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Family Communication Patterns and the Mediating Effects of Support and Resilience on Students' Concerns About College
Author(s) -
Dorrance Hall Elizabeth,
Scharp Kristina M.,
Sanders Matthew,
Beaty Loretta
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
family relations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1741-3729
pISSN - 0197-6664
DOI - 10.1111/fare.12386
Subject(s) - conformity , conversation , psychology , graduation (instrument) , psychological resilience , stressor , social psychology , family support , social support , family resilience , developmental psychology , medical education , clinical psychology , medicine , engineering , mechanical engineering , communication , physical therapy
Objective To identify first‐year undergraduate students' concerns about college and examine how family support and resilience influence the relationships between family communication patterns and adjustment to college. Background Nearly half of undergraduate college students in the United States do not graduate within 6 years. Low graduation rates come at high costs to students and universities. A deeper understanding of the family factors that contribute to adjustment concerns may provide retention‐focused intervention opportunities. Method Survey data collected from precollege students ( N = 2,252) were used to test a moderated mediation model in which family communication patterns are associated with adjustment concerns through resilience and family support. Results Conversation orientation was related to higher family support, whereas conformity was related to lower resilience and family support. Interaction results indicate that the effects of conversation orientation on some adjustment concerns depended on conformity ratings. Resilience mediated the relationship between the orientations and adjustment concerns. Conclusion Conversation and conformity orientation play a role in perceptions of family support, student resilience, and an array of concerns held by students as they enter college. Implications Parents may play an important role in helping their child adjust to college through the family communication environments they create and reinforce from childhood and through the support they provide during the transition to college.