L. J., Prisciandaro, J. J., Krueger, R. F., & Goldberg, D. P. (2012). The structure of depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms in primary care. Psychological Medicine, 42(1), 15–28. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291711000985.
Skinner, E. A., Edge, K., Altman, J., & Sherwood, H. (2003). Searching for the structure of coping: A review and critique of category systems for classifying ways of coping. Psychological Bulletin, 129(2), 216–269. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.129.2.216.
Spielberger, C. D., Gorsuch, R. L., Lushene, R., Vagg, P. R., & Jacobs, G. A. (1983). Manual for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
Staiger, P. K., Melville, F., Hides, L., Kambouropoulos, N., & Lubman, D. I. (2009). Can emotion-focused coping help explain the link between posttraumatic stress disorder severity and triggers for substance use in young adults? Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 36(2), 220–226. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsat.2008.05.008.
Tracy, M., Zimmerman, F. J., Galea, S., McCauley, E., & Vander Stoep, A. (2008). What explains the relation between family poverty and childhood depressive symptoms? Journal of Psychiatric Research, 42(14), 1163–1175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2008.01.011.
Tucker, C. J., Holt, M., & Wiesen-Martin, D. (2013). Inter-parental conflict and sibling warmth during adolescence: Associations with female depression in emerging adulthood. Psychological Reports, 112(1), 243–251. https://doi.org/10.2466/21.10.PR0.112.1.243-251.
Twenge, J. M., Gentile, B., DeWall, C. N., Ma, D., Lacefield, K., & Schurtz, D. R. (2010). Birth cohort increases in psychopathology among young Americans, 1938–2007: A cross-temporal meta-analysis of the MMPI. Clinical Psychology Review, 30(2), 145–154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2009.10.005.
Votta, E., & Manion, I. G. (2003). Factors in the psychological adjustment of homeless adolescent males: The role of coping style. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 42(7), 778–785. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.CHI.0000046871.56865.D9.
Wachs, T. D. (1979). Proximal experience and early cognitive-intellectual development: The physical environment. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 25(1), 3–41.
Wachs, T. D., & Evans, G. W. (2010). Chaos in context. In G. W. Evans & T. D. Wachs (Eds.), Chaos and its influence on children’s development: An ecological perspective (pp. 3–13). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. doi:10.1037/12057-000.
Wadsworth, M. E.., & Compas, B. E. (2002). Coping with family conflict and economic strain: The adolescent perspective. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 12(2), 243–274. https://doi.org/10.1111/1532-7795.00033.
Waterman, A. S. (1982). Identity development from adolescence to adulthood: An extension of theory and a review of research. Developmental Psychology, 18(3), 341–358. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.18.3.341.
Weist, M. D., Freedman, A. H., Paskewitz, D. A., Proescher, E. J., & Flaherty, L. T. (1995). Urban youth under stress: Empirical identification of protective factors. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 24(6), 705–721. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01536952.
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by funding from the Humanities and Social Sciences Dean’s Discretionary Fund at the College of Charleston. We are grateful to the students who participated in the Family Dynamics Survey and the research assistants who assisted with data collection and entry, especially Dryden Epstein, Hayley Jackson, Emily Morgan, Samantha Rance, and Stephanie Ziegler.
Author Contributions
A.K.: designed and executed the study, conceptualized this paper, analyzed the data, and wrote the paper. C.V.: collaborated with A.K. on the conceptualization of the paper, analyzed the data, and wrote the paper. L.R.: designed and executed the study and collaborated in the writing and editing of the final manuscript.
Funding
This study was supported by funding from the Humanities and Social Sciences Dean’s Discretionary Fund at the authors’ institution.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Ethical Approval
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Informed Consent
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kolak, A.M., Van Wade, C.L. & Ross, L.T. Family Unpredictability and Psychological Distress in Early Adulthood: The Role of Family Closeness and Coping Mechanisms. J Child Fam Stud 27, 3842–3852 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-018-1211-4
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-018-1211-4