Family Findings

THE MINNESOTA FAMILY STRENGTH Survey and Profile is a key component of the Minnesota Family Strength Project. Research psychologist Judy Watson Tiesel and her team employed a three-part research program to reveal the complex world of family life:

A randomized statewide telephone survey of 1000 Minnesota adults.
A 200-question in-person written survey of 850 Twin Cities metropolitan area adults and adolescents from 405 families, which purposely over-sampled families of color, "multi-problem" families, and families of different structures.
A dozen interactive group meetings, each composed of about 12 men, women and teens from five Twin Cities ethnic communities: African-American, American Indian, Chicano/Latino, Somali, and Vietnamese.

Using this combination of traditional research methods and innovative community-based information-gathering techniques, Tiesel's team collected data from roughly 2000 Minnesotans. Analysis of the data continues, but results have been called both startling and reassuring. (For more about the survey results, see the November 1997 issue of Minnesota Monthly magazine which contains the Minnesota Family Strength Project special section; ordering information is provided on the project homepage.)

Whet your appetite for family information with the briefing below and test your own family's strengths with a quick quiz. The official press release announcing findings is also available here.

Family Findings Briefing

Wives and husbands, and adult partners, did not have significantly different perceptions of family satisfaction, family strength, or satisfaction with spouse/partner.

Asked to name family members in any way they wanted, respondents listed pets as often as friends.

The best indicators of strong families:

Communication among family members

Spending time together

Satisfaction with family

Very good physical health

Strong family origin

Very religious or spiritual

Satisfaction with spouse

Intact marriage

Broad definition of family

When data is broken down by family structure, differences in family strength are revealed. Here are family structures listed strongest to weakest (Note that the sample size of some family types was too small for these findings to be accurately projected across the entire population. Still, the data points to areas for further research):

Gay/lesbian families without children

Traditional families (two heterosexuals with children at home)

Gay/lesbians with children

Multigenerational families

Single-parent families

Single-person families

Stepfamilies

Co-habiting families without children

Co-habiting families with children

The most frequent stressors were the most mundane, including:

Lack of time to relax and unwind

Household tasks that were undone

Arguments between parents and children

Children didn't complete chores

Adolescents saw their families as less strong than their parents did.
Families with children in the household were physically healthier, more satisfied with their family, more spiritual and religious, and gave their families stronger ratings than did families without children present.

Press Release
Family Strength Quiz
Minnesota Family Project