Carolyn S. Henry

Family System Characteristics, Parental Behaviors, and Adolescent Family Life Satisfaction.

FAMILY SYSTEM CHARACTERISTICS, PARENTAL BEHAVIORS AND ADOLESCENT FAMILY LIFE SATISFACTION* Carolyn S. Henry** By the time families reach the adolescent phase of the family life cycle, they typically have faced a variety of predictable and unpredictable stressor events that required some adaptation of the family system (McCubbin & McCubbin, 1989). Common stressors for families with adolescents include maintaining a balance between separation and connectedness for adolescents (Cooper, Grotevant, & Condon, 1984; Youniss & Smollar, 1985), the reexamination of parental career and marital issues (Fischer & Standridge-Brown, 1989), and caring for aging grandparents (Carter & McGoldrick, 1988). Beyond these normative stressors, families may face unpredictable stress, such as the illness of a family member or a financial crisis (Figley, 1983). According to family stress theory, when stressors occur, their impact on families and family members varies according to the circumstances and perceptions of the situation (Hill, 1949). Further, the resources of families serve as critical factors related to the adaptation of families and their members (Hill, 1949). Family resources encompass a wide array of social and psychological assets that hold the potential to buffer the difficulties arising from stressors and include the psychological strengths of individual family members, social support systems, and interactions among family members (McCubbin & McCubbin, 1989). After family attempts to resolve difficulties emerging from stressors, the level of family adaptation can be examined by considering the well-being of either the overall family system or individual family members, including adolescents (McCubbin & Patterson, 1983). Previous scholarship regarding the relationship between internal family resources and adolescent adaptation is limited by the tendency to focus upon either overall family system characteristics (e.g., bonding, flexibility, patterns of stability) or parenting behaviors (e.g., support, control) that occur in the context of parent-adolescent dyads, or subsystems. Although theorists and clinicians often emphasize the importance of both overall family system characteristics and parent-adolescent subsystems to adolescent adaptation, empirical investigations using systems approaches (including family stress theory) tend to focus upon qualities of the overall family system, with little consideration of parent-adolescent subsystems. In contrast, other research on adolescent well-being focuses upon parenting behaviors that occur in specific parent-adolescent dyads, with minimal consideration of the overall family system (for a review, see Peterson & Leigh, 1990). More comprehensive models are needed to explore how family resources within both the overall family system and parent-adolescent dyads relate to adolescent adaptation (Hauser et al., 1991; Peterson & Hann, in press). Using such models, interventions can be developed and utilized that seek to enhance adolescent well-being through strengthening family resources within the overall family system and parent-adolescent subsystems. Based upon these ideas, the purpose of this study was to examine demographic variables, overall family system characteristics, and parenting behaviors as predictors of adolescent family life satisfaction, a form of adolescent adaptation. ADOLESCENT FAMILY LIFE SATISFACTION Previous research documents the importance of satisfaction with aspects of family life (i.e., marital satisfaction, Glenn, 1990; parental satisfaction, Goetting, 1986; and overall family life satisfaction, Olson et al., 1983) as indicators of quality of life (Olson et al., 1983) and adaptation (McCubbin, Thompson, Pirner, & McCubbin, 1988). Although investigations of family life satisfaction typically focus on adults, a few studies have examined adolescent family life satisfaction. Adolescent family life satisfaction is defined as the extent to which adolescents perceive their families in a positive manner (Henry, Ostrander, & Lovelace, 1992). …

Family Resources and Adolescent Family Life Satisfaction in Remarried Family Households

The purpose of this study was to examine how selected family resources (flexibility, bonding, regularity in household time and routines, regularity in the observance of celebrations, parent-adolescent communication, stepparent-adolescent communication) and demographic variables (age, stepfather vs. stepmother family, time in the remarried family, gender, stepparental educational level, parental educational level, parental occupational level, and stepparental occupational level) related to adolescent family life satisfaction in remarried family households. Self-report questionnaire data were collected from 95 high school students who lived in remarried families. Results of multiple regression analysis showed that flexibility, regularity in household time and routines, and effectiveness in parent-communication were significantly related to overall adolescent satisfaction in remarried family households. Flexibility and effectiveness in stepparent-adolescent communication were significantly related to adolescent satisfaction with the parent-stepparent system.

Parental Power Bases and Processes as Predictors of Adolescent Conformity

The purpose of this study was to examine how dimensions of parental power bases and processes predicted adolescent conformity to parental expectations. Questionnaire data were collected from a stratified random sample of 368 adolescents. Multiple regression was the statistical test used to analyze the data. Results from this study indicated that several dimensions of parental power bases and processes were significant predictors of adolescent coniformity. In addition, female adolescents demonstrated greater conformity than male adolescents. A major conclusion drawn from these findings was that social power theory provides a solid theoreticalfoundation for examining parental qualities as predictors of adolescent conformity.

Gender Differences in Adolescent Perceptions of Parent-Adolescent Openness in Communication and Adolescent Empathy

Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine how the relationship between adolescent perceptions of openness in parent-adolescent communication and adolescent empathy may differ by gender of the respondent. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to test the possibility of an interaction between adolescent gender and parent communication in predicting two other-oriented dimensions of empathy (empathic concern and perspective taking) in 236 adolescents ages 14 tol6. Gender of the adolescent, openness in mother-adolescent communication, and openness in father-adolescent communication were significant predictors of adolescent empathic concern. Gender also moderated the relationship between openness in mother-adolescent communication and empathic concern. Further, openness in mother-adolescent communication was a significant predictor of adolescent perspective taking.

Adolescent Perceptions of Their Family System, Parents' Behavior, Self-Esteem, and Family Life Satisfaction in Relation to Their Substance Use.

ABSTRACT A path model was utilized to determine the relationship of demographic, family system, adolescent perceptions of parental behavior, and youth characteristics to adolescent substance abuse. Self-report questionnaire data were collected from 214 high school students at two high schools in a southwestern state. Results showed direct positive relationships of adolescent reports of parental substance use and adolescent reports of parental support with adolescent reports of substance use. Indirect relationships were found for school, gender of the adolescent, family hardiness, family coherence and parental substance use to perceived parental support to adolescent substance use. Implications are presented for prevention and intervention at multiple levels of the family system in relation to adolescent substance use.

Immediate and Long-Term Effectiveness of Disciplinary Tactics by Type of Toddler Noncompliance

SYNOPSIS Objective. To clarify when the disciplinary recommendations of positive parenting and behavioral parent training apply, this study investigated how the effectiveness of seven disciplinary tactics varies by type of toddler noncompliance, using methods to improve the validity of causal inferences. Design. Multilevel modeling and hierarchical longitudinal regression are used to test immediate and long-term effectiveness of disciplinary tactics in a convenience sample of 102 mother–toddler pairs, using coded information from detailed descriptions of a sample of five discipline episodes along with survey measures. Results. Offering alternatives is the most effective disciplinary tactic for reducing noncompliance severity immediately regardless of the type of noncompliance. Reasoning is the second best tactic for immediately reducing noncompliance severity when responding to parent-oriented noncompliance (negotiating and whining), whereas power assertive and punishment tactics are least effective, but the immediate effectiveness of those tactics reverses when responding to parent-opposing noncompliance (defiance and hitting). Long-term outcomes also differ for toddlers whose predominant noncompliance is parent-oriented or parent-opposing. For parent-oriented toddlers, frequently offering alternatives leads to reduced externalizing problems, whereas punishments increase their behavior problems. For oppositional toddlers, offering alternatives too frequently increases externalizing problems, whereas moderate use of punishments (<16% of the time) decreases total behavior problems. Frequent reasoning also reduces subsequent externalizing problems for oppositional toddlers, despite being the least effective disciplinary response for de-escalating parent-opposing noncompliance immediately. Conclusions. Parenting advice should move beyond universal disciplinary recommendations to help parents match their disciplinary tactics to their child’s type of noncompliance.

Family Resilience and Caregiving

We apply a modification of the Family Resilience Model to explain variation in how families adapt to caregiving for adult members. Caregiving is a family risk involving both the ongoing demands of providing care and specific stressors that increase the potential for negative outcomes. Family protection, vulnerability, and adaptation occur through family adaptive systems that develop and regulate day-to-day family interaction patterns. Family resilience in caregiving involves an interface with proximal ecosystems (e.g., local health and social services) within the distal ecosystems (e.g., culture, healthcare and social service systems; policies regulating approaches and resources available to support care). Throughout the chapter and in a case study, we show how families engaged in caregiving for a member with dementia can show positive adaptation in individual family members, family subsystems, overall family systems, and family-proximal ecosystem fit.

Empowerment and Resilience in Families of Adults With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Using the family resilience model, we examined the association between empowerment, family member age, length of institutionalization, and resilience among family members of relatives with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) following deinstitutionalization. Participants included 56 family members whose relatives with IDD recently transitioned to community living. Results strongly indicate empowerment plays a key role in positive family adaptation. Thus, following a relatives move from an institution to the community, empowerment is a promising form of protection that holds potential to increase family resilience. The results of the current study support the family resilience model as a foundation for future research regarding how families navigate significant transitions throughout the lifespan. Implications for practice and policy are provided.

Parent and Stepparent Support and Psychological Control in Remarried Families and Adolescent Empathic Concern

Abstract Using a symbolic interaction perspective, this study examined the extent to which (a) perceptions of parent/stepparent support were positively related to adolescent empathic concern and (b) perceptions of parent/stepparent psychological control mediated this relationship. Participants were a convenience sample of 72 ninth and tenth grade adolescents residing in remarried family households who completed self-report questionnaires. Results showed that adolescent girls in remarried family households who perceived their residential parent as more supportive reported greater empathic concern and that the relationship was mediated by perceptions of parent psychological control.