Journal of Psychology & Behavioral Science

Meta-Analysis of the Relationships Between the Adequacy of Family Resources andPersonal, Family, and Child Well-Being
Carl J. Dunst

Abstract
This meta-analysis includes evaluations of the relationships between the adequacy of family resources and seven dimensions of personal, family, and child well-being. Adequacy of family resources was expected to be related to enhanced positive well-being and attenuated negative well-being. Studies were eligible for inclusion if the Family Resource Scale was used to measure family resources, the total scale score was used to index the adequacy of family resources, one or more personal, family, or child well-being measures was used to assess psychological functioning, and the correlations between the adequacy of family resources and well-being were reported. Forty-four research reports met the inclusion criteria and included 50 independent samples of study participants (N = 8183). The studies were conducted between 1986 and 2019 and included ---study participants. Results showed that adequacy of family resources was positively related to all seven personal, family, and child well-being measures. These findings provide support for the contention that adequacy of family resources would be related to enhance positive and attenuated negative well-being. There were no differences in the strength of the relationships between family resources and the different dimensions of well-being and neither child risk condition nor the number of family resource scale items moderated the relationships between family resources and well-being. The results are consistent with the basictenets of different family systems models. Both the strengths and limitations of the research synthesis are described.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/jpbs.v9n1a5