Abstract
The primary purpose of this study was to investigate variables of family composition and structure that are related to ego development of college students. A review of research and theory indicated that cross-generational coalitions, scapegoating of the student by the parents, marital satisfaction and marital conflict of parents, and ego level of parents were related to students' ego levels. Subjects were 95 college students and their parents. Students completed the Loevinger Sentence Completion Test and the Family Environment Scale (used to develop coalition and scapegoating scores). Both parents completed the above measures, along with the Marital Satisfaction Scale and the O'Leary Porter Scale. Results of this study indicated that ego levels of mother and father were significantly correlated with ego level of the student. Regression analyses indicated that ego level of the mother and father contributed to prediction of female students' ego level, and that fathers' ego level was more highly significant. Neither mother nor fathers' ego levels were significant predictors of male college student ego levels. Cross-generational coalitions, scapegoating of the student by the parents, marital satisfaction nor marital conflict of parents were found to be predictors of ego level of college students.
Pate, Janice Leanne (1985). Aspects of the marital relationship of parents associated with ego development of adolescent offspring. Texas A&M University. Texas A&M University. Libraries. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /DISSERTATIONS -445973.