RELATIONSHIP OF FAMILY FUNCTIONING, DEPRESSION, HEALTH IMPAIRMENT AND SOCIOEMOTIONAL SKILLS IN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN MEXICO

Abstract

The family has become in recent years a topic of interest in the field of health, since it is largely in the family dynamics where the protective factors of health are generated in each of its members, in this research work the following objectives were proposed: 1) To analyze the relationship of family functionality with depression, health deterioration and socioemotional skills; 2) To analyze the possible divergences between the groups (low, moderate, high family functionality), depression, health deterioration and socioemotional skills; 3) To determine the predictive value of depression, health deterioration and socioemotional skills in family functionality.

The research is quantitative, the design is non-experimental, descriptive, correlational, explanatory, the sampling technique is stratified by conglomerate, the sample is 960 students of the foreign academic units of the Universidad Autónoma de Nayarit México  The data were processed with the SPSS statistical program, analyzing the Pearson correlations, cluster, linear regression Manovas and Anovas, the results show that university students with low family functionality, obtained high scores in health deterioration, mood and depression, compared to those with high family functionality, develop intrapersonal and interpersonal skills, their mental health is more stable, they are more functional in the activities of daily living. According to the statistical analysis of the linear regression, depression, mood and health deterioration are predictors of family functionality and the socioemotional variables were not significant, these results are interpreted that, if people present less depressive tendency and health deterioration, as well as a greater healthy mood, they will be predictors that are related to family functionality.

The Manova and Anova showed significant differences in the depression and health impairment variable, mood, intra- and interpersonal skills, stress management and adaptability, analysis of variance revealed statistically significant differences between the family functionality groups with depression, health impairment and socioemotional skills (˄ = .993, F (7,833) = 16970.78, p< .001, n2 = .993). Bonferroni's a posteriori test (.05) indicated that youth with low family functioning scored statistically higher on depression and health impairment, relative to youth with moderate and high family functioning.

Family functioning correlates negatively and significantly with: depression (r= -.444, p<.01) and health impairment (r= -.449, p<.01); at the same time it correlates positively and significantly with mood skills (r= 461, p<.01), interpersonal skills (r= 165, p<.01), intrapersonal skills (r= 252, p<.01), stress management (r= 175, p<.01) and adaptability (r= 242, p<.01).