EFFECT OF FAMILY ENVIRONMENT ON MENTAL HEALTH OF NURSING STUDENTS

Positive family environment is one of the pre-requisites for healthy growth and development of its members. The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of family environment on mental health of nursing students. Family environment was assessed by the Indian adaptation of Family Environment Scale (Joshi and Vyas, 1987), initially developed by Moos and Moos. In consonance with the declaration of the WHO (2004), wherein mental health has been defined as a state of well-being, Ryff?s Psychological Well-being Scale (Ryff, 1989) was used to measure mental health. A total of 417 female nursing students from 11 colleges of Punjab State comprised the study sample. The findings of the study presented a mixed picture of relationships between various dimensions of family environment with different levels of mental health. A significant relationship was established between underlying sets of family relationship and personal growth dimensions with mental health. However, such a relationship was not established with underlying set of system maintenance dimensions. Findings of the study may help the teachers and counsellors to develop an insight while handling problems related to interpersonal relations and academic performance of the students.