The relationship among individual factors of wellness, family environment, and delinquency in adolescent females

Adolescent delinquency is a growing problem in the United States, especially among females. Studies in multiple disciplines have uncovered numerous factors associated with adolescent delinquency that can be generalized into two primary categories that are moderated by gender, those linked to family environment and those related to individual well-being or development, functioning, and wellness. Results from numerous studies indicate that adolescents from supportive, involved families do not engage in delinquent behavior as often as do adolescents from family environments with high amounts of stress, minimal support, and abuse; however, data from additional research shows that some adolescents become well adjusted adults and display psychological hardiness in spite of negative family environments. Therefore, due to the equivocal nature of research on the effects of family environment upon adolescent well-being and wellness, further research is needed to understand the relationship between adolescent wellness and family environments.; This study was designed to examine the relationships among wellness, family environment, and delinquency in adolescent females. Two hypotheses were tested: (1) there will be a statistically significant difference between delinquent and nondelinquent females in levels of wellness; (2) there will be a statistically significant difference between delinquent and nondelinquent females in family environment. A convenience sample of college females, enrolled at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University completed three instruments, [the Family Environment Scale, the Wellness Evaluation of Lifestyle, and the Mak Delinquency Scale], and a demographic questionnaire. Hypotheses were tested by computing t-tests for total wellness and family environment scores as well as for individual factors of wellness and family environment, creating profiles of means, and performing multivariate analyses of variance. The statistical analyses showed no significant differences between delinquent and nondelinquent females in the areas of wellness and family environment. Post-hoc analyses supported the findings of the hypotheses testing.; Results were summarized, potential limitations to the study were addressed, and implications for counseling practice, counselor education and training, and future research were provided. Implications for counseling practice include the need for counselors to assess the meaning and influence of wellness, family environment, and delinquency when working with adolescent girls and to be proactive in educating others about types of female delinquency. Implications for counselor education and training include imparting to clinicians a working understanding of the equivocal nature of wellness and family environment in relation to female delinquency, and developing training opportunities for clinicians to learn how to comprehensively assess the influence of wellness and family environment factors when working with adolescent girls and their families. Research implications include a need for further qualitative research, including single case studies, to better understand the relationship among wellness, family environment, and delinquency in adolescent females. There is a need for further research to continue the study of relationships among wellness, family environment, and delinquency in adolescent females, initially presented in this study.