Date of Award
12-1999
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Art
First Advisor
Pamela Nickels
Second Advisor
Anita Sankar
Third Advisor
Sharon Sevier
Abstract
Profound structural changes in American families over the past three decades have transformed "traditional" living arrangements for children and stimulated a great deal of interest regarding children and their well-being. How firstborn children perceive their family environment is the main focus of this study (Causal-Comparative). A relationship was investigated between the family structure of intact and divorced families and firstborn's perception of the family environment. Ninety-seven firstborn children, 52 from intact families and 45 from divorced families, between the ages of 8-12, evaluated their family environment by responding to the CV/FES. Using the t test (two sided) for independent samples, it was found that there were significant differences in 5 subscales within the 10 subscales of the CV /FES between firstborn children of divorced and intact families. It was concluded that firstborn children from divorced homes perceive less cohesion, achievement orientation, active recreational orientation, organization, and more control within their home environment. Conflict was found to be perceived as the same for firstborn children from divorced and intact families.
Recommended Citation
Wetzel, Nelda, "Firstborn Children and Their Perception of the Family Environment in Intact and Divorced Families" (1999). Theses. 1571.
https://digitalcommons.lindenwood.edu/theses/1571
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