Chapter 12: The Family Flashcards
What is family structure?
the number of and relationships amongst the people living in a household
What are alterations in family structure?
- influence interactions amongst family members
- affect family routines and norms
- affect children’s emotional well-being
What are family structures like in Canada?
- more children live with single or unmarried parents
- first-time parents are older than in the past
- more children live with grandparents
- families are smaller
- family structures are more fluid
Why is it more beneficial to have older first-time parents?
- planned birth with fewer children
- more education
- higher job status
- more financial resources
- more positive parenting
What are the negative effects of children living with their grandparents?
- financial constraints for grandparents because of limited income and retirement funds
- children more likely to experience emotional and behavioural problems
Why are there smaller families now compared to before?
- women delaying pregnancies for careers
- increased access to birth control
Why has teen pregnancy dropped dramatically over the past two decades?
- better sex education
- access to birth control
- abortion
What are teen risks related to become pregnant?
- disadvantaged household
- school problems
- low expectations for college
- early first intercourse
What are the consequences of adolescent pregnancy?
- higher risk of poverty
- negative school outcomes
- less high school and/or college graduation
- less positive parenting
What is an intervention program for teen pregnancy?
teen-tot progran
How does the development of children of same-sex parents differ from children of hetero parents?
it does not differ, child adjustment depends on family dynamics and closeness of parent-child relationship
What mechanisms can divorce affect children?
- parent with whom child lives: single, time-intensive, financially constrained
- new school, neighbourhood disrupting routines and social networks
What are outcomes of divorce?
positive: less conflict, fewer emotional problems
negative: depression, delinquent behaviour
How are children’s adjustment to divorce?
- children experience sadness, depression
- boys may externalize problems
- may be a drop in academic achievement
What are the different structures of stepfamilies?
- simple: a new stepparent joins another parent and their children
- complex/blended: new stepparent and new stepsiblings
What are factors that can affect a child’s adjustment to a stepparent?
- less frequent contact with noncustodial parent
- relationship with stepparent
- attitude of noncustodial parent toward the stepparent and level of conflict
- homicide
What are family dynamics?
the way in which family members interact through various relationships: mother-child, father-child, mother-mother, sibling-sibling
What is ethology?
study of behaviour within an evolutionary context and attempts to understand behaviour in terms of its adaptive or survival value
What is evolutionary psychology?
with the evolutionary history of our species, certain genes predisposed behaviour and they solved adaptive challenges for survival