Relationship of Parental Marital Dissolution and Sex to Selected Mental Health and Self-Concept Indicators in a Sample of Black University Freshmen

Social Science Literature Concerning African American Men

“…(2) the microsocial level, which links the lack of nuclear family structure and father absence with specific aspects of Black male dysfunction such as early sexual activity and pregnancy, lower levels of employment and academic achievement, higher levels of estrangement, lower self-concept, and problems in other aspects of mental health (Bronfenbrenner, 1967;Daniels, 1986;Glenn & Kramer, 1987;Jemmott & Jemmott, 1992;Phillips & Asbury, 1990;Sweet, 1987;Weller & Luchterhand, 1974;Young, Jensen, Olsen, Cundick, 1991). A sizeable literature disputes the link between non-nuclear family structures and Black male problems.…”

Students from divorced and blended families

“…Because each of these variables comes into play when parents divorce, many researchers have not found long-lasting differences in the grades, selfesteem, or behavior of students whose parents have divorced vs. those whose parents are still married (Barkley and Procidano, 1989;Johnson and Hutchinson, 1989;Phillips and Asbury, 1990). Two large-scale studies exemplify this point.…”

The Relationship Between Marital Disruption and Adolescent Values

“…He found no significant differences in self-conccpt between students from divorced families and students from intact families. Phillips and Asbury (1990). examined several indicators of self-concept and mental health among a sample of 900 Black freshmen students, of whom 356 came from divorced or separated backgrounds.…”