Adjustment patterns of adolescents in relation to their family type

Pages: 638-641
Rashmi Upreti and Seema Sharma (Department of Human Development & Family Studies, PAU, Ludhiana, Punjab)

The present study assessed and compared the adjustment patterns of adolescents in orphanages, single parent families and intact families. From the four selected cities of Punjab (Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala, & Hoshiarpur), 100 school going adolescents were randomly selected from the selected orphanages and 100 adolescents were selected under both single parent families and intact families from the government schools. The sample was equally distributed across both the genders (Boys=50 & Girls=50, in each category). Therefore, total sample comprised of 300 respondents in the age group of 14-16 years. Bell’s Adjustment Inventory adapted by Ojha was used to measure the adjustment of adolescents. Present study revealed that, overall, majority of adolescents residing with intact families reported medium level of adjustment. Adolescents from orphanages reported significantly more problems in social adjustment and emotional adjustment. Overall analysis also revealed that orphans had more adjustment problems as compared to their counterparts. To make the teen adjusting, parents or caretakers should encourage their involvement in extra-curricular activities; they should try to be extremely friendly with them for understanding them better and should include them in decisions.