FAMILY SIZE AND DYNAMICS AS PREDICTORS FOR DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY LEVELS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

STARS Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to identify if there is a relationship between the family size and dynamics of a university student population to depression and anxiety levels during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants have been asked to fill out a survey that includes a demographic section and three questionnaires. In the survey, there are several questions pertaining to the participant’s immediate family size, coronavirus living situations, family interaction frequencies, and self-reported mental wellbeing as it relates to the pandemic. Students were asked to fill out the Self-Report Family Inventory (SFI; Hampson et al., 1989) that measures family dynamic health, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD-7; Spitzer et al., 2006) that measures anxiety levels, and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; Radloff, 1977) that measures depression levels. We expect that participants with healthier family dynamics and larger family sizes will exhibit lower levels of depression and anxiety during this pandemic. We also expect those who currently reside with family to also have lower levels of depression and anxiety. We plan to conduct analyses of variance and correlational analyses to test these hypotheses. The encompassing objective of this study is to determine the importance of family dynamics and size regarding mental health in a national health pandemic. By researching the effects of families on the symptoms of depression and anxiety seen by participants, we can better understand the importance of family on situational mental health and provide a framework for solutions to pandemic mental health problems in the future.

Bibliography: 

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Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurements, 1(3), 385-401. https://doi.org/10.1177/014662167700100306

Spitzer, R. L., Kroenke, K., Williams, J. B. W., & Lowe, B. (2006). A brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder. Archives of Internal Medicine, 166(10), 1092-1097. https://doi.org/10.1001/archinte.166.10.1092