The Effect of Family Structure on Adolescents in Saudi Arabia

312 Pages·2017·2.6 MB·English

by  Mohammad Alsharfi

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The Effect of Family Structure on
Adolescents in Saudi Arabia:
A comparison Between Adolescents from
Monogamous and Polygamous Families

Mohammad Ahmad AL-Sharfi
Doctor of Philosophy
2017
I

Acknowledgement:

Firstly: I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Karen Pfeffer for
the continuous support of my Ph.D research, for her patience, motivation, and immense
knowledge. Her guidance helped me in the all time of research and writing of the thesis. I
could not have imagined having a better supervisor and mentor for my Ph.D thesis.

Besides my supervisor, I would like to thank the second supervisor Dr. Kirsty Miller for her
insightful comments and encouragement, but also for the hard questions which made me
widen my research from various perspectives.

My sincere thanks also goes to School of Psychology at University of Lincoln who provided
me all the facilities to conduct this research. It deserves its distinction currently as one of
top ten universities for teaching quality in the United Kingdom. As I would thank AL-Baha
University for its precious support throughout three years to complete this project

Last but not the least, I would like to thank my family: my wife and my children for
supporting me spiritually throughout writing this thesis and my life in general.
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Abstract:

This study investigated the effects of family structure on 13-18 year-old
adolescents in Saudi Arabia. Comparisons were made between adolescents from
polygamous and monogamous families in psychological well-being (self-esteem,
satisfaction with life, depression), bullying and victimization. A series of investigations
assessed the effects of family structure and several demographic variables on adolescents’
psychological well-being and behaviour. Also, the mediating role of parent-adolescent
relationships measured by parent-adolescent bonding and father availability was
investigated.
A systematic review of previous research established that few studies had
investigated mediating variables, such as demographic variables. In the first study,
comparisons were made between 98 adolescents from polygamous and monogamous
families. Results found that adolescents from polygamous families reported more
problems in their psychological well-being, bullying and victimization than adolescents
from monogamous families.
The aim of the second study was to establish the validity of the Parental Bonding
Instrument for use with adolescents in Saudi Arabia. The parental bonding instrument was
validated for use in Saudi society with 301 participants aged 13-18 years. Results found that
the ‘care’ dimension of the parental bonding instrument was valid for use in Saudi Arabia
but the ‘overprotection’ dimension was not considered to be culturally valid because of
different cultural patterns found in Saudi culture.
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The third study compared 266 adolescents from polygamous and monogamous
families using the validated parental bonding instrument. The results found that
adolescents in polygynous families reported lower ‘care’ scores than those in monogamous
families. Also, comparisons by age group and gender found no effects of age or gender for
father care, mother care, self-esteem, satisfaction with life, bullying or victimisation. A
significant difference was found between age groups for depression.
The fourth study was conducted with 500 adolescents using structural equation
modelling to test the role of the parent-adolescent relationship measured by parental
bonding on adolescent self-esteem, satisfaction with life, depression, bullying and
victimisation. For polygamous families, parental care was a significant mediating variable
between adolescent outcomes and the family variables of father availability and the
position of the mother as the first or later wife. For monogamous families, although
parental care predicted adolescent outcomes, family variables did not affect parental care.
The fifth study was a qualitative analysis of interviews with 30 adolescents and 10
teachers on perceptions of father fairness, family functioning, attitudes toward
polygamous marriage and academic achievement. Problems reported for polygamous
families were lack of father fairness and family cohesion, emotional and behavioural
problems, and poor academic achievement.
In conclusion, this thesis is the first study to investigate the effects of polygamous
family structure on adolescents in Saudi society and the first to provide a culturally
validated measure of adolescent-parent attachment relationships. It was found that
polygamy affects adolescent psychological well-being and behaviour, also adolescents’
perceptions of parental care and the fairness with which they feel that their father treats
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them have important effects on their relationship with their parents, their sense of well-
being and their behaviour. The findings will be valuable for educators, counsellors and
psychologists in Saudi Arabia.
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Contents
Chapter One:
Introduction: ...........................................................................................................1
1.1 Polygamous family structure ………………………………………………………………………….1-4
1.2 History of the Saudi family …………………………………………………………………………... 4-8
1.3 Family structure and development…………………………………………………………….… 8-14
1.4 The theoretical background………………………………………………………………………….14-22
1.5 Developing and testing the postulated theoretical models…………………………..22- 29
1.6 Aims of the study……………………………………………………………………………………….…29- 32
1.7 Hypotheses……………………………………………………………………………………….…………….33
1.8 Importance and originality of the research………………………………………………….….34

Chapter Two
Systematic review of previous research
2.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………….35-36
2.2 Methods……………………………………………………………………………………………………….36-39
2.2.1 Information sources and search strategy……………………………………………………...37
2.2.2 Inclusion and exclusion criteria…………………………………………………………….…...37-38
2.2.3 Study selection …………………………………………………………………………………………...38
2.2.4 Data extraction ……………………………………………………………………………………………38-39
2.3 Results……………………………………………………………………………………………………………39-58
2.3.1 Cultural context and demographic variables…………………………………….………….39-43
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2.3.2 Dependent variables …………………………………………………………………………………43-44
2.3.3 Psychological health and well-being outcomes………………………………………….44-49
2.3.4 Academic/educational achievement …………………………………………………..…...49- 52
2.3.5 Learning disorder and intelligence……………………………………………………………… 52
2.3.6 Social problems ……………………………………………………………………………………..….52-55
2.3.7 Mediating variables…………………………………………………………………………………...56-57
2.3.8 Quality assessment …………………………………………………………………………………...57-58
2.4 Discussion………………………………………………………………………………………………….… 58-63

Chapter Three
General Methods
3.1 Methodological approach……………………………………………………………………………...64
3.2 Participants………………………………………………………………………………………………...64-65
3.3 Ethical issues…………………………………………………………………………………………….…65-67
3.4 Materials…………………………………………………………………………………………………....67-69
3.4.1 Demographic questionnaires……………………………………………………………….…. 67-68
3.4.2 Instruments………………………………………………………………………………………….….69-73
3.5 Procedure………………………………………………………………………………………………… .73-75
3.5.1 Procedures for boy’s schools…………………………………………………………………..…74
3.5.2 Procedure for girls’ schools………………………………………………………………………74-75
3.6 Statistical Methods used……………………………………………………………………………...75
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Chapter Four
Study 1: Comparisons between polygamous and monogamous families for demographic
variables, adolescent well-being and bullying/victimization.
4.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………………76-77
4.1.1 Research aims………………………………………………………………………………………….…...78
4.1.2 Hypotheses………………………………………………………………………………………………..….78
4.2 Methods…………………………………………………………………………………………………………79-81
4.2.1 Participants…………………………………………………………………………………….…………….79
4.2.2 Materials……………………………………………………………………………………………………….80
4.2.3 Procedures…………………………………………………………………………….…………………...80-81
4.2.4 Ethics………………………………………………………………………………………………………………81
4.3 Results…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….81-92
4.3.1 Comparison of demographic variables………………………………………………………....82-84
4.3.2 Psychometric Properties of the Instruments ………………………………………………….84-86
4.3.3 Comparisons of dependent variables between adolescents from polygamous and
monogamous families……………………………………………………………………………………………88-92
4.4 Discussion……………………………………………………………………………………………………….92-94
4.5 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………………………94-95
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Chapter Five
Study 2: Cultural validation of the Parental Bonding Instrument for Arabic adolescents
5.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………….95-98
5.2 Validation Study 1…………………………………………………………………………………………99-101
5.2.1. Stage One: Translation…………………………………………………………………………………99
5.2.2. Stage Two: Linguistic/ semantic equivalence and face validity………………….99-101
5.3 Validation Study Two: Internal consistency assessment ……………………………….101-105
5.4 Validation Study Three: Internal consistency replication, factor structure and
concurrent validity ……………………………………………………………………………………………106-118
5.5 Discussion……………………………………………………………………………………………………118-120

Chapter Six
Study 3: Effects of adolescent age, gender and family type on parental bonding,
psychological well-being and bullying/victimisation
6.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………….123-123
6.1.1 Research aims……………………………………………………………………………………………124
6.1.2 Hypotheses……………………………………………………………………………………………….124-125
6.2 Methods………………………………………………………………………………………………………125-127
6.2.1 Participants………………………………………………………………………………………………125-126
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6.2.2 Materials………………………………………………………………………………………………....126
6.2.3 Procedure………………………………………………………………………………………………126-127
6.2.4 Ethics…………………………………………………………………………………………………….127
6.3 Results…………………………………………………………………………………………………….127-137
6.4 Discussion……………………………………………………………………………………………..…137-139
6.5 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………………..140

Chapter Seven
Study 4: Relationships between family demographic variables, parent-child
relationships and adolescent well-being and behaviour
7.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………14-143
7.1.1 Aims of the study……………………………………………………………………………………… 144
7.1.2 Hypotheses……………………………………………………………………………………………….144-145
7.2 Method………………………………………………………………………………………………………146-147
7.2.1 Participants……………………………………………………………………………………………...146
7.2.2 Materials………………………………………………………………………………………………….146-147
7.2.3 Procedure………………………………………………………………………………………………...147
7.2.4 Ethics…………………………………………………………………………………………………...…147
7.3 Results………………………………………………………………………………………………………147-192