Variation in emerging adult sibling relationship quality and communication, and the role this plays in student mental health.

一项关于兄弟姐妹关系质量和沟通（在线和离线）的研究，以及在向大学过渡期间，这如何帮助或阻碍学生的心理健康。在我的哲学硕士年，我将进行一组焦点小组（与学生的访谈），以及一些次要的数据分析，以解开影响学生心理健康的主要因素和家庭（特别是兄弟姐妹）的作用，并与家人沟通（特别是通过社交媒体）在这个过渡期。我的三年博士学位将由三项研究组成。研究一（我博士学位的第3-9个月）将招募200名18-25奥尔兹，他们的兄弟姐妹年龄差距最大为4岁。本研究采准实验设计，将样本分为四组：与兄弟姊妹分开居住的大学生、与兄弟姊妹同住的大学生、与兄弟姊妹分开居住的在职大学生及与兄弟姊妹同住的在职大学生。研究一将比较这四组关于兄弟姐妹关系质量的平均评分（由关系网络量表测量），幸福感（由一般健康问卷测量）和社交媒体使用（由社交媒体整合量表测量）。我还将研究这三个结构之间的关联。研究二（我博士学位的第10-18个月）将招募第二个社会多元化样本，以测试上述发现的普遍性，并完善研究一的测量方法。世界卫生组织的家庭富裕量表，社会地位阶梯和邮政编码数据将被用作不利因素的指数，以便我们调查研究1的结果在应用于来自社会弱势背景的学生时的普遍性。研究3将在我博士学位的8-25个月内进行，并且包括在初始招募后+5和+10个月的时间点从两个样本收集随访数据。收集后续数据将使我能够测试兄弟姐妹关系质量，幸福感和社交媒体使用的个体差异的稳定性，以及调查这些变量之间的纵向关联。我还将使用这些纵向数据来研究社会劣势的调节作用。

A study of sibling relationship quality and communication (both on and offline) and how this acts to help or hinder students, in terms of their mental health, during the transition to university. During my MPhil year, I will conduct a set of focus groups (interviews with students), as well as some secondary data analysis, in order to unpick the main factors affecting student mental health and the role of family (particularly siblings) and communication with family (particularly via social media) during this transition. My 3 year PhD will then be made up of three studies. Study one (months 3-9 of my PhD) will recruit 200 18-25 year olds who have a sibling with an age gap of up to four years. Using quasi-experimental design, this sample will be divided into four groups: university students who are living apart from their sibling; university students who are co-resident with their sibling; those in employment who are living apart from their sibling; and those in employment who are co-resident with their sibling. Study one will compare these four groups with regards to mean ratings for sibling relationship quality (as measured by the Networks of Relationships Inventory), wellbeing (as measured by the General Health Questionnaire) and social media use (as measured by the Social Media Integration Scale). I will also look at associations between these three constructs. Study two (months 10-18 of my PhD) will recruit a second, socially diverse sample in order to test the generalisability of the above findings and refine the measures from study one. The WHO family affluence scale, ladder of social standing and post code data will be used as an index of disadvantage, in order for us to investigate the generalisability of the findings of study 1 when applied to students from more socially disadvantaged backgrounds.Study three will be on-going through months 8-25 of my PhD, and involves collecting follow-up data from both samples at the +5 and +10 month point after initial recruitment. Collecting follow-up data will allow me to test for stability of individual differences in sibling relationship quality, well-being and social media use, as well as investigating longitudinal associations between these variables. I will also use this longitudinal data to look at the moderating effects of social disadvantage.