ns and responsibilities in such a way that there was an unavoidable conflict between these and the obligation of getting to school on time.
From a family systems perspective, the relationship of changes in family structure to academic performance and to a variety of school behaviors (including tardiness) was investigated by Corsica (1980). Subjects in the study consisted of 94 male and female adolescents, attending a middle-class suburban high school, from three family groups: (1) intact families (n = 44), reconstituted/stepfamilies (n = 18), and father absent single parent (n = 32) families.
Assessment indices included measures of family environment and interaction, intelligence, grade point average, school absence and tardiness, use of guidance services, willingness to do assignments, school suspensions, and mental health referrals. Findings of the study were said to show that students from both reconstituted families and single-parent father-absent families showed far greater problematic school-related behaviors and poorer academic performance than did students from intact families.
Specifically, it was observed that reconstituted families tended to be rigidly organized with less freedom of expression and family closeness than the other two groups; these family types showed the poorest performance on school related variables including tardiness. Single parent families showed the weakest control and parent management, the most conflict, and performed less well on school-related variables such as tardiness than intact families.
A reason given for the highest levels of tardiness, suspension and disciplinary problems being found in the reconstituted family group was said to be the fact students in these families are facing a "double dose" of stress. In this regard, the students are said to be attempting to adjust to the loss of one parent while simultaneously attempting to adjust to the stepparent.
Correlates. ...