Development in the Family Context Flashcards
What percentage of marriages end in divorce (according to the ONS, 2011)?
42%.
Half of all divorces happen in the first 10years.
How can a divorce affect a child in the long & short term?
. Mental health problems . Low self-esteem . Aggression and antisocial behaviour . Decline in academic performance . Difficulties forming and sustaining relationships.
What influences a Childs outcome of a divorce?
Factors that were present before the divorce and factors prompted by the divorce (e.g., money problems, parental mental health).
What are the 6 factors affecting the impact of divorce?
- Level of parental conflict, prior to, during, and after a divorce i.e., higher conflict -> insecure relationships.
- Stress experienced by custodial parent and children i.e., more stress -> shift away from authoritative parenting.
- Age of the child. Lower understanding by younger kids -> anxiety blame themselves. Young adolescents are more negatively affected by remarriage.
- Long-standing characteristics of child. Difficult personalities and limited coping capacities -> more adverse effects.
- Quality of contact with noncustodial parent.
- Custody arrangements.
What % of couple families are stepfamilies?
11%.
What are the 5 factors affecting children’s adjustments in stepfamilies?
- Age of the child (very young -> better adjustment).
- Siblings (full siblings only = better adjustment).
- Parenting style (authoritative parenting = better adjustment)
- Attitude of noncustodial parent (hostility towards step-parent = psychological & behavioural problems).
- Stepfathers vs stepmother
What impact is there regarding stepfathers and a child?
. Greater conflict and lower affection than relationships with biological fathers.
.Greater risk of psychological and behavioural problems.
. Mother-daughter relationships often adversely affects.
What impact is there regarding stepmothers and a child?
. Fathers often expect stepmothers to be highly involved in parenting.
. Child may resent or reject stepmothers authority.
Is there any affect on a child who has sam-sex parents?
No effect on developmental outcome, gender identity or sexual identity.
Other family characteristics and parent behaviours are more important than gender.
Mother in paid employment when youngest child is 0-4yrs old: what % of mothers are in a couple family and lone mothers?
63% couples
36% lone
What did the NICHD longitudinal study of US children in childcare (1997, 2006) find regarding maternal employment?
No evidence that children in childcare were less securely attached to mothers.
Insecure attachments related to poor quality childcare plus an insensitive mother.
Overall, any positive and negative effects of maternal employment and childcare are small.
Child outcomes are more strongly related to characteristics of the family.
What is the Bronfenbrenner’s bio ecological Model (1979)?
The family is the filter through which the larger society influences child development.
What are the 5 different ‘systems’ in the Bronfenbrenners bio-ecological model (1979)?
- Microsystems: immediate environments
- Mesosystems: interconnections among Microsystems.
- Ecosystems: settings with indirect influences.
- Macrosystem: cultural context
- Chronosystem: change over time.
What is the isolate nuclear family (Rogoff, 2003)?
. Common in Europe and America.
. Parents have primary responsibility for child rearing.
. Formal schooling
. Children leave the family in young adulthood to make their own home.
What is Rogoffs (2003) The extended family regarding child care?
. Traditional cultures
. Some ethnic groups in Western countries.
. Shared responsibility for children.
. Children mix with all ages in groups
. Children included in most work and social activities.
. Stay close to family for whole life.
Bronfenbrenner’s model offers a view of the family based on systems theory. What are the 2 key features of the family system?
- Wholeness (the whole is greater than the sum of parts).
- Adaptability.
Change in any one part of the system affects every other part.
What does it mean to study family dynamics?
Family dynamics is the study of relationships between family members. Family members influence one another, both directly and indirectly.
What dynamics change over time in a family?
- Growing older
- Change in family size or structure
- Change in mental or physical health
Bidirectionality between parent and child: What does this mean?
Children are not just passive recipients of parenting - they influence and vice versa.
What do both the parent and child do?
- Behave in a characteristic way that elicits positive or negative behaviours from the other.
- Filter and react to those behaviours in a characteristic way.
- Over time, this reinforces and perpetuates behaviour.
Children characteristics and their effects on parenting: what effect does attractiveness of a child have?
- Attractive children elicit more positive responses.
- Parents may invest more resources towards survival of attractive children.
Children characteristics and their effects on parenting: what effect do genetic factors related to temperament have?
Difficult children may react badly to non-supportive parenting or monopolise their parents attention.
Children characteristics and their effects on parenting: How can birth order have an effect on children?
Parents are more responsive to first borns and have higher expectations.
Children characteristics and their effects on parenting: What effect does gender have?
Different interpretations of the behaviour of boys and girls; different standards.
What message came from Channel 4’s documentary about the importance of parents?
Parents are essential to channel children’s natural impulses into positive behaviours.
