Family Relationships

1
Family Relationships

• Family Systems approach
• Dyadic, triadic, quadradic relationships, all
  influencing each other
• Change causes disequilibrium
• Adolescence a time of normal disequilibrium
• Less closeness with parents, esp. mom

2
Parents at midlife

• Midlife is generally a happy and positive stage
  of life often much stress with teens, though
• Once children leave home, generally parents
  happiness improves

3
Sibling relationships

• Types caregiver, buddy, criticism, rival, casual
• traditional cultures caregiver type most
  common
• U.S. - Typically more conflict between sibs than
  other dyads level of closeness reported as
  fairly low
• Traditional cultures conflict low established
  status differences
• Typically very important relationships, and
  source of emotional support

4
Extended family

• Traditional cultures males remain in home,
  females move out into home of husband
• Traditional cultures live with extended family
  in same home
• Closeness to grandparents facilitated by the fact
  that they are not the childs disciplinarian
• More important in lives of American minority
  groups

5
Parenting Styles

• Diana Baumrind
• Demandingness, responsiveness
• Authoritative, Authoritarian, Indulgent,
  Indifferent
• Class origins middle class promotes autonomy,
  working class promotes obedience

4,000 U.S. adolescents age 14-18
6

• Outcomes
• Authoritarian too much control, little warmth -
  dictator approach you must obey me!
• low grades, self-esteem, social skills,
  dependent, passive, conforming
• Indulgent caring but too permissive
• low grades, impulse-control, irresponsible,
  conforming, immature
• Indifferent little care and control
• low self-esteem, impulse-control, impulsive,
  delinquent, early sex, drugs
• Authoritative teaches self-control through
  positive discipline and provides much warmth
• high grades, self-reliance, control, social
  skills, independent, creative, self-confident,
  socially skilled

7
Parenting effects contd

• Probably follows style used in childhood
• Parents are not exactly the same
• Inconsistency between parents predicts poorer
  outcomes in teens
• Reciprocal or bidirectional effects
• Authoritative parenting rare outside the U.S.
• Respect, power, go with age and generational
  status in most of the world (this is why many
  cultures have difficulty with the exportation of
  our culture through TV throughout the world)
• Baumrind now calls the typical non-western
  parenting style traditional parenting high
  demandingness (obedience), high responsiveness
• India emphasis on self-sacrifice little
  discussion of rules (would be an affront to
  parental authority contrast with Bend it Like
  Beckam)

8
Parenting Styles

• Diana Baumrind

9
Attachment to parents

• Bowlby, Ainsworth
• Secure, insecure
• Internal working model - Secure base
• S.A. in adolescence associated with secure
  relationships with peers and others, autonomy,
  lower rates of depression,

10
Parent-adolescent conflict

• Lots of disagreements over trivial things
• Mostly tied to parents letting go or having
  difficulty with this
• U.S. teens gain power in family hierarchy
• More conflict in early adolescence, and among
  early maturing adolescents
• Conflict over responsibility for decisions
• Biologically, late adolescents are meant to be
  out on their own, making their own decisions

11

• Non-western cultures ties to family are more
  likely economic, promoting interdependence petty
  conflicts more rare than in U.S.
• Collectivistic ethnotheory
• Rise of divorce rate, single-parent families,
  dual-worker families

12
Emerging adults relationships with parents

• Leaving home in U.S. usually improves
  relationships
• Remaining in the home in Europe usually results
  in good relationships

13
Family Disruption

• Divorce, remarriage, etc
• Children of divorced parents more likely to
  experience problems
• Related to trust, internal working model
• Exposure to family conflict
• Divorce during early adolescence
• Divorce affects quality of parenting
• Affects parents directly
• Burden usually falls on mother
• Remarriage usually not better more problems

14
Physical and Sexual abuse

• Majority who abuse were abused
• But majority who were abused dont abuse their
  own children
• Abusers more likely to experience parental
  conflict, harsh discipline, or loss of parent
• Best predictors of abuse are parental stress and
  poverty, psychological problems, and substance
  abuse
• Boys physically abused, girlssexually abused
• More likely by stepfathers
• Physical abuse leads to aggression, antisocial
  behavior, substance abuse, depression, academic
  problems
• Sexual abuse difficulty trusting others,
  impulsive sexuality, depression, anxiety, social
  withdrawal, substance abuse