Family system patterns of cohesiveness and autonomy: Relationship to family members' health behavior

Abstract

<p>The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between family system patterns of cohesiveness and promotion of autonomy and individual family members' health directed behavior in single-parent and two-parent families. An available sample of 257 individuals from 92 families with at least one child 9 through 14 years of age was obtained from randomly selected census tracts in a city in southeastern Michigan. 73 of these families were two-parent families and 19 were female-headed single-parent families. Data were collected in the family home from each parent and the child closest to age 11. Health directed behavior was measured by four indexes constructed from responses to items regarding behavior in the areas of physical activity, nutrition, sleep; family system patterns of cohesiveness and promotion of autonomy were operationalized as standardized mean family scores on the Cohesion and Independence subscales of the Family Environment Scale. Socioeconomic status was measured by scores on Green's three factor index. The data were analyzed using bivariate and multivariate correlational techniques. The first research hypothesis regarding the relationship between family cohesiveness and health directed behavior with statistical control of family SES and type of family was partially supported. Family cohesiveness was positively related to physical activity, nutrition and total health behavior but not to sleep. The nature of the relationship was non-linear for physical activity and linear for nutrition and total health behavior. The second hypothesis was also partially supported; family promotion of autonomy was positively related to physical activity and total health behavior but not to sleep or nutrition when family SES and type of family were statistically controlled. The third hypothesis was also partially supported; family cohesiveness and promotion of autonomy together explained more variance in total health behavior than either did independently when family SES and type of family were statistically controlled. This was not true for physical activity or nutrition. Type of family was related to family cohesiveness and physical activity; and family SES was related to family cohesiveness, nutrition and total health behavior.</p>