This study examined the interdependence between the spousal relationship and the triadic parent-adolescent system. The purpose of the study was to examine the degree to which affect regulation in the family as a whole would be linked to a particular quality of the marital relationships-individuation. Affect regulation was defined as the ability to maintain constructive engagement with others in the face of negative affect, as well as the ability to express positive emotions that have the potential to enhance social interaction and social competence. Data collected for the study involved both parents and early adolescents (N = 31 intact, Caucasian families) completing afamily interaction task. The Individuation Code was used to determine individuation within the marital system and the Family Rating Scales were used to measure affect regulation within the parent-adolescent triad. Results of log linear analyses found evidence of a link between qualities of the spousal relationship and family affective process. Individuated marital systems were associated with more positive affective tone, better conflict resolution, greater optimization of individual development within family relationships, and lower hostility-cynicism. Results suggest that some organizational structures of relational styles may provide a more optimalfit for the developmental needs of early adolescents within the European-American cultural context.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Bell, D. C.
, & Bell, L. G. (1983). Parental validation and support in the development of adolescent daughters. In H. D. Grolevant & C. R. Cooper (Eds.), Adolescent development in thefamily: New directions in child development (pp. 27-41). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
2.
Bowen, M.
(1978). Family therapy in clinical practice. New York: Jason Aronson.
3.
Collins, W. A.
(1990). Parent-child relationships in the transition to adolescence: Continuity and change in interaction, affect, and cognition. In R. Montemayor, G. R. Adams, & T. P. Gulotta (Eds.), From childhood to adolescence: A transition period? Advances in adolescent development (Vol. 2, pp. 85-106). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
4.
Condon, S. M.
, Cooper, C. R., & Grotevant, H. D. (1984). A manual for the analysis of family discourse. Psychological Documents, 14, 1-17.
5.
Cooper, C. R.
, Baker, H., Polichar, D., & Welsh, M. (in press). Ethnic perspectives on values and communication among adolescents and their families and peers. New Directions in Child Development.
6.
Cooper, C. R.
, & Carlson, C. I. (1989). Family process antecedents of children's competence and vulnerability in the school context. Final report for the Spencer Foundation, Austin, TX.
7.
Cooper, C. R.
, Grotevant, H. D., & Condon, S. (1983). Individuality and connectedness in the family as a context for adolescent identity formation and role-taking skill. In H. D. Grotevant & C. R. Cooper (Eds.), Adolescent development in the family (pp. 43-60). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
8.
Cooper, C. R.
, Grotevant, H. D., Moore, M. S., & Condon, S. M. (1984). Predicting adolescent role taking and identity exploration ifrom family communication patterns: A comparison of one and two-child families. In T. F,albo (Ed.), The single childfamily (pp. 117-142). New York: Guilford.
9.
Doane, J. A.
, West, K. L., Goldstein, M. J., Rodnick, E. H., & Jones, J. E. (1981). Parental affective style and communication deviance as predictors of subsequent schizophrenic spectrum disorders in vulnerable adolescents. Archives of General Psychiatry, 38, 679-685.
10.
Easterbrooks, M. A.
, & Emde, R. N. (1988). Marital and parent-child relationships: The role of affect in the family system. In R. Hinde & J. Stevenson-Hinde (Eds.), Relationships within families: Mutual influences (pp. 83-103). Oxford: Clarendon.
11.
Emery, R. E.
(1982). Interparental conflict and the children of discord and divorce. Psychological Bulletin, 92(2), 310-330.
12.
Fleeson, J. (1988). Assessment ofparent-adolescent relationships: Implicationsfor adolescent development. Doctoral dissertation, lJniversity of Minnesota.
13.
Fleeson, J. W.
(1991). Assessment of parent-adolescent relationships: Implications for adolescent development. Journal of Family Psychology, 5(1), 21-45.
14.
Grotevant, H. D.
, & Cooper, C. R. (1985). Patterns of interaction in family relationships and the development of identity exploration in adolescence. Child Development, 56, 415-428.
15.
Grotevant, H. D.
, & Cooper, C. R. (1986). Individuation in family relationships: A perspective on individual differences in the development of identity and role-taking skill in adolescence. Human Development, 29, 82-100.
16.
Gurman, A. S.
, & Kniskern, D. P. (1981). Family therapy outcome research: Knowns and unknowns. In A. S. Gurman & D. P. Kniskem (Eds.), Handbook offamily therapy (pp. 742-776). New York: Brunner/Mazel.
17.
Haley, J.
(1987). Problem-solving therapy (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
18.
Hartmann, D P.
(1982). Assessing the dependability of observational data. In D. P. Hartmann (Ed.), Using observers to study behavior. New Directions for Methodology of Social and Behavioral Science (No. 14, pp. 51-66). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
19.
Hays, W. B.
(1990). Program designed for the analysis of qualitative data. Department of Educational Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas.
20.
Keating, D. P.
(1990). Adolescent thinking. In S. Feldman & G. R. Elliott (Eds.), At the threshold: The developing adolescent (pp. 54-90). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
21.
Klein, D. M.
, & Hill, R. (1979). Determinants of family problem solving effectiveness. In W. R. Burr, R. Hill, F. I. Nye, & I. L. Reise (Eds.), Contemporary series about thefamily (Vol. 1). New York: Free Press.
22.
Martin, B.
(1987). Developmental perspectives on family theory and psychopathology. In T. Jacob (Ed.), Family interaction and psychopathology: Theories, methods, andfindings (pp. 163-202). New York: Plenum.
23.
Minuchin, P.
(1988). Relationships within the family: A systems perspective on development. In R. Hinde & J. Stevenson-Hinde (Eds.), Relationships within families: Mutual influences (pp. 7-26). Oxford: Clarendon.
24.
Minuchin, S.
(1974). Families andfamily therapy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
25.
Montemayor, R.
(1983). Parents and adolescents in conflict: All families some of the time and some families most of the time. Journal of Early Adolescence, 3, 83-103.
26.
Montemayor, R.
, & Flannery, D. (1990). Making the transition from childhood to early adolescence: A transitional period? (pp. 291-301). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
27.
Mueller, C.
, & Parcel, T. (1981). Measures of socioeconomic status: Alternatives and recommendations. Child Development, 52, 13-20.
28.
Offer, D.
(1969). The psychological world of the teenager: A study of normal adolescent boys. New York: Basic Books.
29.
Parke, R. D.
, & Ladd, G. W. (1992). Family-peer relationships: Modes of linkages. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
30.
Patterson, G. R.
(1982). Coercive family processes. Eugene, OR: Castalia.
31.
Pederson, F. A.
(1982). Mother, father and infant as an interactive system. In J. Belsky (Ed.), In the beginning: Readings on infancy (pp. 343-357). New York: Columbia University Press.
32.
Powers, S. I.
, Hauser, S. T., Schwartz, J. M., Noam, G. G., & Jacobson, A. M. (1983). Adolescent ego development and family interaction: A structural-developmental perspective. In H. Grotevant & C. Cooper (Eds.), Adolescent development in the family (pp. 5-26). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
33.
Riskin, J.
, & Faunce, E. (1972). An evaluative review of family interaction research. Family Process, 11, 365-455.
34.
Sameroff, A. J.
(1989). Principles of development and psychopathology. In A. J. Sameroff & R. N. Emde (Eds.), Relationship disturbances in early childhood (pp. 17-32). New York: Basic Books.
35.
Sroufe, L.
, & Fleeson, J. (1988). The coherence of family relationships. In R. Hinde & J. Stevenson- Hinde (Eds.), Relationships withinfamilies: Mutual influences (pp. 27-47). Oxford: Cambridge.
36.
Sroufe, L. A.
(1989). Relationships and relationship disturbances. In A. J. Sameroff & R. N. Emde (Eds.), Relationship disturbances in early childhood (pp. 17-32). New York: Basic Books.
37.
Sroufe, L. A.
, Schork, E., Motti, F., Lawroski, N., & LaFreniere, P. (1984). The role of affect in social competence. In C. Izard, J. Kagan, & R. Zajonc (Eds.), Emotions, cognition, & behavior (pp. 289-319). New York: Cambridge University Press.
38.
Steinberg, L.
(1987). Impact of puberty on family relations: Effects of pubertal status and pubertal timing. Developmental Psychology, 23, 451-460.
39.
Steinberg, L.
(1988). Reciprocal relations between parent-child distance and pubertal maturation. Developmental Psychology, 24, 122-128.
40.
Steinberg, L.
(1990). Autonomy, conflict, and harmony in the family. In S. Feldman & G. R. Elliott (Eds.), At the threshold: The developing adolescent (pp. 255-257). Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
41.
St. John, L.
, Cooper, C., Koch, P., & Carlson, C. I. (1993, March). Alliance patterns among early adolescents and their parents. Paper presented at meetings of the Society for Research in Child Development, New Orleans.
42.
Wickens, T.
(1988). Multiway contingency tables analysisfor the social sciences. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
