research paper about family problems

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A Research Guide
Research Paper Topics

40 Family Issues Research Paper Topics

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40 Marriage and Family Research Topics for any Taste

Parental neglect. Is it enough for a kid to have food, clothes, and shelter to grow up healthy?
Divorce and its consequences for all the family members. Minimizing the negative impact of divorce
Toxic and narcissistic parents. Overcoming the trauma of a dysfunctional family
To live up to the family expectation: what to do if they are too high for a human being?
Family violence: where is the point of no return?
Sexual abuse in the family. The strategy of escaping and organizations that can help
Toxic and abusive relationship. The psychologies issues of breaking up with toxic partner
Substance abuse in the family. It is always possible to save yourself, but is it possible to save the rest?
War Veterans and their families. Do Vets the only ones there who need help?
Accepting the LGBTQ+ member of the family
Getting out of the closet: what is like to be an LGBTQ+person in a conservative family?
Loss of a family member: stages of grief of children and adults. How to cope together?
Religious conflicts in families: what to do and how to solve?
Teenage delinquency: when it turns to be more than natural seeking independence?
Fostering a child: what problems can the parents face?
Generation gap. The difference in morals and culture. Is it normal?
Living with senile family members: how to cope and avoid emotional burnout?
Mentally challenged family members: how to integrate them into society?
The importance of family support for people with disabilities
Pregnancy and the first year of having a baby: do tiredness and depression make people bad parents?
The types of relationship in the family: are they healthy and just unusual or something is harmful to family members?
Life after disasters: how to put life together again? The importance of family support
The issue of an older sibling. How to make every kid feel equally loved?
Gender discrimination in families. Gender roles and expectations
Multicultural families: how do their values get along?
Children from previous marriages: how to help them accept the new family?
Childhood traumas of parents: helping them not to transfer them to the next generation
Every family can meet a crisis: how to live it through in a civilized way?
Family counseling: why it is so important?
Accidentally learned the secrets of the family: how to cope with unpleasant truth?
Adultery: why it happens and what to do to prevent it?
Career choice: how to save the relationships with the family and not inherit the family business?
The transition to adult life: the balance between family support and letting the young adult try living their own life
Unwanted activities: shall the family take warning or it is just trendy now?
Returning of a family member from prison: caution versus unconditional love
A family member in distress: what can you do to actually help when someone close to you gets in serious troubles?
The absence of love. What to do if you should love someone but can’t?
Ageism in families. Are older people always right?
Terminal diseases and palliative care. How to give your family member a good life?
Where can seek help the members of the dysfunctional families?

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Family background issues as predictors of mental health problems for university students.

1. Introduction

2. materials and methods, 2.1. study design and participants, 2.2. operational definitions, 2.3. dependent variable, 2.4. potential confounders, 2.5. statistical analysis, 2.5.1. description of demographic characteristics, 2.5.2. crude and multivariable analysis, 2.6. ethical approval, 3.1. demographic data, 3.2. problems of the students, 3.3. associations between family background issues and the severity of current problems concerning the students, 3.4. associations between family background issues and the types of current problems concerning the students, 4. discussion, 4.1. parental migration, 4.2. unfamiliarity with their parents, 4.3. financial issues, 4.4. infidelity of the parents, 4.5. communication issues in the family, 4.6. domestic violence, 4.7. family conflicts, 4.8. utilities of the predictors for approaching the patients, 4.9. strengths and limitations of this study, 5. conclusions, author contributions, institutional review board statement, informed consent statement, data availability statement, acknowledgments, conflicts of interest.

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Characteristics	Mild (n = 62)	Severe (n = 63)	p Value
Gender: Male	17 (27.42)	13 (20.63)	0.375
Age (years)
18–21	42 (67.74)	45 (71.43)	0.654
22–25	20 (32.26)	18 (28.57)
Faculty
Health science	11 (17.74)	8 (12.70)	0.432
Non-health science	51 (82.26)	55 (87.30)
Student year
1–2	32 (51.61)	32 (50.79)	0.927
3–5	30 (48.39)	31 (49.21)
Domicile
Khon Kaen	16 (25.81)	9 (14.29)	0.270
Northeast region (apart from Khon Kaen)	36 (58.06)	43 (68.25)
Other regions	10 (16.13)	11 (17.46)

Variable	Learning (n = 68)	Family (n = 61)	Couple Problems (n = 36)	Friendship Relations (n = 56)	Adaptation (n = 22)	Financial Problems (n = 10)
Gender: Male	17 (25%)	13 (21.3%)	11 (30.6%)	15 (26.8%)	3 (13.6%)	3 (30%)
Age (years)
18	0 (0%)	1 (1.6%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)
19	7 (10.3%)	6 (9.8%)	7 (19.4%)	9 (16.1%)	4 (18.2%)	1 (10%)
20	19 (27.9%)	13 (21.3%)	4 (11.1%)	15 (26.8%)	5 (22.7%)	4 (40%)
21	24 (35.3%)	22 (36.1%)	12 (33.3%)	15 (26.8%)	9 (40.9%)	3 (30%)
22	10 (14.7%)	10 (16.4%)	8 (22.2%)	8 (14.3%)	1 (4.55%)	2 (20%)
23	5 (7.4%)	7 (11.5%)	3 (8.3%)	6 (10.7%)	1 (4.55%)	0 (0%)
24	2 (2.9%)	2 (3.3%)	2 (5.6%)	2 (3.6%)	1 (4.55%)	0 (0%)
25	1 1 (1.5%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	1 (1.8%)	1 (4.55%)	0 (0%)
Faculty
Health science	15 (22.1%)	8 (13.1%)	2 (5.6%)	9 (16.1%)	3 (13.6%)	1 (10%)
Non-health science	53 (77.9%)	53 (86.9%)	34 (94.4%)	47 (83.9%)	19 (86.4%)	9 (90%)
Student year
1	10 (14.7%)	12 (19.7%)	4 (11.1%)	11 (19.6%)	6 (27.3%)	2 (20%)
2	27 (39.7%)	19 (31.2%)	10 (27.8%)	19 (33.9%)	8 (36.4%)	5 (50%)
3	18 (26.5%)	15 (24.6%)	12 (33.3%)	13 (23.2%)	7 (31.8%)	1 (10%)
4	12 (17.7%)	14 (22.9%)	9 (25%)	11 (19.6%)	1 (4.6%)	2 (20%)
5	1 (1.5%)	1 (1.6%)	1 (2.8%)	2 (3.6%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)
Domicile
Khon Kaen	9 (13.2%)	8 (13.1%)	9 (25%)	11 (19.6%)	3 (13.6%)	1 (10%)
Northeast region (apart from Khon Kaen	48 (70.6%)	43 (70.5%)	22 (61.1%)	31 (55.4%)	15 (68.2%)	9 (90%)
Other regions	11 (16.2%)	10 (16.4%)	5 (13.9%)	14 (25%)	4 (18.2%)	0 (0%)

Family Background Issue	Mild (n = 62)	Severe (n = 63)	Crude OR	Adjusted OR	95% CI	p Value
Parental migration	6	16	3.18	2.01	0.59–6.74	0.258
Relationship gap within family	29	53	6.03	1.87	0.59–5.89	0.288
Economic	5	13	2.96	1.80	0.51–6.31	0.358
Betrayal	10	13	1.35	0.59	0.19–1.77	0.345
Communications	18	45	6.11	3.30	1.14–9.52	0.027 *
Domestic violence	0	10	-	-	-	-

Family Background Issue	Learning Problems	Family Problems	Couple Problems	Friendship Relations Problems	Adaptation Problems	Financial Problems
	Adjusted odds ratio (95% CI)
Parental migration	1.5 (0.6–4.1)	2.6 (0.9–7.4)	1.3 (0.5–3.7)	1.2 (0.5–3.1)	1.6 (0.5–5.4)	9.8 (2.2–43.9) *
Relationship gap within family	0.7 (0.3–1.6)	8.0 (3.2–20.8) *	1.6 (0.7–3.9)	1.8 (0.8–4.1)	7.0 (1.5–32.4) *	2.6 (0.5–13.4)
Economic	0.9 (0.3–2.7)	11.2 (2.4–53.0) *	2.8 (0.9–8.6)	3.4 (1.1–10.3) *	2.2 (0.4–7.4)	569.5 (21.3–15,263.0) *
Betrayal	0.5 (0.2–1.3)	4.5 (1.5–13.3) *	2.8 (1.0–7.6) *	0.9 (0.3–2.3)	1.1 (0.3–3.8)	3.5 (0.9–14.0)
Communications	0.9 (0.4–1.9)	12.5 (5.1–30.4) *	1.4 (0.6–3.3)	3.2 (1.5–7.0) *	4.5 (1.4–14.3) *	2.7 (0.6–11.4)
Domestic violence	1.1 (0.3–4.8)	14.7 (1.6–134.6) *	0.3 (0.0–3.0)	1.5 (0.4–6.2)	2.0 (0.4–10.0)	3.2 (0.5–19.8)
Conflict within family	1.6 (0.7–3.3)	7.3 (3.2–16.8) *	0.8 (0.4–1.9)	1.4 (0.6–2.9)	4.2 (1.4–12.4) *	6.4 (1.2–33.9) *

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Luvira, V.; Nonjui, P.; Butsathon, N.; Deenok, P.; Aunruean, W. Family Background Issues as Predictors of Mental Health Problems for University Students. Healthcare 2023 , 11 , 316. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11030316

Luvira V, Nonjui P, Butsathon N, Deenok P, Aunruean W. Family Background Issues as Predictors of Mental Health Problems for University Students. Healthcare . 2023; 11(3):316. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11030316

Luvira, Varisara, Pat Nonjui, Nisachon Butsathon, Phahurat Deenok, and Wilawan Aunruean. 2023. "Family Background Issues as Predictors of Mental Health Problems for University Students" Healthcare 11, no. 3: 316. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11030316

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The Impact of Family Problems in the Academic Performance of HUMSS Grade 12 Students in Bestlink College of the Philippines

Lyca S. Brian
Nicole Ann M. Genavia
John Estefano G. Gososo
Norman M. Rosales Jr.
Jessalyn L. Tapon
Aarol Michael C. Valenzuela

Family as the basic unit of society plays a big role in the educational aspect of their family members. Although problems are inevitable inability to manage it may affect the behavior and the academic performance of the students. This study aimed to determine the effects of Family Problems to the academic performance of Grade 12 HUMSS Students in Bestlink College of the Philippines. This study will really help student to overcome their Family Problems and can identified what issues that they are facing right now. The researchers used Qualitative method and Descriptive Research Resign to obtain general overview of the topic that pertain to the impact of family problems in the academic performance of Grade 12 students. Survey Questionnaire was used to gather information needed to discuss the topic. Cluster sampling technique has been conducted in choosing the respondents. The study found out that family problems seriously affect the performance of the students in particular to their attendance and performance. Family problems that involve financial difficulties, relationship and bad habits are the contributing factors in the performance of the students. Lack of financial support impacts the student’s attendance and compliance with the school projects and activities. Students choose not to attend the class than to stay hunger one day in school. Family relationship on the other hand, impacts the student’s emotional level. It impacts to their focus in class. Wrong culture of the family brings out bad behavior and habit to the students. Family problems are inevitable and creates a big impact to the academic performances of the students. This awareness may help the teachers and parents to help the students who are encountering serious family problems to pursue their students despite those family issues and challenges. They have to develop a positive spirit and positive response in life.

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Sociology of Family Research Paper Topics

Sociology of family is the area devoted to the study of family as an institution central to social life. The basic assumptions of the area include the universality of family, the inevitable variation of family forms, and the necessity of family for integrating individuals into social worlds. Family sociology is generally concerned with the formation, maintenance, growth, and dissolution of kinship ties and is commonly expressed in research on courtship and marriage, childrearing, marital adjustment, and divorce. These areas of research expanded in the twentieth century to encompass an endless diversity of topics related to gender , sexuality, intimacy, affection, and anything that can be considered to be family related.

70 Sociology of Family Research Paper Topics

American families
Child custody and child support
Cohabitation
Conjugal roles and social networks
Couples living apart together
Divisions of household labor
Dual earner couples
Earner-carer model
Families and childhood disabilities
Family and community
Family and household structure
Family and population
Family and religion
Family conflict
Family demography
Family diversity
Family migration
Family planning
Family planning, abortion, and reproductive health
Family policy in Western societies
Family size
Family structure
Family structure and child outcomes
Family theory
Family therapy
Family violence
History of family
Men’s involvement in family
Filial responsibility
Grandparenthood
Immigrant families
Inequalities in marriage
Infidelity and marital affairs
Intermarriage
Intimate union formation and dissolution
Kinship systems and family types
Later life marriage
Lesbian and gay families
Life course and family
Lone parent families
Love and commitment
Marital adjustment
Marital power/resource theory
Marital quality
Marriage and divorce rates
Marriage, sex, and childbirth
Maternalism
Money management in families
Non-resident parents
Parental roles
Same sex marriage/civil unions
Sibling relationships during old age
Sibling ties
Stepfamilies
Stepfathering
Stepmothering
Youth/adolescence

A recognizable, modern sociology of family emerged from several different family studies efforts of the nineteenth century. Early anthropologists speculated that family was a necessary step from savagery to civilization in human evolution. Concentrating on marital regulation of sexual encounters, and debating matriarchy versus patriarchy as the first enduring family forms, these explanations framed family studies in terms of kinship and defined comprehensive categories of family relations. In consideration of endogamy, exogamy, polygamy, polyandry, and monogamy, these efforts also fostered discussion of the best or most evolved family forms, with most commentators settling on patriarchy and monogamy as the high points of family evolution.

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Nineteenth century sociologists such as Herbert Spencer and William Sumner adopted evolutionary views of family and made use of anthropological terms, but discussions of best family types gave way to considering the customs, conventions, and traditions of family life. The evolutionary view of family pushed sociology toward the pragmatic vision of the family as adaptable to surrounding social conditions. And sociology’s emphases on populations, societies, and the institutions embedded within them allowed the observation that American and European families were rapidly changing in response to the challenges of modern society.

Family and Household Structure

The family system of the United States is often characterized as consisting of nuclear-family households—that is, households consisting of no more than the parent(s) and dependent children, if any (Lee 1999). This is certainly true of the great majority of family households. In fact, there has never been a point in American history in which extended-family households predominated statistically (Ruggles 1994a; Seward 1978). In 1997 only about 4.1 percent of all families in the United States were ”related subfamilies”—a married couple or single parent with children living with a related householder (U.S. Bureau of the Census 1998, Table 69). However, an analysis of census data from 1970 through 1990 by Glick and colleagues (1997) showed that the percentage of all households containing nonnuclear kin increased from 9.9 percent in 1980 to 12.2 percent in 1990, reversing a nearly century-long pattern of decline. In 1910 about 20 percent of the households of white families and 24 percent of those of black families contained nonnuclear kin (Ruggles 1994b). Apparently we have seen a long-term decline in the prevalence of extended-family households, very slightly counterbalanced by an increase in the 1980s; what happened in the 1990s is not yet known.

Not all of the of the households that do not contain extended families consist of the stereotypical nuclear family of two parents and their dependent children, however. There is great diversity among American families and households, and this diversity is increasing. Even over the relatively brief period from 1960 to 1998, substantial changes are apparent. The average size of both households and families decreased dramatically from 1960 to 1990, although they have both been stable in the 1990s. Many fewer households contain families and married couples in the late 1990s than in 1960, while the proportion of nonfamily households has more than doubled and the proportion of single-person households has nearly doubled. Female householders have increased substantially as a proportion of both all households and all families.

There are many factors responsible for these changes. To understand them, changes in marriage rates and age at marriage, divorce and remarriage rates, rates of nonmarital cohabitation, the departure of children from their parents’ homes, and the predilection of unmarried persons to live alone will be briefly examined. Each of these factors has affected family and household structure.

Marriage rates have declined considerably since 1960. This is not readily apparent from the ”crude” marriage rate (the number of marriages per 1,000 population) because this rate does not take the marital status or age distributions of the population into account. The crude marriage rate was artificially low in 1960 because, as a result of the postwar baby boom, a large proportion of the population consisted of children too young to marry. The rates per 1,000 unmarried women (for both ages 15 and over and ages 15 to 44) show the frequency of occurrence of marriage for persons exposed to the risk of marriage, and here there is clear evidence of decline. Some of this, however, is attributable to increases in the median age at first marriage, which declined throughout the twentieth century until about 1960, but has been increasing rapidly since 1970. As age at marriage increases, more and more people temporarily remain unmarried each year, thus driving the marriage rate down. The best evidence (Oppenheimer et al. 1997) indicates that a major cause of delayed marriage is the deteriorating economic circumstances of young men since the 1970s. Perhaps the improving economy of the later 1990s will eventually produce some change in this trend.

The rising divorce rate has also contributed greatly to the declining proportion of married-couple households and the increases in female householders and single-person households. The crude divorce rate rose from 2.2 per 1,000 in 1960 to 5.2 in 1980 (reaching peaks of 5.3 in both 1979 and 1981) but has declined modestly since then to 4.3 in 1996. The rate of divorce per 1,000 married women 15 and older followed a similar pattern, reaching a high of 22.6 in 1980 and declining to 19.5 in 1996. Some of this decline is illusory, because the large baby boom cohorts are aging out of the most divorce-prone years (Martin and Bumpass 1989). However, although the divorce rate remains high, it has not been increasing since 1980.

Sweeney (1997) notes that, for recent cohorts, about half of all marriages have involved at least one previously married partner. However, rates of remarriage after divorce have been declining steadily. Annual remarriage rates were 204.5 per 1,000 divorced men and 123.3 per 1,000 divorced women in 1970; by 1990 they had decreased to 105.9 for men and 76.2 for women (U.S. Bureau of the Census 1998).

Decreasing marriage and remarriage rates and increasing divorce rates have combined to produce increases in single-person and single-parent households. This trend is mitigated, however, by the increasing prevalence of nonmarital heterosexual cohabitation. Evidence from the National Survey of Families and Households (Bumpass 1994; Waite 1995) shows that, in the early 1990s, nearly one-quarter of all unmarried adults aged 25 to 29 were cohabiting. This percentage declines with age, but still exceeded 20 percent for those in their late thirties. The National Survey of Family Growth found that, in 1995, more than 41 percent of all women aged 15 to 44 had cohabited or were currently cohabiting (National Center for Health Statistics 1997). Of course many of the women who had not cohabited at the time of the survey will do so in the future. The best estimates suggest that more than half of all couples who marry now cohabit prior to marriage; further, about 60 percent of all cohabiting unions eventuate in marriage (Bumpass 1994; Bumpass et al. 1991).

To a considerable extent the increase in cohabitation has offset the decline in marriage. This is particularly the case among blacks, for whom the decrease in marriage rates over the past several decades has been much more precipitous than it has been for whites (Raley 1996; Waite 1995). Although cohabiting unions are less stable than marriages, ignoring cohabitation results in substantial underestimates of the prevalence of heterosexual unions in the United States.

In spite of the increase in cohabitation, changes in marriage and divorce behavior have had substantial effects on household and family structure in the United States over the past four decades. Fewer people are marrying, those who marry are doing so at later ages, more married people are divorcing, and fewer divorced people are remarrying. This means that Americans are living in smaller households than they did in 1960, but there are more of them. The rate of growth in the number of households has substantially exceeded the rate of growth in the number of families. From 1960 to 1998 the number of households increased by more than 94 percent, while the increase in the number of families was only about 57 percent. Over the same time period, the total population of the United States increased by just under 50 percent (U.S. Bureau of the Census 1998). Our population, therefore, is distributed in a larger number of smaller households than was the case in 1960.

One cause of the decline in household size is decreased fertility. The fertility rate (number of births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44) was 118.0 in 1960; by 1997 it had decreased to 65.0, although most of the decrease occurred prior to 1980 (National Center for Health Statistics 1999). The trend toward smaller households and families is reflective to some extent of decreases in the number of children per family.

A larger cause of the decrease in household size, however, is the proliferation of single-person households. Single-person households consist of three types of persons: the never-married, who are primarily young adults; the divorced and separated without coresident children, who are primarily young and middle-aged; and the widowed who live alone, who are primarily elderly. Each of these types has increased, but for somewhat different reasons. Each must therefore be examined separately.

Average ages at marriage have risen markedly since 1960, and the percentage of young adults who have never married has increased proportionately (Waite 1995). This has been accompanied by a long-term decline (since prior to World War II) in the average age of leaving the parental home (Goldscheider 1997). Prior to 1970 most of this decline was driven by decreasing ages at marriage, but since then it has reflected an increasing gap between leaving the family of orientation and beginning the family of procreation. More young adults are living independently of both parents and spouses. Some of them are cohabiting, of course, but increasing numbers are residing in either single-person or other nonfamily households (Goldscheider 1997; White 1994).

Since about 1970 there has been some increase in the proportion of young adults who live with their parents. This marks the reversal of a long-term decline in age at leaving home (White 1994). This is, in part, a by-product of increasing age at marriage. However, decreases in exits from parental homes to marriage have been largely offset by increases in exits to independent living, so this recent increase in young adults living with parents is actually very small (Goldscheider 1997). On the other hand, there is increasing evidence that the process of launching children has become much more complex than in previous years. Goldscheider (1997) also shows that the proportion of young adults who return to their parents’ homes after an initial exit has more than doubled from the 1930s to the 1990s; increases have been particularly striking since the early 1960s. This is a response, in part, to the rising divorce rate, but also an indication that it has gotten increasingly difficult for young adults, particularly young men, to make a living (Oppenheimer et al. 1997). Nonetheless, the proportion of young adults living independently of both parents and spouses continues to increase, contributing to the prevalence of nonfamily households.

The increase in divorce and decrease in remarriage have contributed to the rise in single-person households, as formerly married persons establish their own residences and, increasingly, maintain them for longer periods of time. They have also contributed to the rise in family households that do not contain married couples. Families headed by females (without husband present) increased from 10 percent of all families in 1960 to nearly 18 percent in 1998. Families headed by males (without wife present) also increased, from 2.8 percent of all families in 1960 to 5.5 percent in 1998. Among families with children under 18 in 1998, 20 percent were headed by women without spouses and 5 percent by men without spouses (U.S. Bureau of the Census 1998, Table 70).

As a consequence of these changes plus the rise in nonmarital childbearing, the proportion of children under 18 living with both parents decreased from 88 percent in 1960 to 68 percent in 1997 (U.S. Bureau of the Census 1998, Table 84). In addition, there is a large race difference in the living arrangements of children. Only 35 percent of black children lived with both parents in 1997, compared to 75 percent of white children. More than half (52 percent) of all black children lived with their mothers only, as did 18 percent of white children. Further, 8 percent of black children and 3 percent of white children lived with neither parent. Some of these children are living with, and being cared for by, their grandparents (Pebley and Rudkin 1999). This raises the issue of the living arrangements of older persons.

A somewhat longer perspective is necessary to observe changes in the living arrangements of older persons. Ruggles (1994a) has shown that, in 1880, nearly 65 percent of all elderly whites and more than 57 percent of all elderly nonwhites lived with a child. Since about 18 percent of all older persons had no living children, Ruggles estimates that about 78 percent of whites and 70 percent of nonwhites who had children lived with a child. By 1980 the percentages living with children had decreased to 16 for whites and 29 for nonwhites. There is little evidence of major changes in the proportion living with children since 1980. Further, Ruggles (1996) found that only 6 percent of all elderly women and 3 percent of elderly men lived alone in 1880. By 1997 the percentages living alone had increased to 41 for women and 17 for men (U.S. Bureau of the Census 1998, Table 50). The growth of single-person households among older people has been particularly rapid since about 1940.

Two sets of factors appear to be primarily responsible for the ”migration” of older people from typically sharing households with their children in the late nineteenth century to living alone (or with their spouses only) in the late twentieth century. First, the family life cycle was quite different in 1900 than today. People married a bit later (and markedly later than in the 1960s and early 1970s), had more children, and had children later in life. Consequently, a significant proportion of people in their sixties had unmarried children who simply had not yet left the parental home. Ruggles (1994a) shows that, in 1880, about 32 percent of all unmarried elders and 57 percent of the married resided with a never-married child. Of course many of these children may have remained home precisely in order to care for their aging parents. Unmarried elders were more likely to live with married children.

Second, economic factors played a major role. Social Security did not exist until 1940. In 1900, 85 percent of all men between the ages of 65 and 69 were in the labor force, as were 49 percent of all men 85 and over (Smith 1979). However, this option was much less available to women; the comparable proportions in the labor force were 12 and 6 percent. Many older persons, particularly women, had no means of support other than their children. Rates of coresidence of aging parents with their adult children have decreased as the prosperity of the elderly has increased; more can now afford to live independently.

However, Ruggles (1994a) found that wealthier older people were more likely to share a household with children than were poorer elders in the nineteenth century, and the majority of multigenerational families lived in households headed by the elderly parent(s). These facts suggest that adult children benefited economically from coresidence and that the possibility of inheriting a farm or business from aging parents may have motivated many adults to coreside with parents. Today coresidence is more common among poorer than wealthier people (Ruggles 1994a, 1996).

As of March 1998, 41 percent of all women aged 65 and older lived alone, as did 17 percent of all older men. These percentages increase to 53 percent and 22 percent for women and men, respectively, for those age 75 and over (U.S. Bureau of the Census Web site). The reason for this large gender difference, of course, is the difference in marital status between men and women. Among men 75 and over, nearly two-thirds are married and less than one-quarter are widowed; among women these figures are almost exactly reversed. According to 1980 census data, the proportion of all elderly persons living alone increases from 22 percent among those 65 to 69 to more than 41 percent in the 85-89 age category, then drops to 33 percent for those 90 and over (Coward et al. 1989), after which the modal category becomes living with children. Older persons who have lost their spouses through death are clearly exhibiting a tendency to live alone as long as possible, which for many of them extends into the latest years of life.

Older persons now constitute nearly 13 percent of the total population of the United States, compared to about 4 percent in 1900. With so many of them maintaining their own residences, either with their spouses or alone following widowhood, their contribution to the proliferation of small and single-person households is substantial.

If so many older persons lived with their children in the late nineteenth century, why were there so few extended-family households? Ruggles (1994a) shows that just under 20 percent of the households of whites contained extended families in both 1880 and 1900; this compares to less than 7 percent in 1980, but it was still very much a minority statistical pattern. There were three primary reasons. First, because of more limited life expectancies and relatively high fertility rates, there were proportionally few older people in the population, so where they lived made less difference to the nation’s household structure. Second, as noted above, many older persons lived with an unmarried child; unless other relatives are present, this arrangement constitutes a nuclear-family household regardless of the age of the parent. Third, while these cohorts of older persons typically had many children (an average of 5.4 per woman in 1880), these children did not live together as adults, so older persons could live with only one; their remaining children lived in nuclear families. Ruggles (1994a) estimates that more than 70 percent of all elders who could have lived with a child actually did so in 1880; the comparable percentage in 1980 was 16. In comparison to the last century, older persons today are much less likely to live with children and much more likely to live alone, contributing to the proliferation of small and single-person households.

To this point, factors that have contributed to long-term decreases in household and family size, and consequent increases in the numbers of households and families, have been elucidated. There is evidence of changes in these directions in all age segments of the population. These trends do not mean, however, that more complex family households are not part of the contemporary American experience.

As noted at the beginning of this entry, the United States has never been characterized by a statistical predominance of extended-family households, although it appears that the preference was for intergenerational coresidence in the form of stem families (families containing an older parent or parents and one of their married children) until the early years of the twentieth century. But extended family households do occur today. At any single point in time, they constitute less than 10 percent of all households (Glick et al. 1997; Ruggles 1994a). However, a dynamic perspective presents a somewhat different picture.

Beck and Beck (1989) analyzed the household compositions of a large sample of middle-aged women who were followed from 1969 to 1984. The presence of nonnuclear kin in their households was noted for specific years and was also calculated for the entire fifteen-year period. In 1984, when these women were between the ages of 47 and 61, only 8 percent of white married women and 20 percent of white unmarried women lived in households containing their parents, grandchildren, or other nonnuclear kin. The proportions were higher for comparable black women: 27 percent of the married and 34 percent of the unmarried. However, over the fifteen years covered by the survey, about one-third of all white women and fully two-thirds of the black women lived in a household containing extended kin at some point.

These and other data (Ruggles 1994a, 1994b) show that today blacks are more likely than whites to live in extended-family households. This was not the case until about 1940. What has happened is that the decrease in intergenerational coresidence since the late nineteenth century has been much steeper for whites than for blacks. This is probably connected to much lower rates of marriage among blacks; living in multigenerational households is much more common for unmarried than for married persons. It may also reflect the shift in the distribution of extended families from the wealthier to the poorer segments of the economic structure. Rather than serving as a means of ensuring inheritance and keeping wealth in the family, extended family living today is more likely to be motivated by a need to share and conserve resources.

The family and household structure of the United States has changed dramatically over the past century, in spite of the fact that our family system has remained nuclear in at least the statistical sense. More and more Americans are living in single-person households before, between, and after marriages. More are living in single-parent households. Collectively Americans are spending smaller proportions of their lives in families of any description than they did in the past (Watkins et al. 1987). However, they are more likely than ever before to live in nonmarital heterosexual unions, and many of them live in households that contain nonnuclear kin at some point in their lives. In fact, there is evidence (Glick et al. 1997) that the proportion of extended-family households increased between 1980 and 1990.

The growth of small and single-person households is in many ways indicative of the fact that more Americans can now afford to remain unmarried, leave unhappy marriages, and maintain their own residences in later life. The proliferation of households represents the proliferation of choices. The consequences of these choices remain to be seen.

References:

Beck, Rubye W., and Scott H. Beck 1989 ‘‘The Incidence of Extended Households Among Middle-Aged Black and White Women: Estimates from a 15-Year Panel Study.’’ Journal of Family Issues 10:147–168.
Bumpass, Larry L. 1994. ‘‘The Declining Significance of Marriage: Changing Family Life in the United States.’’ Paper presented at the Potsdam International Conference, ‘‘Changing Families and Childhood.’’
Bumpass, Larry L., James A. Sweet, and Andrew J. Cherlin 1991 ‘‘The Role of Cohabitation in Declining Rates of Marriage.’’ Journal of Marriage and the Family 53:913–927.
Coward, Raymond T., Stephen Cutler, and Frederick Schmidt 1989 ‘‘Differences in the Household Composition of Elders by Age, Gender, and Area of Residence.’’ The Gerontologist 29:814–821.
Glick, Jennifer E., Frank D. Bean, and Jennifer V. W. Van Hook 1997 ‘‘Immigration and Changing Patterns of Extended Family Household Structure in the United States: 1970–1990.’’ Journal of Marriage and the Family 59:177–191.
Goldscheider, Frances 1997 ‘‘Recent Changes in U.S. Young Adult Living Arrangements in Comparative Perspective.’’ Journal of Family Issues 18:708–724.
Lee, Gary R. 1999 ‘‘Comparative Perspectives.’’ In Marvin B. Sussman, Suzanne K. Steinmetz, and Gary W. Peterson, eds., Handbook of Marriage and the Family, 2nd ed. New York: Plenum.
Martin, Teresa Castro, and Larry L. Bumpass 1989 ‘‘Recent Trends in Marital Disruption.’’ Demography 26:37–51.
National Center for Health Statistics 1997 ‘‘Fertility, Family Planning, and Women’s Health: New Data from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth.’’ Vital and Health Statistics, Series 23, No. 19. Hyattsville, Md.: Public Health Service.
National Center for Health Statistics 1999 ‘‘Births: Final Data for 1997.’’ National Vital Statistics Reports, series 47, no. 18. Hyattsville, Md.: National Center for Health Statistics.
Oppenheimer, Valerie K., Matthijs Kalmijn, and Nelson Lim 1997 ‘‘Men’s Career Development and Marriage Timing During a Period of Rising Inequality.’’ Demography 34:311–330.
Pebley, Anne R., and Laura L. Rudkin 1999 ‘‘Grandparents Caring for Grandchildren: What Do We Know?’’ Journal of Family Issues 20:218–242.
Raley, R. Kelly 1996 ‘‘A Shortage of Marriageable Men? A Note on the Role of Cohabitation in Black–White Differences in Marriage Rates.’’ American Sociological Review 61:973–983.
Ruggles, Steven 1994a ‘‘The Transformation of American Family Structure.’’ American Historical Review 99:103–128.
Ruggles, Steven 1994b ‘‘The Origins of African American Family Structure.’’ American Sociological Review 59:136–151.
Ruggles, Steven 1996 ‘‘Living Arrangements of the Elderly in the United States.’’ In Tamara K. Hareven, ed., Aging and Intergenerational Relations: Historical and Cross-Cultural Perspectives. Berlin, Germany: de Gruyter.
Seward, Rudy R. 1978 The American Family: A Demographic History. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage.
Smith, Daniel Scott 1979 ‘‘Life Course, Norms, and the Family System of Older Americans in 1900.’’ Journal of Family History 4:285–298.
Sweeney, Megan M. 1997 ‘‘Remarriage of Women and Men After Divorce.’’ Journal of Family Issues 18:479–502.
S. Bureau of the Census 1998 Statistical Abstract of the United States, 118th ed. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
S. Bureau of the Census 1998 ‘‘Marital Status and Living Arrangements: March 1998.’’ https://www.census.gov/prod/99pubs/p20-514.pdf
Waite, Linda J. 1995 ‘‘Does Marriage Matter?’’ Demography 32:483–507.
Watkins, Susan Cotts, Jane A. Menken, and Jon Bongaarts 1987 ‘‘Demographic Foundations of Family Change.’’ American Sociological Review 52:346–358.
White, Lynn 1994 ‘‘Coresidence and Leaving Home: Young Adults and Their Parents.’’ Annual Review of Sociology 20:81–102.

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Research Article

Alcohol misuse within different socio-ecologies in rural communities of Botswana

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodology, Software, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

* E-mail: [email protected]

Affiliation Department of Health Promotions and Development, Graduate School of Human Interaction and Growth (GIHG), Faculty of Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

Roles Conceptualization, Methodology, Supervision, Validation, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Institute of Health and Participation, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, Høgskulen på Vestlandet, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen, Norway

Affiliation Department of Social Work, University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana

Refilwe P. Jeremiah,
Masego Katisi,
Odireleng M. Shehu

Published: September 13, 2024
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0306542
Reader Comments

Alcohol-related research in Botswana has rarely used a socio-ecological approach. This article presents a phenomenological in-depth analysis drawn from community mapping interviews (n = 23) collected among community leaders and service providers in one village in Botswana. The socio-ecological approach guided our research and analysis. This paper explored the influence of alcohol misuse within the cultural, familial, practices and legal frameworks in Botswana. Findings revealed patterns in alcohol misuse over time, the influence of alcohol misuse within different ecological systems, and their response to alcohol patterns as three global themes are discussed. The findings showed that alcohol misuse remains a major public health problem that trickles down from the community, and family systems to an individual, when there are with limited resources to address the alcohol misuse that exists. Recommendations to address alcohol misuse in Botswana include providing alcohol-free recreational places, more research on alcohol harm, and educating communities about alcohol harm.

Citation: Jeremiah RP, Katisi M, Shehu OM (2024) Alcohol misuse within different socio-ecologies in rural communities of Botswana. PLoS ONE 19(9): e0306542. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0306542

Editor: Ali B. Mahmoud, St John’s University, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Received: April 3, 2023; Accepted: June 18, 2024; Published: September 13, 2024

Copyright: © 2024 Jeremiah et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Data Availability: Data contain potentially identifying or sensitive participant information. Data are owned and stored by the University of Bergen SAFE server at haltomcity.uib.no. as imposed by the research data team. Contact [email protected] for access to confidential data.

Funding: The study was supported by the doctoral stud funds offered by the University of Botswana.

Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exits.

Introduction

Alcohol is a public health concern worldwide affecting individuals, families, and communities. Globally alcohol accounts for 3.3 million deaths yearly and for more than 200 diseases and injury conditions according to the Global Status Report on alcohol [ 1 ]. In Africa alcohol (mis)-use contributes to 6.4% of all deaths with a high prevalence of heavy drinking [ 1 ]. Alcohol misuse leads to several adverse influence that have short and long-term influence is on individuals’ health consequences such as injuries and diseases [ 1 ]. Alcohol is the leading risk factor for premature deaths and disabilities, contributing to non-communicable diseases and infectious diseases [ 2 ]. Alcohol can lead to risky behaviours in individuals due to environmental factors like availability, accessibility, and affordability of alcohol. [ 3 ]. In family systems, alcohol contributes to family disputes, and it trickles down to affect the community at large with negative behaviours such as drunken driving, sexual assaults, and other crimes [ 4 ]. Besides family, the immediate environment includes peers and neighbourhoods which can negatively influence individuals to engage in alcohol misuse [ 5 ]. For example, individuals may resort to alcohol consumption due to peer pressure for belonging. Cultural norms and beliefs in community systems significantly contribute to alcohol misuse [ 3 , 6 ]. Community factors such as opportunities to purchase and consume alcohol and cultural values are found to influence an individual to use alcohol. Cultural values are a set of common societal norms and cultural practices in communities [ 7 ]. Therefore, this study explores the influence s of alcohol misuse within the different socio-ecologies in Botswana.

Most studies on alcohol misuse have focused on investigating individual patterns of alcohol misuse [ 8 – 10 ]. Few empirical studies have investigated alcohol misuse using broader perspectives like systems approach to go beyond just the individual, to conceptualise and analyse this challenge [ 5 , 11 , 12 ]. Most of these studies focus on prevention efforts and have been carried out in Western countries. There is a dearth of related or similar studies in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) [ 13 , 14 ]. Given that alcohol misuse is almost an epidemic in many rural communities in SSA [ 15 – 17 ], there is a need for research that explores the characteristics and interaction of alcohol misuse within African local contexts and systems as there are major differences within the continent on the cultural and social context. In the present study, our focus is on Botswana.

Alcohol has been a significant part of Botswana culture for centuries and is associated with various cultural and social activities such as weddings and rituals. Traditional sorghum beer, known as bojalwa ja Setswana , was served among various ethnic groups during cultural, religious, and societal events, and was not sold [ 18 , 19 ]. During such cultural activities, alcohol was drunk only by men, and it was prepared by women as it related to male power, authority, and patriarch [ 20 ]. Alcohol misuse in Botswana influenced the socio-economic development after the introduction of the cash economy during the colonisation era [ 18 ]. Over the years, the cash economy enabled Batswana’s financial independence and it influenced more people to drink alcohol in more quantities, spreading from adults to younger men and women [ 18 , 19 ]. The cash economy also created a pathway for alcohol to be sold by women to make a living for their families. Many people in Botswana still drink beer, wine, spirits, and traditional brews [ 1 ]. Furthermore, studies in Botswana report that alcohol misuse is higher [ 21 , 22 ] as compared to other African countries in the region. Alcohol consumption per capita of people who are 15 years and above is 8.4 litres of pure alcohol [ 1 ]. This paper defines heavier drinking as drinking more than 20 grams of pure alcohol per day and 40 grams of pure alcohol per day for me [ 23 ]. Whereas studies use alcoholic for heavier drinking for this paper alcohol misuse will be used. Botswana is known for its cultural heritage, and it prides itself on the traditions and beliefs of having chiefs (community leaders in rural villages). These chiefs implement and enforce the customary laws, including the use of alcohol during traditional ceremonies, together with police officers who implement and enforce common law [ 24 ].

The socio-ecological approach has commonly been used with the theory of ecological systems and social-ecological framework by Bronfenbrenner (1970s) [ 25 ]. However, this paper explores the influence s of alcohol misuse within the different socio-ecologies in Botswana. This approach is one of the many approaches within the group of complex systems theory [ 3 ]. The ecological systems framework was adapted to be the socio-ecological approach to show social and environmental dynamics when studying different topics related to human behaviour in social science for example by Michael Ungar on resilience [ 26 , 27 ]. The socio-ecological approach is defined as “an interactional, environmental and culturally pluralistic perspective…which suggests a complexity in person-environmental interactions” within contexts [ 26 ]. The socio-ecological approach is about person-environment interactions, and it includes levels of (1) intrapersonal (individual). (2) interpersonal (family, peers), (3) organisational (community, schools), (4) environmental (cultural norms, physical environment) (5) and policy (laws and regulations). There has to be a goodness of fit among an individual and interactions between family, school, and community systems [ 26 ]. The socio-ecological approach is nested first within the interaction of the individual, social networks, and the environment. The available social and physical context in these systems can enhance an individual’s growth as they can influence a particular health outcome such as alcohol misuse [ 27 ].

Numerous studies contribute to alcohol and socio-ecological approach carried out in developed countries [ 4 , 27 – 31 ]. Furthermore, there is a dearth of alcohol studies that used a socio-ecological approach in Sub-Saharan countries [ 32 , 33 ]. Most studies generally use of the socio-ecological approach in other areas of research that are not alcohol-related. However, Lancaster and others conducted a quantitative study in Lilongwe Malawi on alcohol misuse among female sex workers to understand the social ecologies that influence hazardous drinking among female sex workers. The researchers found that half of the participants lived in an alcohol-serving location, also alcohol was associated with sex work duration. Participants used alcohol to reduce inhibitions and entice their clients during their sex work [ 32 ]. Although the socio-ecological approach is suitable for alcohol studies to our knowledge there are no similar studies in Botswana. Using a socio-ecological approach the article explores the influence of alcohol misuse within the different, socio-ecologies within communities.

Materials and methods

The study uses data from an ongoing Doctoral study that explored the experiences of adult children of parents and caregivers with alcohol-related problems from one village in Botswana. The larger study aimed to understand how cultural and familial practices influence the perceptions and experiences of adult children of parents and caregivers with alcohol-related problems. This article is based on data from conducting community mapping with local stakeholders to understand the context of alcohol misuse in Botswana’s largest rural district. The study was conducted in a village with a history of alcohol misuse [ 18 ] allowing for a more comprehensive understanding of the issue as there is limited research done. Data were collected carried out from February 2022 to March 2022. The study mapped the socio-cultural community context of alcohol misuse in the village. Methods used to gather data included focused group discussions with four Village Development Committee (VDC) members; in-depth interviews with fifteen key informants including two police officers, a junior school guidance and counselling teacher, a primary school head teacher, two social workers, four village chiefs, five traditional alcohol sellers (see Table 1 ). Nineteen participants took part in this study, both males and females aged twenty-five years to thirty-three years for young adults and elders in the community aged forty years to sixty-five years.

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0306542.t001

The social workers and VDC members in the village acted as gatekeepers in recruiting participants and snowball sampling was also employed. Participants were purposively selected to participate in this study, given that they know the community very well or interact a lot with alcohol issues. Due to the uniqueness of the participants, the first author who was collecting data was given access to information that could identify participants during and after data collection. Participant observation was employed to conduct community mapping in which knowledge is co-produced with local participants who know the values of indigenous knowledge. The first author had extended field time by walking around the village and observing alcohol drinking habits in shebeens and interacting with alcohol buyers at these shebeens as bar outlets were closed during covid-19 lockdown. Shebeens are unlicensed homes that sell traditional brews in the community.

Participants read the written informed consent of the study. The first author described the purpose of the study, participants were informed about foreseeable risks and benefits of participants and that they should not feel any pressure to talk if they felt the study was putting them at risk. Participation in the study was voluntary, and participants were informed that they had the right to withdraw from the study at any time. Data from participants were handled with confidentiality and all characteristics from the audio recorded were replaced with pseudo codes following the University of Bergen General Data Protection Regulation and Personal Data Act. Participants were informed about consenting that their information be transferred from Botswana to Norway as part of research collaboration and publication for the Ph.D. study of the first author. The authors would store data on the University of Bergen SAFE server. When participants verbally agreed to the information, they signed informed consent forms before participating in the study.

Data analysis

Data were audio recorded in Setswana (local language), with permission from participants. Data were then transcribed and translated into English. The first author did member checking where some participants were asked to verify the accuracy and completeness of data collected by reading their own transcribed scripts. Nvivo 12 scientific software was used to manage data. Data were inductively coded as the inductive approach provides a broader and more expansive analysis of the entire data [ 34 ]. Thematic Network Analysis was used to analyse data using the steps suggested by Attride-Stirling [ 35 ]. Similar or related codes were grouped into basic themes clustered into organising themes and global themes. The findings are therefore presented using global and organising themes (see Table 2 ). The global themes are (1) patterns in alcohol misuse over time (2) the influence of alcohol misuse within different systems (3) system responses to alcohol patterns. When analysing data, it was evident that there are overlaps in the individual, family, and community systems.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0306542.t002

Ethical clearance was obtained both in Norway and Botswana. In Norway ethical clearance was acquired from the University of Bergen Data Protection Ombudsman and the regional ethics committee ( Regionale komiteer for medisinsk og helsefaglig forskningsetikk , REK). In Botswana, ethical clearance was obtained from Ministry of Health and Wellness. At the organisational level, extra verbal authorisation was obtained from community gatekeepers while written permits were obtained from the Botswana Police Department, and the Social and Community Development (S&CD) agency. Part of the ethical procedure included respecting and following cultural protocols, for example, when interviewing the village sub-chiefs, the first author had to wait for a day when she was not wearing trousers. It is against Botswana culture for a woman to wear trousers to enter the kgotla (customary traditional court). Researchers followed the regulations of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) at the University of Bergen. We securely stored all personal data in the University of Bergen SAFE server. At the end of the Ph.D. project term, all data will be anonymised and stored in the University of Bergen Open Research space.

Trustworthiness, quality assurance, and verification

The study’s credibility was ensured through data collection, management, analysis, and reporting, following Lincon & Guba’s criteria for trustworthiness, focusing on credibility, dependability, and confirmability, in line with qualitative studies interviews. The study’s first author used reflexivity and bracketing to prevent bias by ensuring her prior knowledge of participants did not influence data collection and results. This allowed co-authors’ extensive experience in Social Work and Psychology research to set aside pre-existing knowledge and personal views. To enhance transferability, researchers enrolled diverse participants with characteristics like the larger population, such as educational background, sex, and age. Further, the findings of the study can be used to inform research done on similar villages and other Sub-Saharan African countries like Botswana. Participants were encouraged to be honest in their responses to the study about a phenomenon of interest. The first author, a clinical social worker with experience in qualitative data collection conducted interviews. Additionally, the researcher conducted extended field time to understand the livelihood dynamics of alcohol-misusing people by visiting traditional brewing homes. To fill the gap between participants’ interviews and the researcher’s knowledge and thinking, journaling was done to collect observed field notes. The field notes were incorporated into data analysis to produce rich contexts that represented participants. Transferability was ensured by interviewing a representative of all stakeholders in the village to understand the rich contextual experiences of alcohol misuse in the village. Data analysis included the other two researchers, who are social work professors. Possible biases were discussed to ensure adequate resolution. The first author read the data set multiple times to understand participants’ experiences.

The first and second authors read raw data separately and discussed possible themes. Following this, the first author separately coded the data and discussed it with the second author. The other authors continuously gave feedback on the codebook. They compared generated themes to find the most accurate descriptions of participants’ experiences. Disagreements were resolved through discussions, and findings were supported with quotes from participants. The process ensured a comprehensive understanding of the participants’ experiences. The authors used Morse et al. [ 36 ] steps to ensure the quality and verification of phenomenological research data and findings. Methodological coherence, appropriate sampling, simultaneous collection, analysis, theoretical thinking, and developing theory were followed to ensure the authenticity and verification of the study’s findings.

Patterns in alcohol misuse in Botswana over time

This section explores the global patterns in alcohol misuse in Botswana, focusing on two organizing themes: alcohol misuse within Botswana’s cultural systems and the trend of alcohol misuse in the cash economy, highlighting the influence of these changes on individual, family, and community systems.

Alcohol use within Botswana’s cultural systems.

This section explores the history of brewing alcohol in Botswana, focusing on its traditional uses and influence. Alcohol misuse has been a part of Botswana’s tradition, with various types introduced over time. These include traditional sorghum beer , khadi , stopoti , morula , power , skhothan i. and c hibuku as a commercialised traditional beer. In this study, we label the original traditional home brew as bojalwa ja Setswana . Participants noted that the current traditional sorghum beer differs from the past due to higher alcohol content. They shared original methods of making traditional sorghum beer. Seller 3 described ways of making alcoholic sorghum beer:

Traditional sorghum beer, in its essence, is a sorghum meal fermented. We use traditional pots or bigger containers. The sorghum seeds are soaked in water until they show little sprouts. After that, they are taken for grinding to make them for brewing. Add boiled water and let it ferment. Wait for three days and add sorghum mixture as a way of preparing the traditional sorghum beer. We only use sorghum meal, nothing harmful is added to it.

Historically, traditional sorghum beer was used in traditional ceremonies such as weddings, initiations, and the inauguration of chiefs just to mention a few. VDC member 4 added: During celebrations like weddings , you would never miss big containers of traditional sorghum beer . Traditional sorghum beer was always there . Indeed , alcohol misuse was deemed very important in society . The alcohol sorghum beer was also used by traditional doctors for rituals and healing. Since it was made from sorghum and was assumed not harmful it could be given to children when they were sick, Pastor 4 explained:

When children developed illnesses like measles, parents would give them traditional sorghum beer to drink. If it was chicken pox traditional sorghum beer would be rubbed on the child’s body and given to drink.

Alcohol sorghum beer was drunk by men only and prepared by women during cooperative communal help in the community as a recognition for their hard work in the fields. Most participants indicated that alcohol sorghum beer had mild alcoholic influence on individuals. Chief 1 remarked, comparing it to other types of brews:

We would spend the whole day drinking alcoholic sorghum beer without assaulting anyone. As for modern alcohol, I really don’t understand how people end up being involved in fights and causing harm to one another.

Patterns of alcohol misuse in the cash economy system.

Participants were asked to comment on patterns of alcohol misuse in the cash economy. Most of the responses pointed out that there are people that sell alcohol for generation of income and that others drink it for self-fulfilment. Under this theme topics that came out from the interviews included alcohol as a source of income, current alcohol drinking habits, and the abuse of social welfare services by alcoholic beneficiaries.

While communities used to share alcohol without any monetary exchange, data reflect that this seemed to have changed over time. Some brewers use alcohol as a source of income, particularly women. Several participants stated that some members of the community sell alcohol to pay school fees and earn a living. VDC member 4 added: Women sell alcohol to raise money to buy school uniforms , and shoes and to pay school fees for their children . To meet the market demand brewers started to use unnatural ingredients to activate it to brew faster and to increase the level of alcohol content. Police officer 1 shared: Sellers use different things like cell battery powers , and certain spirit drinks to speed up the reaction when making home brews . It appears that the introduction of the cash economy has influenced present alcohol consumption patterns. Participants said they observe that there is increased access to alcohol to different age groups as compared to the earlier cultural practice where only men were allowed to drink on special occasions. It seems it is now normal for women to drink. This was illustrated by several participants. Pastor 1: People of different ages and gender easily drink these days unlike in the past since alcohol is sold everywhere . Pastor 4 added: It is now so much embedded in the culture and current values and has become a way of life . Participants said that alcohol drinkers’ behaviour changes dramatically after drinking alcohol due to the high alcoholic content in recent brews. A social worker shared that some destitute persons misuse government welfare packages such as food baskets in exchange for alcohol. Social worker 2 attested:

We would enrol a destitute old woman with 12 dependants. Due to the number of family members, instead of depositing P500 (around $42) into the coupon, we would deposit P1000 (around $83). Instead of buying food, some family members would use the money on alcohol. In other families when they receive their food packages today the next day there is nothing on the table. They sell them so that they can afford to buy alcohol.

Influence of alcohol misuse within different systems

It is observed that alcohol has affected different systems within the community. Alcohol practices within the family system, alcohol misuse within the education system, and alcohol misuse in the larger community system are organising themes discussed in this section.

Alcohol practices within the family system.

Alcohol has influence on the family system, under this theme topics that came out from the interviews included parents not taking responsibility, and children learning by imitating parents. It is observed that parents who use a lot of alcohol are lax in carrying out their parenting responsibilities. Further, most participants emphasised that some parents in the community neglect their children and leave them with grandparents to raise. The primary school head teacher said: In other cases , we have realised this fact , truant children , in most cases it is because they lack monitoring back home and there is no parental care because they stay with their grandparents who are old and not able to provide care well . Further, parents’ negligence in carrying out their parental responsibilities has resulted in intergenerational alcohol misuse within families as illustrated by Pastor 4: It is very normal looking at the setup . You will find that the mother is there drinking and the father , the daughter is drinking , the boyfriend of the daughter also is drinking , it is normal .

It is also alleged that alcohol misuse leads to misunderstandings in families as attested by the Main chief: High level of alcohol misuse affects families . In the case where both parents overdrink alcohol family misunderstandings occur often . Moreover, one of the influences on the family system is that children imitate their parents when they grow up in families that sell or misuse alcohol. They too become alcohol misusers as alluded by these participants: VDC member 3 shared: Children growing up in families that abuse alcohol does not attend their school days as expected , and they end up drinking alcohol . Pastor 1 also added:

I have a cousin who was very good with traditional music, but now he is just home and useless because of alcohol addiction. He grew up in a home where his mother was selling alcoholic sorghum beer. In that family, all members drink; be it those in primary, junior, and secondary school, the old people, and those that are suffering from blindness. Even children are given alcohol to drink.

On the contrary, some children are exposed to the use and sale of alcohol within their homes, and yet they do not copy their parents and do not use alcohol. VDC member 1 explained: Children born into some families where alcohol is sold do not necessarily end up drinking . When we grew up , my mother used to brew and sell alcohol , but me and my siblings do not drink alcohol .

Alcohol misuse within the education system.

Alcohol seems to affect children’s education. Under this theme topics that came out from the interviews included how parental alcohol misuse affects students’ education, alcohol use among students, and school or teachers’ responses to students’ alcohol misuse. Parents alcohol misuse is found to affect children who are students. The extent of alcohol drinking by some parents led to children’s absenteeism and affected children’s education. The primary headteacher explained:

Some of the absenteeism is alcohol-related; a parent leaves the home in the morning without making sure that the children are well prepared for school, like I said we visited one homestead, and the children had no idea where their mother could be.

Further, participants stated that alcohol sales in the homesteads done by parents influence students’ poor performance at school. Village Development Committee (VDC) member 2 explained: Sometimes children do to go to school , instead parents will give the child errands to sell alcohol , or maybe go and buy alcohol brewing ingredients .

It is observed that alcohol misuse affects the education system in terms of teaching and learning outcomes, as well as students’ retention. Some students use alcohol within boarding schools, which is against school regulations as attested by the focus group with VDC members. The guidance and counselling teacher added they have alcohol misuse as one of the main problems in their boarding school. Some participants explained that some of the school dropout cases were related to the extent of alcohol misuse in families. The Guidance and counselling teacher: As teachers we have observed that school dropouts tend to abuse alcohol as compared to other students . A significant number of them end up not completing their studies and go all out there to spend time in bars . Additionally, alcohol misuse contributes to some students having bad behaviour towards teachers. The Guidance and counselling teacher further explained an incident where students threatened one of the teachers at a bar outlet:

I remember one case student who harassed one of the teachers at the drinking spots saying he always reports things that happen outside school back to school authorities. They grabbed him by his clothes and tried to fight him as a way of revenge since he once punished one of them.

On the Contrary, guidance and counselling teacher said the school system enforces discipline on students who are found using alcohol or are seen at bar outlets. He attested: We had cases where a group of boys was found at bars and drinking spots . The next working day they received their punishment for such behaviour .

The interplay of individual, family and community dynamics.

Alcohol misuse also has a significant influence on the larger community. The topics in this organising theme include alcohol and criminal activities, and alcohol leading to high-risk sexual behaviours in the community. There are alcohol-related crimes reported to the police that include incidents of fights and threats: Police officer 2 said: There are people who usually misbehave after drinking alcohol in bar outlets . Some of them end up fighting , and some use dangerous weapons like knives . Other participants reported cases in which alcohol misuse leads to stealing. VDC member 3 shared: There are lots of common theft issues where excessive alcohol users are involved . According to participants, alcohol usage is also linked to rape and defilement in society. Social worker 2 said: One of the challenges is defilement and rape . Currently , we have more than 25 cases of defilement in this area which are alcohol related . However, some parents do not report these cases at the police department against those responsible for defilement. As a result, these perpetrators are not punished according to the law which left children still vulnerable and not protected. Pastor 4 stated:

We observe cases of sexual abuse in the community. We have children starting from primary up to standard 5 engaging (7 to 11 years old) in sexual activities with very older men and you can find standard 7 (13 years old) pupils dropping out of school. Parents do not take legal action on such matters.

Similarly, other participants reported that there were criminal activities associated with alcohol, even leading to deaths in the community. Pastor 4 shared: There was a case of murder that was reported in this area , a young man was killed at bar outlets . While VDC member 3 emphasised:

A man was killed on the spot at bar outlets for buying another man´s girlfriend alcohol. When the boyfriend realised that his girlfriend accepted alcohol from that man, he got angry to the point where he used something sharp to kill the intruding man.

It was also observed that alcohol misuse leads to high sexual risk behaviours resulting in unplanned pregnancies according to participants. Pastor 3 said: Unplanned pregnancies are also part of the risks associated with alcohol misuse . The guidance and counselling teacher gave an example of a teenage girl who got pregnant due to the influence of alcohol: I remember one case of a student , who dropped out of school without any stated reasons , and she spent more time at bars , after a year she got pregnant and never returned to school .

Systems’ responses to alcohol patterns

Participants highlight that at the community level, all stakeholders need to act to address the influence of alcohol misuse in the community. There are already a few strategies put in place at educational system, society at large, and legal systems to regulate alcohol misuse in the community. This section discusses traditional and legal systems, and stakeholders’ involvement in alcohol misuse campaigns as their contribution towards the influence of alcohol misuse in the community.

Traditional and legal system.

In Botswana, there are traditional and legal systems in place that include the Children’s act, alcohol levies, and customary laws of alcohol control. Under this organising theme topics that came out from the interviews included the Children’s Act, alcohol levies, and customary law on misuse controls. Participants reported that the government has policies and regulations set through civil and traditional systems. social worker 1 said: According to the law in Botswana , we have Children’s Act , which criminalises parents from sending their children to buy or sell alcohol and other substances . However, the guidance and counselling teachers said that there are no specific education laws that regulate children’s drinking outside school premises. It is only within the school premises that this is clearly stated. He said:

We don’t have clear and binding laws to monitor them outside school. We sometimes try, since last year and the year before, we had cases where a group of boys were found at bar outlets. We could identify them. When they came to school, we sat with them and talked. Even though we do not have any laws that govern us to act concerning behaviours outside school, it still affects us.

Participants explained that the increase in alcohol prices that were introduced through Botswana alcohol levies to manage alcohol misuse did not produce the desired outcomes. This is illustrated by Police officer 2: The alcohol levy was introduced by the former president , with a hike in alcohol prices , closing unregistered depots , etc . However , the increase did not yield behaviour change or a reduction in alcohol intake .

At the community level, it is the responsibility of village chiefs to regulate the production and sale of traditional homemade brews. The chiefs are guided by the Traditional regulation act Police officer 2: Traditional beer is regulated by chiefs they are the ones to issue brewing permits .

Stakeholders’ involvement in alcohol misuse campaigns.

The role of community stakeholders, school-based resources, community organised activities are identified as key resources and resource challenges are sub-themes covered under this organising theme. Data suggest that community stakeholders play an important role in the enforcement of the traditional legal system. Social workers shared some alcohol campaign activities: In the previous year , we had an educational campaign tour with the district commissioner’s department . As a result , we noted some improvements in the youths’ behaviour . There are school-based activities that contribute to the responses to alcohol misuse in the community, such as back-to-school programmes for school dropouts as attested by Guidance and counselling teacher: What happens is after a student has dropped out of school at a senior level looking at their specified age range , we readmit any child who wants to come back to school again . It was described that schools also have Peer Approach and Counselling by Teens (PACT) programme that addresses students’ psychosocial challenges and teaches them social life skills.

Pastors also explained their role in the community. They claimed that providing prayer, deliverance, and counselling to community members helps ease alcohol abuse in churchgoers. Similarly, participants said they used to be community-organised activities that helped address alcohol misuse in the community. For example, alcohol-free campaigns such as music competitions and football tournaments encouraged community members to have alcohol-free entertainment, but these do not exist anymore.

For stakeholders to address alcohol use and misuse in the community, participants said there is a need for all stakeholders to collaborate and work together on alcohol-related projects. Pastor 1 attested: Alcohol reduction in this village can be achieved through the collaboration of all community stakeholders . Although there are resources that stakeholders use to address alcohol misuse in the community, there are challenges such as a lack of recreational places and bar outlets used as a form of entertainment as explained by Police officer 1: There are no entertainment parks except indulging in alcohol at bars . Similarly, another identified challenge is that villagers do not welcome outside players to help them change their behaviour toward alcohol misuse. Pastor 4 stated:

Normally, you cannot come from outside and easily penetrate and bring people out of this pattern. Because alcohol is something that somehow has become part of them .

Discussions

The current study used the socio-ecological approach to explore the influence of alcohol misuse within the different systems in Botswana. The findings indicate that there is hazardous alcohol misuse in the village which trickles down from the community, through the family down to the individual in alignment with what Ungar said about how individuals’ behaviour is influenced by their broader environment [ 26 ]. This will be reiterated throughout the discussion to demonstrate how the study compares to similar studies’ findings to evaluate their significance. The findings reveal how systems such as family, education, and community systems interact with each other and influence an individual alcohol misuse. this is observed in how family norms and values get influenced by cultural norms and have an influence on an individual’s behaviour. Further, an individual’s behaviour contributes to the family setting, and influences cultural norms and educational outcomes.

There is an intergenerational drinking culture where children drink with their parents and caregivers. This courses a conflicting interplay between school, young people, and family. Students play truancy and miss school because of drunkenness, at the same time, they are taken advantage of by the community members [ 37 ], raping and exploiting them. Parents responsible for these at-risk youth ignore their education and avoid meeting teachers to help build young people’s morality and character. The irony is that these young people become dangerous to adults from families in the community and attempt to kill them. This is what Ungar [ 26 ] calls systems According to previous studies [ 5 , 8 ] there are contextual risk factors for alcohol misuse among youth presented by their family and peers, thus, youth learn these behavioural patterns from their systems. Sebeelo [ 21 ], who asserts that extended family members and caregivers share traditional brews with children in the same compound, supports this assertion. However, because the study was focused on community mapping and participants were community stakeholders, the findings (adults) make no mention of youth experiences with alcohol misuse as influenced by family and peers. Therefore, further research is needed to provide insight into this area and document the influence of such systems on young people.

The findings showed a complex interaction between individual children and family. Parents neglect their children and leave them with grandparents who quite often are under the influence of alcohol. This could be attributed to limited jobs in the study area/setting due to the geographic setting. As a result, parents, particularly mothers, frequently depart to seek employment in towns and cities. Consequently, the people who remain in the villages spend most of their time in home brewing establishments and have little time to spend with children. Thus, children end up not having a relationship with their parents. Similarly, research attests that having a good communication relationship between parent-child can buffer a child from being involved in risky behaviours such as alcohol misuse [ 38 ] Thus, the findings provide a deeper understanding of the importance of parent-child communication where children are encouraged to be honest about their educational progress and personal issues. This will decrease the risky behaviours children engage in, such as attacking their teachers at bar outlets.

There are strong social norms surrounding alcohol consumption as part of social activity in the community which has a strong influence on individuals to end up using alcohol. Alcohol is deemed part of Tswana culture as it is used for leisure and seen as a way of life. This is in line with [ 21 ] study that also found that alcohol is a way of life in Botswana and Batswana liked to drink alcohol as it was a social activity that brought friends together. Although there is a trend of alcohol consumption among women in the modern times/contemporary world, culturally this has not been a fully accepted phenomenon in Botswana. In corroboration, a study on alcohol abstinence and drinking among 20 African women from different parts of African countries found that although there was moderate alcohol consumption among women, the African culture does not accept women drinking alcohol [ 39 ]. Even so, the observations made around the home brews demonstrate that there were older women who were not working but drinking traditional homemade brews. The study findings point to the necessity for further research to explore women drinking and what their experiences are like in this village. Further research is needed to explore the issue of women and alcohol misuse in Botswana using a socio-ecological approach.

The findings indicate that the availability of many alcohol outlets in the community is found to increase the drinking culture which is found to be a source of socialisation in the community. According to the observation done by the leading researcher, there were ten bar outlets and about fifteen traditional home brewing places by the time data was collected in a population size of 8,342 people. This influences the reported highly hazardous drinking observed in the community due to the readily available alcohol. Although the alcohol outlets are used as a source of socialisation, the findings reported criminal activities such are alcohol leading to death, rape, and assaults that are perpetuated at these places. According to [ 40 ] where there are more alcohol outlets there are more social problems such as violent assaults. This calls for policymakers and practitioners to investigate how alcohol influences the criminal activities that exist in the community as interventions to address alcohol misuse are addressed.

While the study’s findings revealed certain dangerous patterns of alcohol misuse, there is also information that suggests some ways to address the influence of alcohol misuse in the community. The findings show that traditional and legal systems, as well as stakeholder involvement in alcohol abuse campaigns, all contribute to curbing the influence of alcohol misuse in the community. Programmes that target neighbourhood planning, zoning, and licensing are among the most effective approaches to reducing socioeconomic gaps in alcohol-related outcomes [ 41 ] as they address alcohol misuse in community system which will trickle down to the family system and the individual system. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of stakeholder collaboration in alcohol-related efforts.

Strengths and limitations

This study has made a valuable contribution to the under-researched field of alcohol misuse in rural regions. Furthermore, the study findings provide valuable insights for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers, enabling them to develop evidence-based treatments for addressing alcohol-related issues in rural areas. These interventions can also be implemented in other regions of Botswana and Sub-Saharan countries. Additionally, the study used a socio-ecological method to explore how alcohol consumption affects individuals, families, and communities. This community mapping has created an understanding of the community context for the subsequent stage of the Ph.D. project. The next phase of the Ph.D. project will be to explore the experiences of adult children of parents and caregivers with alcohol-related problems in the same village. Nevertheless, the study encountered some limitations. Data collection was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Retail stores selling alcohol were temporarily shut down to comply with COVID-19 regulations. Consequently, the business proprietors were not interviewed. Furthermore, recruiting participants using the snowballing method may have a potential for biases as participants with the same characteristics may be recruited.

The study explores the impact of alcohol misuse on public health in Botswana, focusing on the socio-ecological approach. It highlights the intergenerational drinking patterns in the village, influenced by historical alcohol use, and the negative influence on families, leading to low educational performance and a lack of parental-child relationships. The high availability of alcohol outlets in the community also contributes to social problems such as risky behaviour and crime just to name a few. The study suggests creating alcohol-free recreational facilities in villages to address social issues influenced by excessive alcohol use. The study adds to the body of knowledge that aims to guide future research and practice in developing influence systems to address alcohol misuse in the country.

Supporting information

S1 checklist. inclusivity in global research..

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0306542.s001

S1 File. Annex 5 (Interview guide for stakeholders).

Interview Guide For Participating In The Study.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0306542.s002

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Marguerite Daniel and David Sam for their significant contribution and support of this article.

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33. Ramsoomar, L. (2015). Risk and protection : alcohol use among urban youth within the birth to twenty (BT20) cohort (Doctoral dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Health Sciences).

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Int J Appl Basic Med Res
v.4(2); Jul-Dec 2014

Study of family factors in association with behavior problems amongst children of 6-18 years age group

Sandip s jogdand.

Department of Community Medicine, Rural Medical College, Loni, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, India

1 Department of P.S.M., Government Medical College, Miraj, Maharashtra, India

Background:

The ‘behaviour problems’ are having major impact on child's bodily and social development. The family provides emotional support to an individual as well as plays a major role in the formation of one's personality. The quality and nature of the parental nurturance that the child receives will profoundly influence his future development. The knowledge of these family factors associated with behaviour problems may be helpful to identify at risk children.

Aims and Objective:

To study the family factors associated with behaviour problems amongst children of 6-18 Yrs age group.

an adopted urban slum area of Govt. Medical College, Miraj Dist-Sangli.

Cross sectional study.

Materials and Methods:

the sample size was calculated based upon 40% prevalence obtained in pilot study. Total 600 Children in the age group of 6-18 years residing in the urban slum area and their parents were interviewed with the help of predesigned, pretested proforma. Analysis: chi-square test and risk estimate with Odd's ratio.

Our study result reveals significant association between prevalence of behaviour problems with absence of either or both real parents and alcoholism in the parent or care taker.

Conclusion:

The behaviour problems have good prognosis if they are recognized earlier. Family has great role in prevention of behaviour problems in children, so parental counseling may be helpful.

I NTRODUCTION

The behavior of a child is variable and depends on biological, social and environmental factors.[ 1 ] In learning to adjust to the world in which child is growing up, he develops certain kinds of behavior which are annoying or embarrassing to adults with whom he comes in contact. Adults frequently label such behaviors as problem behaviors.

Studies on the prevalence of behavior problems in children shown alarming results and yet strikingly varying from one study to another. Studies conducted in rural and urban areas of different parts of India suggest prevalence range ranging from approximately 1.16% (Dube, 1970)[ 2 ] to 43.1% (Vardhini).[ 3 ]

The “behavior problems” are having a major impact on the child's bodily and social development. It is the major concern of frustration to parents. Parent-child relationship gets disrupted and creates family conflicts and disharmony.

The family provides emotional support to an individual as well as plays a major role in the formation of one's personality. The quality and nature of the parental nurturance that the child receives will profoundly influence his future development. But only few homes provide the right type of environment to the growing child. Numerous studies have shown that children with various kinds of psychiatric and behavioral problems tend to come from homes or schools that are disadvantaged in some respect.[ 4 ]

Hence, the present study is planned to study certain family factors in association with behavior problems in adopted urban slum area of Government Medical College (GMC), Miraj.

M ATERIALS AND M ETHODS

Present cross sectional study was planned at an adopted urban slum area of GMC and Hospital Miraj. Parents of children in the study group and in some context children themselves interviewed with the help of predesigned, pretested proforma. The proforma was prepared after review of child behavior check list and achenbach system of empirically based assessment behavior problem check list used by different authors in their studies.[ 5 , 6 , 7 ] Also clinical psychologist who run own child guidance clinic at Miraj was consulted to finalize the proforma. The study populations enrolled for the study were permanent resident of the same area for last 5 years or more. Prior to data collection written consent was obtained and data was collected by the corresponding author with the help of fieldworkers of Urban Health Training Center.

The non-respondents or having any chronic illness and neurological disorders were excluded for the present study. The prevalence rate of 40% obtained in a pilot study was used to calculate sample size for the present study. A total 600 children in the age group of 6-18 years were enrolled for study from adopted urban slum area. The children were selected by simple random sampling method from the list of family survey registers of field workers. Their socio-demographic data and information regarding behavior was recorded. Socio-demographic data pertaining to socioeconomic classification, type of family, parent educational status, parent habits and addictions etc., was collected.

The behavior problems which were categorized as externalizing and internalizing in previous literature[ 8 , 9 , 10 ] were further sub classified as antisocial problems, habit problems, psychosomatic problems, personality problems, scholastic difficulties and eating problems etc.

Data was entered in Microsoft excel sheet and contingency tables were prepared and χ 2 was calculated to find out association between the factors and further strength of association was estimated by odd's ratio.

Observations

In our study, majority of children with behavior problems were coming from nuclear families. The observed difference of behavior problems with type of family was not found statistically significant [ Table 1 ].

Association between type of family and prevalence of behaviour problems

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In the present study out of 600 children, there were 71 (11.83%) children with either one or both real parents absent (death of a parent). In the present study group the absence of either parent was only because of death of either parent (other causes separation or divorce were not found). Out of these children 56 (78.87%) children exhibited one or more than one behavior problem. The observed difference was found statistically significant, showing that there is an association between behavior problems and absence of parents [ Table 2 ].

Association between parental loss (absence of parent) and behaviour problems

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Furthermore the strength of association estimated with odd's ratio show that the absence of either one or both parents increases the risk of behavior problems four times when compared to children having both biological parents present.

In the present study, out of 600 children, 238 (39.67%) children were from families having a history of alcoholism in parents or caretakers. Amongst these children, 134 (56.30%) children exhibited one or more than one behavior problems [ Table 3 ].

Association between alcoholism in parents and prevalence of behavior problems

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Statistically there is a significant association between alcoholism in parents and prevalence of behavior problems in children. The risk of behavior problems increases almost 1.5 times among the children having alcoholic parent/care taker.

D ISCUSSION

In this study we observed no significant association between type of family and prevalence of behavior problems in children. Deivasigamani[ 11 ] (1989) and Gupta et al .[ 12 ] (2001) also had shown same result.

Although Bhalla et al .[ 13 ] (1986) and Singhal et al .[ 14 ] (1988) found the majority of the children from nuclear families attending pediatric out-patient department for their psychological and psychiatric problems and shown significant relationship with type of family.

These findings were inconsistent with the present study results.

The present study revealed a significant association between loss of parents and prevalence rate of behavior problems. Most of the research studies related to mental illness and psychological disturbances have shown a significant correlation between loss of parent and psychopathology in children.

Srinivasan and Raman[ 15 ] in their study estimated 9.32 times increased risk for psychopathology in children with long term parental separation Dayal et al .[ 16 ] (1986) studied social, cultural and educational background of 100 male delinquent children at Agra found most of the children from families with the absence of a father.

Deivasigamani (1989) found absent father in most of children with psychiatric morbidity.

Gregory[ 17 ] (1962) shown parental loss as a predisposing factor in delinquent behavior in children. Furthermore, Prat[ 18 ] (2003) stated that parental loss is associated with significant psychosocial and mental health problems in adolescents.

All these studies support the result of the present study showing significance of presence of parents in the life of children and adolescents.

Alcoholism in a parent or care taker of children was found significantly associated with prevalence of behavior problems in children.

Shenoy and Kapur[ 19 ] (1996) studied socio-demographic factors in children with scholastic backwardness; shown alcoholism in the parent as a significant factor. Srinath et al .[ 20 ] (2004) conducted a study at Bangalore among children aged 4-16 year found a significant association between alcoholism in parent and psychiatric morbidity in children.

Few of the western studies have also shown alcoholism in parents as a predisposing factor for psychological and mental problems in children and adolescents. Prat[ 21 ] (1999) stated that in US, India or South East Asia, adolescents who live in households where alcohol is abused are at risk being victims of family violence leading to behavior problems.

C ONCLUSION

The present study shows that family structure is changing more in favor of nuclear setup. Probably, may be because the majority of families are migrated from rural places to urban areas in search of work or for educational purposes. Hence the older persons in family remain at their homes in villages. All these factors contribute to the majority of nuclear families in slum areas. Probably other vulnerable factors present in these children in the present study may be masking the effect of type of family.

Parents are first guide and teacher in the life of children. They fulfill their physical and emotional needs and also provide social and psychological support to their child. The presence of parents increases the secured awareness in the child which prevents them from being exposed to peer group pressure or influence of the outer world.

Alcoholism is now a days increasing in India. In slum areas, most of the population is migrated and doing labor work. The increased economic pressure and indulged in heavy working makes this population involved in alcoholism. The alcoholism in parents is responsible for disharmony in home environments; there is poor interaction between family members, which hampers the psychosocial development of children.

Parents need to be helped to understand that ‘it is not enough to do things to their children; they must do things with them’. Family based interventions which focus on improving communication within the family had some success in treating behavior problems. In family therapy, the primary goal is to change dysfunctional family systems, clarify family roles and promote honest and open communication among family members. Good quality day care can have positive psychosocial benefits, particularly in case of children from poor or disordered homes.

Limitations of the study

There is need further exploratory study with the same topic. Due to time constraint the study has to rely upon the responses of parents and/child only. As the study was conducted in the community setting because of cultural barriers we could not include the questions pertaining to sexual behavior of children.

A CKNOWLEDGMENT

We appreciate the valuable help by Dr. Sandip S. Mangrule (Rehabilitation Psychologist) and Mrs. M.S. Mangrule (clinical psychologist) in preparation of questionnaire for the project and thank them for their contribution.

Source of Support: Nil.

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

R EFERENCES

IMAGES

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