Self-Efficacy in Offspring of Mentally Ill Parents
Abstract
The subjective experiences of offspring of mentally ill parents have resulted in the development and absence of various components of well-being. However, there are very few studies examining levels of self-efficacy as a component of well-being within offspring of mentally ill parents. Given the evidence of lower levels of resiliency among offspring of mentally ill parents, this study proposed to evaluate the relationship between self-efficacy and offspring of mentally ill parents. Two-hundred and fifty-seven students in an introductory psychology course completed two measures assessing self-efficacy and resiliency. Among the 257 students, 27 identified with a mentally ill parent. It was hypothesized that levels of self-efficacy and resiliency would be lower among offspring of mentally ill parents than offspring with mentally healthy parents. It was also hypothesized that a statistically significant positive correlation would be observed for self-efficacy with resiliency. Additionally, it was predicted that a statistically significant negative correlation would be observed for self-efficacy with the number of years lived with a mentally ill parent and the impact of a mentally ill parent. An independent samples t-test, along with one-tailed correlations were computed to test hypotheses. With regard to both self-efficacy and resiliency, results did not show a significant difference between offspring with mentally ill parents in comparison to those with mentally healthy parents. Self-efficacy showed a significant positive correlation with resiliency as predicted; however, no significant correlation for self-efficacy with the number of years lived with a mentally ill parent nor the impact of a mentally ill parent was observed.