The Relationship between Family Functioning and Adjustment Behavior among High School Male and Female Students in Tehran

Adjustment is a relatively conscious process based on which human beings adapt themselves to their natural, social, and cultural environments and establish healthy and successful relationships with others. In addition, the impact of family on individuals’ behavior cannot be underestimated due to the fact that parents’ attitude towards adolescents and the youth can result in their higher adjustment to the environment. The present study was conducted in order to investigate the relationship between family functioning and the emotional, social, and educational aspects of adjustment among Tehrani high school students. Multi-stage cluster sampling method was utilized for the purpose of sampling and as a result two districts (a total number of 5 high schools and 10 classes) and 300 students (121 girls and 179 boys) were selected. In this correlational research, the instrumentation comprised Bloom’s Family Function Questionnaire and Sinha-Singh’s Adjustment Inventory. The data were analyzed through SPSS and correlation coefficients for independent groups were computed. Results of the study revealed that the correlation between family functioning and social and educational aspects of adjustment was higher among girls than boys, whereas the correlation between family functioning and emotional adjustment was higher among boys than girls, despite the fact that in general no significant difference was observed between the two genders. It can be concluded that apparently gender cannot contribute to differences in adjustment behavior of students.