Family Structure and the Parent-Child Relationship 1

The Impact of Family Structure on the

Parent-Child Relationship in Emerging
Adulthood
Sarah Mickelberry, Sarah Rohrer, and Cora Munizza

Family Structure and the Parent-Child Relationship 2

Abstract
This study examined the possible effects of family structure during childhood on the
parent-child relationship during emerging adulthood, examining only the childs perspective. An
anonymous survey completed by individuals at Bridgewater College was the method employed
to gather the data required for this study. The survey contained questions about the type of family
structure the individual grew up with, along with constructs of warmth and hostility in order to
obtain a close look at the relationship between parent and child. Results indicated that most
frequently nuclear parents had higher scores in the warmth construct and trust questions, and
participated in more shared activities with their children, which suggests that their parent-child
relationship was of higher quality than other family structures. The results from this study imply
that although the actual family structure may not play a significant role in the parent-child
relationship, it does play some role and care should be taken to children grow up in a family
grow up in a home with two happy parents.

Family Structure and the Parent-Child Relationship 3

INTRODUCTION
The earliest relationships a person forms in life are the ones with their parents. Just a few
days after birth, this relationship has already begun to grow and will continue to do so for the
entirety of the childs and parents lives. Since the parent-child relationship is life-long, it is
bound to affect various aspects of life in both positive and negative ways. The parent-child
relationship is influenced by many factors in life, but this study will focus on how family
structure in a childs household growing up may affect the parent-child relationship in the long
run. The family structure in America over the past few years has changed, and an increasing
number of children are growing up in non-traditional homes (Lansford, Ceballo, Abbey &
Stewart, 2001). Non-traditional homes would be regarded as homes that do not have two
biological, married parents caring for the child. The purpose of this study is to further investigate
how an individuals family structure during childhood and adolescence affects the quality of the
parent-child relationship in emerging adulthood.
Multiple possibilities exist for what a family structure could be in a childs home growing
up. Some of the more common structures that this particular study considered were two-parent
nuclear homes, divorced and separated homes, and homes in which a relative, usually
grandparents, took primary care of the juvenile. This study sought to discover if having one
particular family structure as the individual grew up produced any effects on the quality of the
parent-child relationship later in emerging adulthood. Based on past literature, a hypothesis was
formed after reading the relevant literature that individuals growing up in a nuclear family, in
which both biological parents were present, would have a better quality relationship with their
parents than those people who grew up in a non-traditional or broken home.

Family Structure and the Parent-Child Relationship 4

The topic of the effects the family structure during an individuals childhood can have on
the parent-child relationship in emerging adulthood was chosen to extend past literature and
further understand the relationship between child and parent as a whole. There is a lot of research
that explores the parent-child relationship when the child is younger or in adolescence, but there
is less research that compares the different family structures while looking at emerging adults
and the relationship with their parents. In addition, much research has focused on determining
how divorce affects a child and their relationship with parents or future partners, especially in the
last few years as divorce rates have increased; however, much of this research examines the
negative outcomes for children who grow up in divorced homes, but looks less at the actual
quality of the parent-child relationships (Videon, 2002).
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
In reviewing the literature on family structures, the hypothesis of individuals growing up
in non-traditional families not having as good a quality relationship with their parents as
individuals brought up in a nuclear home seemed to be supported in some respects. Lansford et
al., (2001) focused on the adoptive family structure and compared that structure to two-parent
biological, single mother, stepfather, and stepmother households to see if there were differences
in parent and child well-being as well as quality of relationships among the various structures.
Lansford et al., (2001) found that fathers and children from all the various structures did not
report significant differences in relationship quality; however, the reports from mothers did
indicate there were differences between the family structures. In this study, mothers in twoparent homes reported having less conflicts than adoptive families, but stepmothers reported
having even fewer conflicts with their stepchildren. Adoptive mothers and biological mothers
from two-parent homes spent more time with their children than the other family structures, and

Family Structure and the Parent-Child Relationship 5

fathers from two-parent homes also reported spending more time with their children than any
other fathers (Lansford, Ceballo, Abbey & Stewart, 2001). The time spent with children seemed
to be the largest difference in the relationship between parent and child in this study.
There is a lot of research that looks at the relationship between parent and child after a
divorce has occurred, but Videon (2002) emphasized the importance of examining the
relationship right before and after a divorce to understand the relationship and the effects that a
divorce has on the adolescence. This study also considered whether gender played a role in the
satisfaction of the parent-child relationship (Videon, 2002). Like most studies examining the
adolescents perspective, there were a lot of variations in the outcomes in this study. Videon did
find that after a divorce, gender played less of a role in the parent-child relationship than how
satisfying the relationship was before the divorce (2002). Children of divorce tended to be more
satisfied in their relationship with their parents if they were able to live with the parent they had
the least conflict with before the divorce. In addition, Videon (2002) reported that the
significance of the relationship with the nonresidential parent tended to fade over time, indicating
that the relationship with that parent was not as fulfilling as that of the residential parent.
A growing number of children are now growing up in households in which a grandparent
takes the role of the parent. In situations that this occurs, the biological parents play varying roles
in their childs life, with some making contact every day and others having no legal right to
contact their child (Dolbin-MacNab, M. L., & Keiley, M. K., 2009). Children that live with their
grandparents have to learn how to navigate their family relationships with both their parents and
grandparents. Dolbin-MacNab and Keiley found from interviews with adolescents living with
their grandparents that two themes were rooted in the parent-child relationship if the child
maintained contact with the parent (2009). One theme was that the parent-child relationship was

Family Structure and the Parent-Child Relationship 6

one similar to that of a peer or friend. In this relationship with the parent, the child participated in
shared activities with their parent, but had formed attachments with their grandparents and saw
the grandparents as the authority figure. The second theme was that the parent-child relationship
was one of distance and mistrust. This parent-child relationship was filled with broken promises
from the parent, which led to mistrust, and often indicated serious issues with the parent (DolbinMacNab, M. L., & Keiley, M. K., 2009).
PROCEDURES/METHODS
We began our research by developing a survey that we had given out as a convenience
survey and recorded the results from Bridgewater College students ages 18 and over. On our
survey we had a place for them to circle their age; if they were 17 years of age or younger we did
not count those surveys because they are too young to participate without their parents consent.
We wanted to find out the parent-child relationships in adolescents based on different family
structures. Our hypothesis was that adolescents that grew up in a nuclear family were closer to
their parents and trusted them more. The first two questions on our survey were demographic
questions about the students we interviewed. After the demographic questions our survey
focused on the family structure of the individual. We began with the question: What was their
family structure growing up? We asked this question because it could influence their relationship
with their parents now. Then we asked more general questions about their family such as: How
old they were when their parents separated/ divorced (if they are separated/ divorced) and how
many siblings do they have. Both of these questions tie into how stable their relationship now
with their parents is. For instance, if the participants were young when their parents were
divorced that could have a different effect on them than if they were older. The same goes for if
the participant is an only child versus if the child is one of five siblings; the parents would treat

Family Structure and the Parent-Child Relationship 7

the children completely different. All the questions that we used about demographics and their
family structure were all valid and reliable questions.
Moving on from the students family structure growing up, we went into how much the
students trust their parent(s) now. We asked the question You are back in high school at a party
where there is underage drinking (including you) and your designated driver (DD) has decided to
drink. Who would you call first to come pick you up? to see if the participant trusted either of
their parents. Then we compared the students responses to how they would have acted if they
were in high school and college, if their relationship had increased in trust or had decreased. We
demonstrated this by asking the participant When you were in high school, how often did you
tell your parents where you were going? followed by Now that you are in college how often do
you tell your parents where you are going? The questions that we asked in our survey that
related to how the parent(s) treat their children now and how much they show affection towards
their children were developed by Conger (Conger, 1989) at Iowa State in 1989. The questions are
all valid, reliable, and tested. These questions were answered on a Likert Scale of 0 to 4. We had
three sets of identical questions; one for a father, one for a mother, and one for a guardian. The
first five questions of that section were related to warmth, thus creating a warmth construct. If
students circled very often to any of the questions, we would rate it as four points. Then the
next four questions created a hostility construct. If they had circled very often to any of the
questions, that would count as a zero. Once we totaled up the points for each student if they had
a higher number that represented that they have a high level of trust with their parent. If the
student had a low number that represents that the student has a low level of trust with their
parent.

Family Structure and the Parent-Child Relationship 8

RESULTS

Before going over the results of our study it is important to know the basic demographic
information for the participants in our study. Figure 1 is a pie chart showing the ratio of male to
female participants in our study.
Figure 1. Male and Female Participants in Study. This shows the ratio of females and males
who participated in the study.
This figure shows that the majority of the participants in our study were female, which is likely
to have some effect on the results since they are not a full representation of both genders equally.
Figure 2 shows the ages of the participant in our study and Figure 3 shows the variety of family
structures and how frequently they occur.

Family Structure and the Parent-Child Relationship 9

Figure 2. Age of Participants. The range of participants was from 18 to 22 years of age.
Figure 3. Family Structure of Participants. Frequency of results of each family structure

Family Structure and the Parent-Child Relationship 10

Figure 3 shows that most of the participants in our study had a nuclear family growing up, which
makes the data slightly less reliable because there is not much variety in the family structures and
one of the structures (nuclear family) was obviously the dominant structure within our
participants.
In our survey questions 13-39 tested the warmth of the participants from their parents.
Figure 4 shows the results of levels of warmth for each parent.

Family Structure and the Parent-Child Relationship 11

Figure 4. Warmth Toward Parents Based on Family Structure. This shows the mean and
mode for nuclear moms and dads as well as divorced moms and dads. (There was no mode
for divorced dads)
This figure shows that based on the mean, warmth is highest toward mothers with participants
whose parents are divorced. This is probably due to the fact that we had so many more nuclear
family participants than divorced (as seen in Figure 3), making the mean not the best
representation of the data. A much more reliable representation of the data is the mode. Though
there was no mode for divorced dads, the data shows that many more people from nuclear
families rated their parents on a higher level of warmth than with divorced families.
Next we wanted to see if the age that our participants parents divorced affected the
warmth they felt from their parents now as seen in Figure 5.
Figure 5. Age of Divorce vs. Level of Warmth. Compares the age of participants when their
parents divorced to average warmth levels.

Family Structure and the Parent-Child Relationship 12

This shows that the older the participant was when their parents divorced, the lower the level of
warmth. The only exception being at age 12, which is due to the fact that 12 was a mean because
there were multiple participants who said their parents divorced at this age. The trend line and
most of the points make it clear that the older a child is when their parents are divorced, the
lower the levels of warmth.
Number 5 on our survey asked participants to tell us how many siblings they have, so we
compared number of siblings to levels of warmth in Figure 6.

Family Structure and the Parent-Child Relationship 13

Figure 6. Number of Siblings vs. Level of Warmth. Displays number of siblings compared
to average level of warmth.
Our participants ranged in number of siblings from none to four, and as seen in the above figure
the more siblings that someone has, the lower their levels of warmth towards their parents.
People with three or four siblings had significantly lower levels of warmth then those who had
two or less siblings. It is also important to note that the participants with three siblings had a very
low average level of warmth.
Figures 7 and 8 shows the frequency of answers to question number 6 on the survey,
which asks, You are back in high school at a party where there is underage drinking (including
you) and your designated driver (DD) has decided to drink. Who would you call first to come
pick you up?

Figure 7. Nuclear Families. Shows the results for question 6 with nuclear families.
The results show that the two most common answers for this question are that they would call
their mother or father first. This shows that the participants feel that their parents will support
them in situations where they feel they need help. This also shows that they trust their parents to
actually give the support they need instead of leaving them to fend for themselves.

Family Structure and the Parent-Child Relationship 14

Family Structure and the Parent-Child Relationship 15

Figure 8. Non-Nuclear Families. Displays the results of question 6 for non-nuclear families.
The results for non-nuclear families are very similar to the results for nuclear families; some of
this may once again have to do with what was shown in Figure 3. There are many more
participants who had a nuclear family growing up and therefore the non-nuclear families results
cannot average out as well as the nuclear families. However, according to our results, the
participants coming from non-nuclear families were just as trusting of the support of their parents
as nuclear participants.
Figures 9 and 10 show the results for nuclear and non-nuclear families to question 8,
which reads, When you were in high school how often did your parents ask you where you were
going?

Figure 9. When you were in high school how often did your parents ask you where you
were going? (Nuclear Families). Shows frequency of responses for nuclear families.

Family Structure and the Parent-Child Relationship 16

Figure 10. When you were in high school how often did your parents ask you where you
were going? (Non-Nuclear Families). Shows results for non-nuclear families.
The figures above show that parents from nuclear families were more likely to ask their children
where they were going all of the time, which slightly shows the type of parenting. This means the
parents from non-nuclear families were slightly less involved in their childrens lives according
to our participants.
Figures 11 and 12 display the results to question 7 on our survey.

Family Structure and the Parent-Child Relationship 17

Figure 11. When you were in high school how often did you tell your parents where you
were going? (Nuclear Families). This displays the results to this question for participants
with nuclear families.
More participants with nuclear families told their parents where they were going all of the time
than any other answer. This shows that they are honest and trusting of their parents.

Family Structure and the Parent-Child Relationship 18

Figure 12. When you were in high school how often did you tell your parents where you
were going? (Non-Nuclear Families). This figure shows the answers for participants from a
non-nuclear family.
When comparing the previous two figures, it is visible that participants who are from a nuclear
family were more likely to always tell their parents where they were going than the people with a
non-nuclear family. This shows that people from a nuclear family are more honest and trusting of
their parents than if they are not from a nuclear family.
Last in this section of questions are Figures 13 and 14 showing the results from question
nine on the survey, Now that you are in high school how often do you tell your parents where
you are going?

Figure 13. Now that you are in high school how often do you tell your parents where you
are going? Results for participants with a nuclear family.

Family Structure and the Parent-Child Relationship 19

Figure 14. Now that you are in high school how often do you tell your parents where you
are going? (Non-Nuclear Families) Results from participants with non-nuclear families.
The results for this question were very similar for both family structures. Though the nuclear
participants answered most of the time slightly more, they also answered never a little more.
This again could be referenced to the issue shown in Figure 3, but it also shows that although
now that they are in college and are more independent, they still likely tell their parents when
they are doing something important in both instances.
Next we looked at how much our participants trusted their parents comparatively with
Figures 15 and 16.
Figure 15. How much do you trust your parents on a scale from 1-10? (Nuclear Families) In
this scale 1 is not at all and 10 is completely.

Family Structure and the Parent-Child Relationship 20

This shows that in nuclear families most people are very trusting of their parents but some people
do not trust their parents very much at all.

Family Structure and the Parent-Child Relationship 21

Figure 16. How much do you trust your parents on a scale from 1-10? (Non-Nuclear
Families). This scale 1 is not at all and 10 is completely.
According to this graph, non-nuclear participants are slightly more trusting of their parents than
the participants who are from nuclear families, which again could have something to do with
Figure 3.
Next we compared communication between the participants and their parents based on
how often they talk just to talk, not to actually get information out of one another. Figures 17 and
18 show how often each family structure communicates.

Family Structure and the Parent-Child Relationship 22

Figure 17. How often do you contact your parents just to talk? (Nuclear Families). Shows
communication between parents and children of nuclear families.

Figure 18. How often do you contact your parents just to talk? (Non-Nuclear Families).
Shows communication between parents and children of non-nuclear families.
These figures show that participants from nuclear families contacted their parents just to talk
much more often than participants from non-nuclear families showing that their relationship is
not as good as those from nuclear families.
Lastly we went over the answers for number 11 asking participants to list shared
activities with their parents if they had any and the results are in Table 1.
Table 1. Shared Activities. This shows the percentages of answers.
Nuclear Families
Non-Nuclear Families
Has a shared activity with mom

36.73%

47.37%

Has a shared activity with dad

34.69%

36.84%

Family Structure and the Parent-Child Relationship 23

Does not have a shared activity with mom

14.29%

5.26%

Does not have a shared activity with dad

14.29%

10.53%

This table shows that participants from non-nuclear families had more shared activities with their
parents than participants with nuclear families, which may be true or it may be due to a
discrepancy shown in Figure 3. It also could be possible that people may have just decided they
did not want to answer a question that required a written response. All in all, our data is a little
contradictory because some pieces of our survey show that participants with nuclear families
have a better relationship and some show the exact opposite.
DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS
As previous research has shown, the family structure in America continues to change, and
nuclear families are becoming rarer (Lansford, Ceballo, Abbey & Stewart, 2001). Because
family structures are changing, it is important to investigate whether the structure of a family
affects the relationship between parent and child, as this relationship is one of the most important
in life. In addition, while a lot of research focuses on younger children and adolescence,
examining the impact of the family structure on the quality of the parent-child relationship when
the individual is an emerging adult might lead to a better understanding of how the quality of the
relationship fairs over time. This studys goal was to examine the impact that family structure
during childhood has on the parent-child relationship when an individual has reached emerging
adulthood. The hypothesis stated that individuals growing up in a nuclear home in which two
biological parents are present will have a much better relationship with their parents than those
people growing up in a non-traditional home. This hypothesis was formed with the knowledge
that individuals growing up in a two-parent home generally experience greater socioeconomic

Family Structure and the Parent-Child Relationship 24

statuses and more parent time with both parents, which leads to more co-parental support and
attention (Amato, 2005).
The data analysis from the surveys contained a lot of variations, but three key points were
noted. First, in looking at the mean scores for the mothers, mothers of divorced individuals
tended to score higher than any other family structure in the warmth construct. This could be
because the participants primarily lived with their mothers after the divorce, and therefore spent
more time with their mothers instilling the feeling of its me and mom in the individuals.
Another explanation may be that women are seen as relationship experts (Amato, 2006). They
are socialized to communicate openly and be able to navigate family relationships, so when a
divorce occurs mothers use these skills to form stronger bonds with their children. It is also
important to note, however, that because there were a limited number of families of divorce in
the study, the means were skewed, and looking at the modes the nuclear family structure always
had better results. While individuals from divorce generally described having a good quality
relationship with their mothers, they almost always reported that their relationship with their
father was not as warm and trusting. This may be because the fathers were the non-residential
parent after the divorce, and generally that relationship tends to fade after a divorce (Videon,
2002).
While on average individuals with divorced parents reported that they had a good
relationship with their mothers, this average was most likely skewed by one or two really high
scores. To get a more representative set of data regarding the warmth, hostility, and trust of the
parent-child relationships, modes were looked at and compared in addition to the means. The
second key point was that the data from the nuclear family group almost always had higher
scores on the warmth construct and trust questions with both mother and father than individuals

Family Structure and the Parent-Child Relationship 25

from other family structures. This information suggested that individuals from nuclear families
tended to communicate better and had more shared family activities, and the warmth and support
was higher than those from divorced families. This again goes back to the research that shows
that children living in nuclear homes experience higher standards of living and more parent time,
and children of divorced parents often have weaker emotional bonds with their parents (Amato,
2005). When there is less of an emotional bond the overall relationship is weakened. Nuclear
families might also fare better in their parent-child relationships because after a divorce, feelings
of being caught in the middle of parents conflicts may emerge in the child. These feelings can
last through adulthood, and when these feelings are present the parent-child relationship is
weakened (Amato, 2006).
Lastly, when looking at the mean scores as a whole among the different family structures,
there was not much difference in the parent-child relationship quality of children in nuclear
families versus those of divorce. When the total warmth and hostility constructs, trust questions,
and shared activities were averaged together, the total relationship scores were about the same.
This could indicate that family structure is not necessarily the most significant factor in
determining the quality of the relationship between parent and child. Other factors like the
spousal relationship, the type of parenting, the way in which disagreements are dealt with, and
communication in the family may have more influence over the relationship than the actual
structure the child grew up with (Videon, 2002). With so few surveys completed by individuals
from divorced parents, however, it is hard to get an accurate mean that represents the data
collected.
Limitations

Family Structure and the Parent-Child Relationship 26

This study had a number of limitations; first we only had 35 surveys. When there are only
about 1,700 students that attend the college, this is not a good representation of the college.
Another limitation was the parents perspectives. We do not know how much the parents believe
they are involved in their childrens lives. Also all the limitations that the parents run into such as
if the parent is single, he or she could be working all day and not be able to see his or her child.
Not knowing the background of the family is a limitation to why they are that way. In our survey
when we asked the students whether their parent(s) abused them, we do not know into detail how
their parent(s) did so (if their parent(s) hit them with an open palm, closed palm, fist, or with an
object). Another limitation that we had was when talking about threats; in our questions, we did
not ask the students if their parent(s) had ever threatened them as a child in a non-violent way,
such as taking away any privileges. One of our questions asked How many times a month do
you contact your parents just to talk? this is a limitation because we do not know what form of
communication they are using to connect with their parents. Since our survey was a convenience
survey, we could not generalize the information that we found to go with everyone. Going along
with that, most of the participants that we did survey were from a nuclear family. We only had
very few participants whose parents were divorced. We did not have very many family structures
overall in our findings, which is also a limitation. Also we did not have a classification for the
participants to use if their parents fought a lot or were separated but they were still living
together. Lastly for the participants whose parents were divorced and had a good relationship, we
do not know which parent they are living with. We know overall that there are many
improvements that we could have made when developing this survey.
Future Research

Family Structure and the Parent-Child Relationship 27

To further understand the parent-child relationship and whether the family structure
actually has any effects on the relationship, further research is required. The family interpersonal
relationships and family environment need to be further investigated to get a better overall
understanding of what factors influence the parent-child relationship. Further exploring the
parent-to-parent relationship within the family might help researchers to discover if that plays a
significant role in the parent-child relationship. If there is a lot of conflict between the parents
this could lead to conflict between the parent(s) and child, or leave the child feeling as if he or
she is caught between their parents arguments. Further researching which parent the child
primarily lives with after a divorce could also be beneficial to this study. This study simply asked
what the family structure at home was like growing up, but knowing the living arrangements of
an individual in a non-nuclear family could lead researchers to a better understanding of the
environment the child grew up in. If the child lost contact with the non-residential parent after
the divorce, this would obviously play a huge role in the relationship quality. The parents
perspectives were not taken into account in this study, which is important in understanding the
entire relationship. In future research, having the parents perspective would lead to less of a one
sided report on the quality of the parent-child relationship. Finally, there has been a lot of
research that focuses on the nuclear and divorced family structures. To gain a more complete
comparison of the impact of family structure on the parent-child relationships, other structures
need to be studied alongside the divorced and nuclear family structures. Families with
stepparents, families with adopted children, families in which children are living with relatives or
guardians, continuously stable single parent homes, and same-sex parent families are
underrepresented in research. To truly compare and examine the impact of family structure on

Family Structure and the Parent-Child Relationship 28

the parent-child relationship, more data needs to be collected to accurately represent a wider
variety of structures.
Implications
The findings from this study implicate that while family structure may impact the
relationship between parent and child, there are other factors that influence the parent-child
relationship too. Factors like the number of siblings, communication in the relationship, and
cohesion of the family also impacts the parent-child relationship. How the parents interact with
one another could also factor into the parent-child relationship, because if parents are always
arguing the child could feel caught in the middle. If the parents communicate well, however, the
child observes and learns from this. Parents should make a real effort to make sure that their
children grow up in a happy environment, preferably with two biological parents. Programs on
effective parenting and programs focusing on teaching divorced parents how to navigate their
relationship with their child after divorce could aid in strengthening the parent-child
relationships. It is also important that fathers, especially fathers from divorced families, begin to
spend more time with their children, because the father-child relationship tended to be the
weakest. The parent-child relationship is life-long, so parents should take care with this
relationship as their child grows up, because this will affect the relationship as the child moves
into emerging adulthood. While family structure is important to this relationship, more must be
taken into account in order to achieve the optimal parent-child relationship.

References
Amato, P. R. (2005). The impact of family formation change on the cognitive, social, and
emotional well-being of the next generation. Future Of Children, 15, 75-96.

Family Structure and the Parent-Child Relationship 29

Amato, P. R., & Afifi, T. D. (2006). Feeling caught between parents: Adult children's relations
with parents and subjective well-being. Journal of Marriage & Family, 68, 222-235.
doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2006.00243.x
Dolbin-MacNab, M. L., & Keiley, M. K. (2009). Navigating interdependence: How adolescents
raised solely by grandparents experience their family relationships. Family Relations, 58,
162-175. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3729.2008.00544.x
Lansford, J. E., Ceballo, R., Abbey, A., & Stewart, A. J. (2001). Does family structure matter? A
comparison of adoptive, two-parent biological, single-mother, stepfather, and stepmother
households. Journal of Marriage & Family, 63, 840-851.
Videon, T. M. (2002). The effects of parent-adolescent relationships and parental separation on
adolescent well-being. Journal of Marriage & Family, 64, 489-503.

Family Structure and the Parent-Child Relationship 30

Appendix A

Consent Form
This is a research project conducted by Sarah Mickelberry, Sarah Rohrer, and Cora Munizza and
is under the direction of Dr. Hoskins faculty member in the Department of Family and Consumer
Science at Bridgewater College. You are being asked to participate in a study concerned with
parent-child relationships. In this study, you will be given an anonymous survey about the
relationship between you and your parent(s) and/or guardian. This survey will ask you about
multiple aspects in that relationship. This survey will take approximately 10 to 15 minutes to
complete.
The risks in this research study are very minor, such as recalling childhood memories that could
be unpleasant or uncomfortable. Your responses will remain confidential and will only be
identified in the data as a research number. The data from the research study will not be
published and no connection to your identity will be required. The data you provide will only be
used for FCS 400 class purposes.
Other than learning about parent-child relationships there are no immediate benefits to
participants in this project.
This research study is completely voluntary. You may choose to stop your participation at any
time prior to the completion of the study without penalty. Your participation is appreciated.
If you have any questions please contact Sarah Mickelberry, Sarah Rohrer, and/or Cora Munizza
at smm013@eagles.bridgewater.edu, smr003 eagles.bridgewater.edu,
cfm001eagles.bridgewater.edu or if you prefer, you may contact Dr. Hoskins at
dhancock@bridgewater.edu.

I understand that my identity will be anonymous during this research project. I

understand that my participation is voluntary, and that I may leave the study at any time
without penalty. I know that all of my responses will be kept confidentially. I understand
that the researchers in FCS 400, Sarah Mickelberry, Sarah Rohrer, and Cora Munizza,
will answer any questions about this research at the conclusion of the study and that I
may also contact the faculty sponsor, Dr. Hoskins with questions about the research or
my rights as a research participant.
I attest that I am at least 18 years of age. I have read the above and give my full consent to
participate in this study.
Name (Please Print): ___________________________________ Date: __________
Signature: ____________________________________________

Family Structure and the Parent-Child Relationship 31

Appendix B: Anonymous Survey Questions
1. What is your gender?
a Male
b Female
2. What is your age?
a 17 or younger
b 18
c 19
d 20
a
b
c
d

e
f
g

21
22
23 or older

h 3. What was your family structure growing up? (circle one)

Nuclear (both parents still together)
e Divorced
Single mother
f Step parents
Single father
g Parents are separated
Grandparent
h Other (please specify) ___________

i 4. If your parents are not still together how old were you when they separated/divorced?
j
k 5. How many siblings do you have?
l
m 6. You are back in high school at a party where there is underage drinking (including you)
and your designated driver (DD) has decided to drink. Who would you call first to come
pick you up?
n a. Mom
r e. Stick with the DD
o b. Dad
s f. Other (please specify)
p c. Other family member
______________
q d. Sibling
t

7. When you were in high school, how often did you tell your parents where you were
going?
u a. Always
x d. Rarely
v b. Most of the time
y e. Never
w c. Sometimes
z

8. When you were in high school how often did your parents ask you where you were
going?
aa a. Always
ad d. Rarely
ab b. Most of the time
ae e. Never
ac c. Sometimes
af
ag
ah
ai

9. Now that you are in college how often do you tell your parents where you are going?
a. Always
aj d. Rarely
b. Most of the time
ak e. Never
c. Sometimes

Family Structure and the Parent-Child Relationship 31

al 10. On a scale of 1-10 how much do you trust your parents? (1 being not at all, 10 being
completely) (circle one).
am
an 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
ao 11. Do you and your parent(s) have a shared interest that you do together? If so what is
it? (if necessary specify for each parent)
ap 12. How many times a month do you contact your parents just to talk?
aq a. I never contact my parents just to
at d.2-3 times a week
talk
au e. Almost every day
ar b.1-2 times
av f. Every day
as c. Once a week
aw If you do not have a mother in your life now, skip to question 22
ax
ay
az
ba

13. How often do you and your mother share a laugh together?
a. Very often
bb d. Rarely
b. Often
bc e. Never
c. Sometimes

bd
be
bf
bg

14. How often do you and your mother participate in a shared activity together?
a. Very often
bh d. Rarely
b. Often
bi e. Never
c. Sometimes

bj 15. How often does your mother tell you I love you?
bk a. Very often
bn d. Rarely
bl b. Often
bo e. Never
bm c. Sometimes
bp
bq
br
bs

16. How often does your mother let you know she really cares about you?
a. Very often
bt d. Rarely
b. Often
bu e. Never
c. Sometimes

bv 17. How often does your mother listen to your point of view?
bw a. Very often
bz d. Rarely
bx b. Often
ca e. Never
by c. Sometimes

Family Structure and the Parent-Child Relationship 32

cb 18. How often does your mother shout or yell at you?

Family Structure and the Parent-Child Relationship 32

cc a. Very often
cd b. Often
ce c. Sometimes

cf d. Rarely
cg e. Never

ch
ci
cj
ck

19. How often does your mother threaten you physically?

a. Very often
cl d. Rarely
b. Often
cm e. Never
c. Sometimes

cn
co
cp
cq

20. How often does your mother criticize you or your ideas?
a. Very often
cr d. Rarely
b. Often
cs e. Never
c. Sometimes

ct
cu
cv
cw

21. How often does your mother slap or hit you with her hands?
a. Very often
cx d. Rarely
b. Often
cy e. Never
c. Sometimes

cz If you do not have a father in your life now, skip to question 30

da
db
dc
dd

22. How often do you and your father share a laugh together?
a. Very often
de d. Rarely
b. Often
df e. Never
c. Sometimes

dg
dh
di
dj

23. How often do you and your father participate in a shared activity together?
a. Very often
dk d. Rarely
b. Often
dl e. Never
c. Sometimes

dm 24. How often does your father tell you I love you?
dn a. Very often
dq d. Rarely
do b. Often
dr e. Never
dp c. Sometimes
ds 25. How often does your father let you know he really cares about you?

Family Structure and the Parent-Child Relationship 33

dt a. Very often
du b. Often
dv c. Sometimes

dw d. Rarely
dx e. Never

dy 26. How often does your father listen to your point of view?

dz a. Very often
ea b. Often
eb c. Sometimes
ee
ef
eg
eh

ec d. Rarely
ed e. Never

27. How often does your father shout or yell at you?

a. Very often
ei d. Rarely
b. Often
ej e. Never
c. Sometimes

ek 28. How often does your father threaten you physically?

el a. Very often
eo d. Rarely
em b. Often
ep e. Never
en c. Sometimes
eq
er 29. How often does your father criticize you or your ideas?
es a. Very often
ev d. Rarely
et b. Often
ew e. Never
eu c. Sometimes
ex
ey
ez
fa

30. How often does your father slap or hit you with his hands?
a. Very often
fb d. Rarely
b. Often
fc e. Never
c. Sometimes

fd If you answered the mother section, father section, or both skip this last section. If
your legal guardian(s) is not your parents answer this section
fe
ff
fg
fh

31. How often do you and your guardian share a laugh together?
a. Very often
fi d. Rarely
b. Often
fj e. Never
c. Sometimes

fk
fl
fm
fn

32. How often do you and your guardian participate in a shared activity together?
a. Very often
fo d. Rarely
b. Often
fp e. Never
c. Sometimes

Family Structure and the Parent-Child Relationship 34

fq
fr
fs
ft

33. How often does your guardian tell you I love you?
a. Very often
fu d. Rarely
b. Often
fv e. Never
c. Sometimes

fw
fx
fy
fz

34. How often does your guardian let you know they really care about you?
a. Very often
ga d. Rarely
b. Often
gb e. Never
c. Sometimes

gc
gd
ge
gf

35. How often does your guardian listen to your point of view?
a. Very often
gg d. Rarely
b. Often
gh e. Never
c. Sometimes

gi
gj
gk
gl

36. How often does your guardian shout or yell at you?

a. Very often
gm d. Rarely
b. Often
gn e. Never
c. Sometimes

go
gp
gq
gr

37. How often does your guardian threaten you physically?

a. Very often
gs d. Rarely
b. Often
gt e. Never
c. Sometimes

gu 38. How often does your guardian criticize you or your ideas?
gv a. Very often
gy d. Rarely
gw b. Often
gz e. Never
gx c. Sometimes
ha 39. How often does your guardian slap or hit you with their hands?
hb a. Very often
hd c. Sometimesd. Rarely
hc b. Often
he e. Never

hf