Relationships Effecting College Students’ Perception of Family Influence Impacting their Health and Lifestyle

Abstract

Abstract Family influence affects the entire family, especially children, adolescents and even young adults once they leave home. The purpose of this study was to determine college students’ perception of family influence impacting their health and lifestyle. This was a cross-sectional, non-experimental study with a descriptive design that used social learning theory to inform and guide the process. The study included 120 college students in a faith-based institution. Each student completed a Likert-type survey (4-point agreement scale) that pertained to their perception of health, and the degree of influence peers and family have on their health. The data analysis showed that respondents are in most agreement (M = 3.34, SD = 0.615) that “family has influenced my idea of health”, 94.2% indicating their agreement. Three reliable factors and scales - Family Influence (FI) (α = 0.764), Positive Family Impacts (PFI) (α = 0.679) and Negative Impacts (NI) α = 0.613) - were established. Most students indicated agreement with perceiving FI (54.2%) and PFI (58%) with low frequencies of disagreement (19.2% and 14.1% respectively). Most disagreed with perceiving NI (61.7%), but 11.7% agreed they experienced negative health impacts. A weak to moderate positive association between FI and PFI (r = 0.334), a moderate but negative correlation between FI and NI (r = -0.429), and a very weak negative correlation between PFI and NI (-0.242) emerged on analysis. Some statistically significant differences in the mean scales for groups defined by four demographic variables - age, gender, family type and religion, but not ethnicity, were confirmed. The general importance of family health education as a integrative public health potential and contributor to student wellbeing, is asserted. The importance of the contribution of this study to Christian education is the known dependence of effective learning experiences (including spirituality) on student wellbeing.