Running head: EFFECTS OF SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIPS

The Effects of Significant Relationships at Home on Graduate Students Stress Levels

Tonya DeDera, Gifty Frimpong, Melody Klatt, and Jennifer Tom
Touro University Nevada

EFFECTS OF SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIPS

Results
After implementing the data collection methods, the results of the study were analyzed by
the researchers. An overview of the results has been compiled, including specific information
about the studys participants and the data that was gathered. The results were gathered without
any significant obstacles or error during the study, and data from each participant was obtained.
Participants
The participants for the study were comprised of Touro University Nevadas 2016
Occupational Therapy Cohort. A total of 32 people were recruited, and all of them completed the
study. The participants were not divided into a control or treatment group, as these specific
groups were not needed in order to collect data for the study. The participants were recruited
over the course of an hour on a single day, between the hours of 12 PM and 1 PM.
Several demographics for the sample were noted during the study. The participants ages
spanned from a range of 21 to 42, and there were six males and 26 females who participated. All
participants were first-year graduate students in Touro Universitys Occupational Therapy
program, and it was noted that 12 individuals reported living at home with family and/or
significant others, while 20 reported living at home without family and/or significant others.
Comparing results between males and females was not considered for the study.
Data Analysis
Results of the study were recorded and analyzed using a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.
The researchers categorized the questions on the stress scale into questions that implied positive
variables and questions that implied negative variables in regards to impact on the
participants stress levels. The participants results were then divided into those that came from
participants who reported having family and/or significant others living at home with them, and

EFFECTS OF SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIPS

those who reported not having family and/or significant others living at home with them. The
average scores for the positive variable questions and the negative variable questions were
then compared between the two groups. Having a lower positive variable score and a higher
negative variable score was considered to imply a higher stress level overall.
After comparing the variable averages between the two groups, results of the study
indicated that the group of participants who reported living with family and/or significant others
at home had lower positive variable scores and higher negative variable scores. This
supports the hypothesis for the study, which suggested that graduate students who have families
and/or significant others living at home with them while they are attending school contributes to
their level of stress. Numerical results for the data analysis are shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2.
Discussion
Introduction/Background
Many studies have focused on examining sources of stress for college students, but not
many have specifically examined the effect of home life and obligations to significant
others/family members on students stress levels. Many studies seem to examine the influence of
family on college students stress levels in regards to homesickness (Bernier, Larose, & Whipple,
2005), or pressure from family to do well in school (Aelston, 2012), but this study was designed
to take a closer look at the stress that students specifically students in graduate school may
experience due to the fact that they have significant others and/or family living with them at
home while attending school. A common assumption may be that having family at home will
provide a support system and minimize homesickness that will ultimately reduce stress for
students (Bernier et al., 2005), unless the relationships with family are considered to be
dysfunctional or unhealthy (Darling, McWey, Howard, & Olmstead, 2007). However, this study

EFFECTS OF SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIPS

analyzes the probability that having obligations toward significant others and/or family at home
even when the relationships are considered to be healthy may actually have the potential to
increase a students overall stress level while they are enrolled in school.
Methods
The participants for the study were comprised of 32 students (12 individuals with
significant others and 20 individuals without significant others) who are enrolled at Touro
University Nevadas Occupational Therapy graduate program. These students represent the 2016
cohort for the Occupational Therapy program. We distributed the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)
to the participants (Cohen & Williamson, 1988), which was composed of ten questions, and the
researchers added an additional three questions each having to do with the students home lives
to the questionnaire. In addition to the questionnaire, the researchers also composed and
distributed a brief Home Life Survey, which asked the participants to identify who, if anyone,
might be living with them at home. Overall the conduction of the study went well, with only
minor obstacles encountered in the process, and all desired data was collected effectively.
After the distribution of the survey and PSS, most of the students had no problems with
answering the questions and returning the survey and PSS back within a short amount of time.
However, a few of the students failed to fill out the Home Life Survey because they failed to
notice that the survey was located on the other side of the sheet of paper that the PSS was on. For
the survey, the researchers did not ask for the students to provide their names, which made it
difficult to determine which students did not complete the Home Life Survey. The researchers
had to identify each student according to age and handwriting to find out who the surveys
belonged to so that they could be completed.

EFFECTS OF SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIPS

The researchers recommend that any future studies conducted with this method make
sure to distribute the survey and PSS on two separate sheets of paper for the participants to fill
out. This will decrease the likelihood of either part being missed. In addition, the researchers
recommend that a larger sample size be utilized for the study so that a broader range of data can
be obtained, and so that the results will be more generalizable.
Results
The purpose of the study was to test the hypothesis that the presence of family members
and/or significant others in the home lives of college students will increase students overall
stress levels. The results do support this hypothesis. The significance of the data can be further
expanded into future research to find strategies to help individuals that are living with significant
others cope with the stress that are influenced by their responsibilities as a student as well as
their responsibilities toward their family and significant others when they are home.
There were not any results that were found to be particularly surprising. It was predicted
that there would be a difference in scores between the two groups in favor of the participants
living with significant others and/or family members having higher stress levels, and it was also
predicted that there may not be a sizable difference in scores between the two groups because of
the small sample size that was recruited for the study. These predictions were upheld, and the
researchers, therefore, did not identify any significant, unexpected results for the study.
Comparing Other Studies
The other studies that were analyzed in accordance to a similar topic held several
differences and similarities to this studys hypothesis. All studies identified prevalent sources of
stress for students who are attending college, and all mentioned family and relationships as being
a factor that was considered in terms of stress for the students (Aelston, 2012; Bernier et al.,

EFFECTS OF SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIPS

2005; Darling et al., 2007; Klainberg, Ewing, & Ryan, 2010). The study that was conducted by
Aelston suggested that family contributes to a students stress levels due to the expectation of
parents for students to do well (2012), which was a factor that was not taken into account for this
study. Bernier et al. wrote that homesickness is a contributing factor to students stress levels
(2005), which by default implied that having family closer to home would have decreased a
students stress level. In this way, that conclusion differed from the conclusion of this study.
The study that was conducted by Darling et al. discussed the impact of personal
relationships on students stress levels (2007), which initially may seem to coincide with what
was analyzed in this study. However, the evaluation of whether or not the relationships
contributed to the students stress levels mainly had to do with them experiencing relationship
issues rather than focusing on the fact that the relationships were simply part of the students
home lives, and that differed from the focus of this study (Darling et al., 2007). Finally, the
study that was conducted by Klainberg et al. proved to be the study that yielded some data that
was most similar to the data gathered from this study (2010). The study focused on the subject
of reducing stress for college students, and in the process it named some main contributing
factors for students stress levels, one of them being responsibilities relating to family (Klainberg
et al., 2010). An in-depth analysis of the nature of this contributing factor to stress was not
performed in the study, but it was still a source of data that identified home life obligations with
family being a main contributing element for students who are attending a college or university
(Klainberg et al., 2010).
Interpretation & Evaluation
The results of the analyzed data show support for the original research hypothesis, though
the overall difference in scores between the two groups was small. The study indicated that

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having obligations pertaining to significant others and/or family members at home can increase a
graduate students stress level, and this is an important fact to be aware of when evaluating
sources of stress for students at this academic level. Having an increased awareness of this data
can add important considerations to the body of knowledge that professionals may use to address
sources of stress for students and help them cope with the stressors that they are facing.
Limitations
This study had a potential for some limitations regarding internal and external validity.
There was a potential for selection bias in the fact that the sample was not entirely randomized;
the participants came solely from the occupational therapy students in Touro University
Nevadas 2016 cohort. There was also a threat of reactive arrangements, as the students in the
cohort were aware of what was going to be analyzed in the study, and this could have potentially
caused some of them to bias their answers in favor of whatever light they wished the researchers
to see them in (i.e. seeing them as more or less stressed).
The sample for this study was also a convenience sample and relatively small. Because
of this, the results of the study may also be difficult to accurately generalize to the overall
population of graduate students. The sample also came solely from a class consisting of
occupational therapy students, and this too may limit some of the generalizability of the results.
Future Research
As stated previously, several areas for improvement were identified by the researchers at
the conclusion of this study. Firstly, the researchers recommend that this study be conducted
with a larger sample size. Having a larger sample size may provide more significant results;
specifically a more significant difference between the scores of the two groups. Secondly, the
researchers recommend that this study be conducted with participants that have been selected

EFFECTS OF SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIPS

from multiple areas of study, to examine for a possible difference between stress levels in
students from various disciplines. Thirdly, the researchers recommend that the selection of
participants for future studies not be from a convenience sample; they should be completely
randomized to minimize the threat of selection bias.

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References
Aselton, P. (2012). Sources of stress and coping in American college students who have been
diagnosed with depression. Journal of Child & Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 25(3),
119-123. doi: 10.1111/j.1744-6171.2012.00341.x
Bernier, A., Larose, S., & Whipple, N. (2005). Leaving home for college: A potentially stressful
event for adolescents with preoccupied attachment patterns. Attachment & Human
Development, 7(2), 171-185.
Cohen, S., & Williamson, G. (1988). Perceived stress in a probability sample of the United
States. In S. Spacapan & S. Oskamp (Eds.), The social psychology of health: Claremont
Symposium on applied social psychology. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Darling, C. A., McWey, L. M., Howard, S. N., & Olmstead, S. B. (2007). College student stress:
The influence of interpersonal relationships on sense of coherence. Stress and Health,
23(4), 215-229.
Klainberg, M., Ewing, B., & Ryan, M. (2010). Reducing stress on a college campus. Journal of
the New York State Nurses Association, 41(2), 4-7.

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10

Results for Participants Living Without Families and/or Significant Others

2.45
2.4

2.41

2.35
2.3

Stress Scale Scores

2.25
2.2
2.17

2.15
2.1
2.05

Positive

Negative

Variables Influencing Stress Levels

Figure 1. Average scores for positive and negative variable questions from the Perceived Stress
Scale (Cohen & Williamson, 1998), as categorized by the researchers. The columns represent the
numerical value for the average scores that were computed for the positive and negative
variables, in relation to the group of participants that identified themselves as living with family
members and/or significant others at home.

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11

Results for Participants Living With Familes and/or Significant Others

2.4
2.34

2.35
2.3
2.25

Stress Scale Scores

2.2

2.17

2.15
2.1
2.05

Positive

Negative

Variables Influencing Stress Levels

Figure 2. Average scores for positive and negative variable questions from the Perceived Stress
Scale (Cohen & Williamson, 1998), as categorized by the researchers. The columns represent the
numerical value for the average scores that were computed for the positive and negative
variables, in relation to the group of participants that identified themselves as not living with
family members and/or significant others at home.