What Worked?: An Exploratory Investigation into the Symbolic Importance of Family Strengths

Presenter Information

Katie Koebele, Minnesota State University, Mankato
Nicole Motz, Minnesota State University, Mankato
Danielle Bjornheim, Minnesota State University, Mankato
Kelsey Wall, Minnesota State University, Mankato
Kali Pecha, Minnesota State University, Mankato

Location

CSU Ballroom

Start Date

2-4-2019 2:00 PM

End Date

2-4-2019 3:30 PM

Student's Major

Family Consumer Science

Student's College

Allied Health and Nursing

Mentor's Name

Dan Moen

Mentor's Department

Family Consumer Science

Mentor's College

Allied Health and Nursing

Second Mentor's Name

Jae Min Lee

Second Mentor's Department

Family Consumer Science

Second Mentor's College

Allied Health and Nursing

Description

‘What Worked' is a retrospective cross-sectional, quantitative research study about the perception of family strengths according to young adults. Specifically, this study investigated family strengths as participants reflected on their own, unique childhood experiences in the following three categories: (1) Parental Love (What did your primary caregivers do to show love?); (2) Family Bonding (What did your family to do bond?); and (3) Parenting (How did your parents shape you into the person you are today?). This study surveyed college students and asked their reflection on family experiences and what worked for them. The analytic sample size was 47 respondents after excluding those with incomplete answers. This study conducted descriptive and word cloud analyses.

This study found that ‘laughter', ‘affection' and ‘support' were the most frequently answered words in the Parental Love category. In the Family Bonding category, ‘events', ‘vacation' and ‘dinner' were found. Those of the last category were ‘affection', ‘discipline' and ‘support'. This study found it notable that the word ‘support' was the leading fundamental in both the first and third category. Guided by symbolic interaction theory, this study hypothesizes that these young adults will be more likely to practice similar family strengths in their own families of creation. Findings from this study can provide clues into what current, young adults value in terms of family.