More than Books in the Backpack: The Impact of Family Dysfunction on College Student Risk Behaviors

Researchers, practitioners and educators have, historically, been interested in assessing the development and impact of family dynamics on children, adolescents and college students (e.g., Chang, et al., 2016; Dring, 2014, Minuchin, Rosman & Baker, 1978; Seligman, 1998). Family dysfunction has been found to impact children in a variety of areas including (but not limited to): risky sexual behavior (e.g., Burnett et al, 2011), pessimism and anger (e.g., Boman, Smith & Curtis, 2003), eating disorders (e.g., Dring, 2015), alcohol/drug abuse (e.g., Minuchin, Rosman & Baker, 1978), and suicide (e.g., Chang, et al., 2016). The current study examined the relationships between self-reported risk by college students (utilizing the Youth Risk Behavior Survey CDC, 2017) and self-reported characteristics of family dysfunction (utilizing the Edinburgh Family Scale). As predicted, higher scores on family dysfunction were associated with significantly higher scores on all categories of risk behavior characteristics (safety behaviors, tobacco use, alcohol/drug usage, sex behaviors, eating behaviors, and physical activities).