Characteristics of Adolescents’ Family Environment: The Case of Selected Secondary Schools in Addis Ababa

Family Environment (FE) contributes to a plethora of positive and negative outcomesin its members. Nonetheless, little is known about the characteristics of the FE as perceivedby adolescents in the Ethiopian context. Aiming at examining characteristics of FEs, this studywas conducted on 477 Ethiopian adolescents (214 males and 255 females, with 8 missingcases) attending two government schools and one private secondary school in Addis AbabaCity. Data were gathered using Family Environment Scale (FES) and demographic items.Descriptive statistics, one-variable chi-square test, independent samples t-test and One-WayANOVA were used to analyze the data. Conflict, Achievement Orientation and Control werefound to be the salient features that characterize a relatively greater number of theadolescents’ families, with a less balanced overall quality of the FE. Moreover, familystructure, fathers’ and mothers’ educational levels and family income were found to contributeto variations in the adolescents’ FEs. Implications of these findings are discussed.