Child Influences on Marital and Family Interaction

Child Influences on Marital and Family Interaction: A Life-Span Perspective book grew out of a conference sponsored by the Division of Individual and Family Studies in the College of Human Development at the Pennsylvania State University in April, 1977. The chapters for this volume are revised versions of the papers originally presented at the conference.
The book explores the conceptual, methodological, and empirical issues in the study of the child and his or her family. It details how the age-normative and atypical development of the child contributes to the parents' marital quality and to the entire family's interaction patterns across the life-span of both the child and parents. Consequently, the child is seen as capable of contributing to marriage and family relationships not only when he or she is in utero, a neonate, or an infant, but also when the child reaches middle and late childhood, adolescence, and the adulthood and aged years as well.

Contenu

List of Contributors
Preface
1 A Dynamic Interactional View of Child and Family Development
I. Introduction: The Need to Consider Individual-Social Interfaces
II. A Life-Span View of Human Development and Social Interaction
III. Dynamic Interactions of Development
IV. Methodological and Research Implications of Child-Family Interactions
V. The Plan of This Book
References
2 Perspectives on Child and Family Interaction: Past, Present, and Future
I. Introduction
II. The Past
III. The Present
IV. The Future
References
3 The Child's Social World
I. Introduction
II. Nature and Function of Social Objects
III. Process of Effect
IV. Conclusions
References
4 The Developing Child and Marital Satisfaction of Parents
I. Introduction
II. Empirical Evidence of the Impact of Children on Marital Satisfaction
III. A Theory of Family Career Transitions and Marital Satisfaction
References
5 Research Methods and Developmental Reciprocity in Families
I. Introduction
II. Reciprocity and Developmental Analysis
III. Data Collection Parameters and Profiles
IV. Taking Stock of the Developmental Study of Family Reciprocity
V. Conclusion
References
6 Influence of the Child on Marital Quality and Family Interaction during the Prenatal, Perinatal, and Infancy Periods
I. Introduction
II. The Prenatal Period
III. The Perinatal Period
IV. The Infancy Period
V. Children's Contribution to Their Own Abuse
VI. Conclusion
References
7 Influences of Children on Marital Interaction and Parental Satisfactions and Dissatisfactions
I. Introduction
II. Children and Traditionalism
III. The Marital Relationship
IV. Satisfactions and Dissatisfactions of Parenthood
V. Conclusions
References
8 Youth and Their Parents: Feedback and Intergenerational Influence in Socialization
I. Introduction
II. Transmission: Intergenerational Contrast and Similarity
III. Feelings: Solidarity, Affect, and Attachment
IV. Generation Processes: Societal and Individual
V. Feedback: A Model of Reciprocal Effects Between Generations
VI. Conclusion
References
9 Parent and Child in Later Life: Rethinking the Relationship
I. Introduction
II. Characteristics of Intergenerational Relationships in Later Life
III. Age and Cohort Differences
IV. Factors Tending to Attenuate Intergenerational Bonds
V. Factors Tending to Preserve and Prolong the Intergenerational Bond
VI. Consequences, Issues, and Trends
VII. Conclusion
References
10 The Influence of Children's Developmental Dysfunctions on Marital Quality and Family Interaction
I. Introduction
II. Parental Reactions to the Recognition of Their Child as Handicapped
III. Parental Attachment and Parental Roles
IV. The Childhood Years
V. The Adolescent and Adult Years
VI. Parental Personalities and Marital Integration
VII. The Handicapped Person's Siblings and Family
VIII. The Extended Family
IX. Conclusion
References
11 The Impact of Children's Physical Handicaps on Marital Quality and Family Interaction
I. Introduction
II. The Rubella Birth Defect Evaluation Project
III. Characteristics of the Sample
IV. Procedure for Collecting Data
V. Impact of the Child on Marital Quality and Family Interaction
VI. Characteristics of Handicapped Children and Their Parents in Families with Marital Discord and Family Disruptions
VII. Sociofamilial Attributes: Demographic and Attitudinal
VIII. Demographic and Physical Attributes of the Handicapped Child
IX. Psychological-Behavioral Attributes of the Child
X. Conclusions
References
12 The Study of Child-Family Interactions: a Perspective for the Future
I. Introduction
II. A Synthesis of Perspectives
III. Child-Family Interactions and Life-Span Research
IV. Issues in Marital Quality and Family Interaction
V. Conclusions
References
Index