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Introduction
Today, in most societies, human life has faced with tremendous changes in all aspects the reflection and nature of which are very tangible in personal and social life. At the same time, the health of individuals, especially their mental health, which is of a specific complexity, has undergone the most transformation than the other aspects of life, and the family structure that has had a significant impact on the mental health of family members has evolved and taken various roles (Jafari, 2006). The family plays a part in the mental health of individuals and society to the extent that some scholars such as Akerman (1998, quoted by Sanai (2003), hold that the family is of a healing nature. According to Akerman, the healing nature of the family as a natural phenomenon includes all processes that occur by itself within the family to heal.
In many studies, it is suggested that adolescents who have had childhood experiences in unfavorable family environments have demonstrated Social and behavioral abnormalities during their later growth period. During this period, adolescents have different needs such as self-identification, understanding their existential value, self-awareness, emotional independence from the family, establishing healthy relationships with others, and acquiring the necessary skills in dating (Shoarinejad, 1998). Such needs are met in a warm and satisfying family environment. In fact, it is the family that provides the mental health of adolescents.
Adolescents must first have a healthy ego in order to enjoy mental health in the family. Ego is the most important psychological element in identity development that is associated with other social, cultural, emotional, and intellectual elements. For example, Erikson (1966), defines the identity of ego mentally, in which there is a kind of homogeneity to the methods of ego integration, and these methods are effective in maintaining ego homogeneity and its meaning for others. In his view, identity is considered as a perception of the ego that is a coherence between the experiences of past, present and future.
Adolescence is one of the most challenging, the most stressful, the most attractive and at the same time the most problematic seasons of life for adolescents, parents, teachers, and community health professionals. At the same time, it is a period with the best joy, fun, excitement, idealism, and optimism, during which the adolescent achieves the pleasure of autonomy, independence, intimacy, and planning for the future and reaches the peak of physical, emotional, and mental development (Khodayarifard & Abedini, 2007).
Adolescents are ready to accept important mood changes. Parents and educators should recognize these traits and treat adolescents appropriately. They need to know that adolescents are trying to break free from the constraints imposed by older members of the family, school, and community so that they can make their own decisions and that they seek to express their identity.
Parents should be aware that family is always known as a harbor in the lives of most adolescents. Less adolescent crises will be observed if parents order less, impose their comments less, and provide strategies more than ever so that they can share their power with adolescents. Adolescents who find their parents always present on the scene and feel they can rely on them grow better and have a healthier mentality (Ganji, 2006).
As an adolescent, people realize that there is a gap between what they think and feel and how they behave. They criticize their personal characteristics and compare themselves with others using intellectual skills (Berck, 2001).
In fact, adolescents are constantly trying to gain identity. Identity is shaped on the basis of confirmation or rejection, childhood imitations by adolescents, and the historical and social conditions that motivate the individual to follow specific criteria (Erikson, 1982). For Marcia, identity is an internal, spontaneous and dynamic entity that is rooted in one's past tastes, abilities, beliefs, and experiences (Ahadi & Jamhari, 1999).
Most studies have attributed the largest share to the family among the determinants of behavior. Perhaps this is because the family is the first learning environment that individuals experience and there is a direct relationship between the richness and content of what they learn and function and content of the family environment (Eshtinn, Balldowin & Bishab, 1983).
The family is the first founding body of personality, values, and intellectual standards that is largely involved in the fate and lifestyle of people in the future and their morality and mental health largely depend on it (Ahadi & Mohseni, 1999; quoted by Yousefnejad, 2007).
Materials and methods
Sampling was done by cluster sampling method, so that some schools were selected from high schools in Karaj and some classes from each school and questionnaires were distributed among them.
The study population consisted of all female second and third grade high school students in Karaj in during 2011-2012. The tool was a 60-item questionnaire that was developed to measure family functioning according to the McMaster Model of Family Functioning. This model reflects the structural, occupational, and interactive characteristics of the family and identifies six aspects of family functioning. These aspects include problem solving, relationship, roles, emotional companionship, emotional involvement, and behavior control. So the family assessment tool consisted of six subscales to measure these aspects, in addition to a seventh subscale related to overall family functioning.
The 28-item General Health Questionnaire was developed by Goldberg & Goldberg (2003), including 4 sub-scales with each scale of 7 questions. The scales are:
Physical symptoms.
Symptoms of Anxiety and Sleep Disorders.
Social function.
Symptoms of depression.
The Ahmadi's existential crisis questionnaire consisting of 14 categories assessing different aspects of the existential crisis was used to measure identity. Taken together, these aspects illustrate the extent of a person's overall existential crisis. The existential crisis has various aspects that were collected and studied by Ahmadi from various sources and eventually came into these 14 categories.
Data analysis was performed using SPSS 16 software. In order to test the hypotheses, the data were analyzed using inferential statistics tests (one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation test, and Multivariate Regression test).
Results and discussion
Descriptive indicators of variables including mean and standard deviation can be seen in Table 1.
Table 1 - Descriptive Indicators of variables.
| Variable | Minimum | Maximum | Mean | Standard deviation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Family functioning | 81 | 196 | 1.3229 | 7.0721 |
| Self-identification | 0 | 31 | 12.0812 | 7.66276 |
| Mental health | 6 | 73 | 29.3711 | 16.20581 |
The first hypothesis
There is a correlation between family functioning and mental health of female students.
According to Table 2, there was a significant correlation of 0.506 between family functioning and mental health at the significance level of 0.01. As a result, the first hypothesis was confirmed and it could be said that there was a significant positive correlation between family functioning and mental health of female students.
Table 2 - The correlation between family functioning and mental health.
| Mental health | Variables |
|---|---|
| 0.506 | Family functioning |
| 0.01 | Significance level |
| 200 | Sample size |
The second hypothesis
There is a correlation between the components of family functioning and mental health of female students.
According to Table 3, there were significant correlations of 0.267, 0.225, 0.391, 0.398, 0.381, 0.358, between the components of family functioning (problem solving, relationship, roles, emotional companionship, emotional involvement, and behavior control) and mental health, respectively at the significance level of 0.01. As a result, the second hypothesis was confirmed and it could be said that there was a significant positive correlation between the components of family functioning and mental health of female students.
Table 3 - The correlation between the components of family functioning and mental health.
| Variables | Problem solving | Relationship | Roles | Emotional companionship | Emotional involvement | Behavior control | Overall functioning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mental health | 0.267 | 0.275 | 0.391 | 0.398 | 0.3810.01 | 0.359 | 0.468 |
| Significance level | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 |
The third hypothesis
There is a correlation between self-identification and mental health of female students.
According to Table 4, there was a significant correlation of 0.687 between self-identification and mental health at the significance level of 0.01. As a result, the third hypothesis was confirmed and it could be said that there was a significant positive correlation between self-identification and mental health of female students.
Table 4 - The correlation between self-identification and mental health.
| Variables | Mental health |
|---|---|
| Self-identification | 0.687 |
| Significance level | 0.01 |
| Sample size | 200 |
The fourth hypothesis
Family functioning and self-identification of female students predict their mental health.
According to Table 5, the multivariate correlation coefficient was 0.712 and their squared was 0.507, indicating that family functioning and identity explained about 50% of changes in mental health.
Table 5 - Multivariate correlation and its coefficient in regression analysis.
| Standard error of the estimate | R-squared | R | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11.70052 | 0.507 | 0.712 | 1 |
The F test (analysis of variance) was used to evaluate the significance of the R-squared the results of which are given below:
Table 6 - Analysis of variance in multivariate regression.
| Model | Sources of variation | Sum of squares | Degrees of freedom | Mean squares | F | Significance level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Regression | 24373.63 | 2 | 12186.819 | 89.018 | 0.01 |
| - | Remainder | 23684.084 | 173 | 136.902 | - | - |
| - | Total | 48057.722 | 175 | - | - | - |
Table 6 indicated that the calculated F was significant. The standardized beta coefficient was estimated to assess the contribution of each variable in predicting mental health according to Table 4.7 indicating that a unit change in the mentioned components was equivalent to how much change in mental health.
According to Table 7, the family functioning beta was 0.169 indicating that one unit change in family functioning score was equal to 0.169 unit change in mental health score. The identity beta was 0.605 indicating that one unit change in self-identification score was equal to 0.169 unit change in mental health score.
Table 7 Standardized beta coefficients to assess the contribution of each variable.
| Model | B | Standard error | Beta | T | Significance level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| عملکرد | 0.138 | 0.052 | 0.169 | 64.2 | 0.009 |
| خانواده | 1.307 | 0.138 | 0.605 | 9.44 | 0.01 |
| هویت یابی | - | - | - | - | - |
According to Figure 1, as the mean scores of identity crisis in the subjects increased, the mean mental health scores also increased.
According to Figure 2, as the mean scores of family functioning in the subjects increased, the mean mental health scores also increased.
Conclusions
In general, there was a significant correlation between family functioning and mental health. Better-functioning families had no problem in the relationship between family members, expressing affection and respect among members, and hierarchies of power in the family. In fact, these features were aspects of mental health. As a result, it was predicted that families with better functioning would also have higher mental health. In addition, the results indicated that there was a correlation between self-identification and mental health.
This result was consistent with those of studies by Pasha and Gol Shokoufe (2003); Berzonsky (2004); Rajabi, Chahardouli & Atari (2007); Jomenia (2009); and Rajai, Bayazi & Habibipour (2009), indicating that the better self-identification by students, the higher mental health of them.
According to the results of this study and previous ones, some students had a low mental health and their mental health played a very significant role in their academic performance and daily life. So school authorities were recommended to adopt programs to improve the mental health of students by improving family functioning.
Moreover, families were recommended to take steps to improve family functioning given the impact of the family on individuals' mental health and to increase family efficiency by participating in family enrichment programs.
Families and school authorities are suggested to increase their awareness of the characteristics and problems of adolescence and identity crisis.
Counselors are advised to address the problems raised by raising awareness of the characteristics of adolescence and enhancing their skills in holding workshops and training classes.
In addition, it is recommended that this study be conducted on a group of boys and the results be compared.
Further studies are recommended to control variables such as socio-economic level and so on.
