Differences in family of origin functioning among graduate students of different disciplines

Compared the degree of dysfunction in the family of origin of psychology graduate students to that of graduate students in the disciplines of business, education, engineering, and health sciences. Students were accessed through University of Alaska Anchorage graduate departments. Family background was assessed with the Index of Family Relations (IFR; Hudson, 1990a), the Self-Report Family Inventory (SFI; Beavers, Hampson, & Hulgus, 1990), and relevant demographics obtained from a biographical questionnaire. Results indicated significant differences among the student groups; psychology graduate students demonstrated higher degrees of family dysfunction than students in other disciplines. Implications of these findings for psychology graduate training programs are discussed.