Lecture 8: Family relations and autonomy
Central questions:
Family relationships -> parent-adolescent relationships.
1. How and why do (dynamics of) parent-adolescent relationships
change during adolescence?
2. How are adolescents affected by (changing) experiences in the
parent-adolescent relationship, and vice versa?
The family/parent-adolescent relationships
What is a family:
- Can think very small, so in terms of parents and one or more
children (nuclear family).
- But can also think broader, so also including uncles/aunts, cousins,
grandparents.
Dictionary definition: married couple, 2-parent with biological offspring. Is
a very outdated definition.
The answer on what is a family depends on the time and culture.
In all societies, the family fulfills similar functions:
- Socialization: children grow up in a family, they learn how to be
appropriate social adult beings. Has to do with raising kids.
- Enduring source of support (practical/economical/emotional/social).
The family is there for you throughout your life.
- Social embedding: continuity of relationships across the life course.
the family system theory = an organized whole, consisting of interrelated
parts that influence each other.
- System = set(s) of elements standing in interrelation among
themselves and with the environment.
o Interrelation: not A affects B, but A & B affect each other. We
focus on bidirectional/reciprocal/transactional effects.
- The system is also changing, self-organizing, and adapting to
(changes in) its members and the outside environment. If anything
happens within the system (with parent or child etc.), they should
adapt to these changes.
o System is flexible but strives for stability (=equilibrium).
- Family = cohesive emotional unit (emotional bond between family
members).
Key principles in the family systems theory:
- Holism:
o To understand the family, not enough to look at members
separately. What is going on inside the family and how does
this affect the members. Have to take different systems in
account.
, o Roles (e.g., caretaker). Members are expected to have a
certain role in the system.
Growing up with depressed mother:
When I think back to my mother when I was a
child, I don’t have a single memory of her smiling.
She suffered from chronic, lifelong depression and
it affected me and my four siblings every day.
We quickly learned that we couldn’t depend on her
for emotional or physical support. At age 7, I
became my family’s caretaker. I would make my
mother toast and coffee each morning. Then, I’d
make lunches for my siblings, iron their shirts, and
made sure their homework was complete...
When there is a part of the system (in here, the
mother) struggling with depression, this affects the
entire system. Role of caretaker is for someone
else, happens automatically. So, system is
adapting to changes.
- Hierarchy/structure:
o Family is organized into subsystems.
o By gender or generation.
Individual level.
Dyadic level: marital relationship between parents. They
have different parent-child relationship and sibling
relationship.
Triadic level: children with parents.
Family level/whole.
- Boundaries:
o At every level (subsystems, inside/outside).
Relationship between mother and adolescent can differ
from relationship between father and adolescent.
o Permeability varies across families/time.
o Spillover (between sub-systems to other sub-systems within
the family) vs. compensation
Associations between relationships within the whole
family.
= when there are loose boundaries between
subsystems.
Study by Sherril:
Higher frequency of interparental conflict is linked
to a higher frequency of parent-adolescent conflict
within a day -> suggesting the idea of spillover.
This link was also consistent across days, so also 1
day later. It increased the odds of later conflict.
Also found a reversed effect: across days, higher
levels of parent-adolescent conflict were
associated with higher levels of interparental
conflict.
Study by Mastrotheodoros:
, Why spillover? -> affects mood of people in
system.
Higher levels of interparental conflict were
associated with higher levels of anger, both in the
mother and adolescent. This predicted higher
levels of mother-adolescent conflict.
Study by Kouros:
Is spillover
bad?
Mother- &
father-reports:
Marital quality
+ parent-
adolescent
relationship
quality:
Overall rating
of “emotional quality of your relationship with your
spouse/child”, ranging from 0 (negative) to10
(positive)”.
There was positive spillover.
This family systems theory is relevant because adolescence is considered
to be a disruption of homeostasis. There is some stability in the system,
and in adolescence a lot of things are happening, and the system needs to
adjust.
- New balance/equilibrium needs to be found to adjust to the changes.
- Process of (family) adaptation.
- meets parental midlife crisis.
, Parenting styles and adolescents
Stability across
time/development, specific behaviors change! Is adolescent specific.
Central questions:
Family relationships -> parent-adolescent relationships.
1. How and why do (dynamics of) parent-adolescent relationships
change during adolescence?
2. How are adolescents affected by (changing) experiences in the
parent-adolescent relationship, and vice versa?
The family/parent-adolescent relationships
What is a family:
- Can think very small, so in terms of parents and one or more
children (nuclear family).
- But can also think broader, so also including uncles/aunts, cousins,
grandparents.
Dictionary definition: married couple, 2-parent with biological offspring. Is
a very outdated definition.
The answer on what is a family depends on the time and culture.
In all societies, the family fulfills similar functions:
- Socialization: children grow up in a family, they learn how to be
appropriate social adult beings. Has to do with raising kids.
- Enduring source of support (practical/economical/emotional/social).
The family is there for you throughout your life.
- Social embedding: continuity of relationships across the life course.
the family system theory = an organized whole, consisting of interrelated
parts that influence each other.
- System = set(s) of elements standing in interrelation among
themselves and with the environment.
o Interrelation: not A affects B, but A & B affect each other. We
focus on bidirectional/reciprocal/transactional effects.
- The system is also changing, self-organizing, and adapting to
(changes in) its members and the outside environment. If anything
happens within the system (with parent or child etc.), they should
adapt to these changes.
o System is flexible but strives for stability (=equilibrium).
- Family = cohesive emotional unit (emotional bond between family
members).
Key principles in the family systems theory:
- Holism:
o To understand the family, not enough to look at members
separately. What is going on inside the family and how does
this affect the members. Have to take different systems in
account.
, o Roles (e.g., caretaker). Members are expected to have a
certain role in the system.
Growing up with depressed mother:
When I think back to my mother when I was a
child, I don’t have a single memory of her smiling.
She suffered from chronic, lifelong depression and
it affected me and my four siblings every day.
We quickly learned that we couldn’t depend on her
for emotional or physical support. At age 7, I
became my family’s caretaker. I would make my
mother toast and coffee each morning. Then, I’d
make lunches for my siblings, iron their shirts, and
made sure their homework was complete...
When there is a part of the system (in here, the
mother) struggling with depression, this affects the
entire system. Role of caretaker is for someone
else, happens automatically. So, system is
adapting to changes.
- Hierarchy/structure:
o Family is organized into subsystems.
o By gender or generation.
Individual level.
Dyadic level: marital relationship between parents. They
have different parent-child relationship and sibling
relationship.
Triadic level: children with parents.
Family level/whole.
- Boundaries:
o At every level (subsystems, inside/outside).
Relationship between mother and adolescent can differ
from relationship between father and adolescent.
o Permeability varies across families/time.
o Spillover (between sub-systems to other sub-systems within
the family) vs. compensation
Associations between relationships within the whole
family.
= when there are loose boundaries between
subsystems.
Study by Sherril:
Higher frequency of interparental conflict is linked
to a higher frequency of parent-adolescent conflict
within a day -> suggesting the idea of spillover.
This link was also consistent across days, so also 1
day later. It increased the odds of later conflict.
Also found a reversed effect: across days, higher
levels of parent-adolescent conflict were
associated with higher levels of interparental
conflict.
Study by Mastrotheodoros:
, Why spillover? -> affects mood of people in
system.
Higher levels of interparental conflict were
associated with higher levels of anger, both in the
mother and adolescent. This predicted higher
levels of mother-adolescent conflict.
Study by Kouros:
Is spillover
bad?
Mother- &
father-reports:
Marital quality
+ parent-
adolescent
relationship
quality:
Overall rating
of “emotional quality of your relationship with your
spouse/child”, ranging from 0 (negative) to10
(positive)”.
There was positive spillover.
This family systems theory is relevant because adolescence is considered
to be a disruption of homeostasis. There is some stability in the system,
and in adolescence a lot of things are happening, and the system needs to
adjust.
- New balance/equilibrium needs to be found to adjust to the changes.
- Process of (family) adaptation.
- meets parental midlife crisis.
, Parenting styles and adolescents
Stability across
time/development, specific behaviors change! Is adolescent specific.
