Family Life Cycle

Question 1

Identify 8 stages of the Family Life Cycle.

Answer 1

1. Beginning of Families
2. Child-bearing Families
3. Families with Pre-school Children
4. Families with School Children
5. Families with Teenagers
6. Families Launching Young Adults
7. Middle-aged Parents
8. Families in Retirement and Old Age

Question 2

Describe the 2 types of developmental tasks and 2 challenges associated with this stage.

1. Beginning of Families

Answer 2

DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS
Committing to the relationship / new family.
Breaking away from family of origin.

CHALLENGES
Wish to continue the social life of a single person.
Divided loyalties to own family of origin and new relationship.

Question 3

Describe the 2 types of developmental tasks and 2 challenges associated with this stage.

2. Child-bearing Families

Answer 3

DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS
Adjusting marital system to make space for children.
Bonding with the children and integrating them with the family.

CHALLENGES
Arrival of first child too soon after marriage resulting in parents not mentally prepared to undertake the new role.
Needs of children taking precedence over needs of the parents.

Question 4

Describe the 2 types of developmental tasks and 2 challenges associated with this stage.

3. Families with Pre-school Children

Answer 4

DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS
Accepting new personalities of the child and adjusting to the new personality.
Coping with demands on energy and attention with less privacy at home.

CHALLENGES
Exploratory skills of children versus safety (risks to children).
Energy drain and lack of privacy as child becomes more active and strives for independence.

Question 5

Describe the 2 types of developmental tasks and 2 challenges associated with this stage.

4. Families with School Children

Answer 5

DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS
Allowing greater independence of children.
Encouraging children’s educational achievements.

CHALLENGES
Working schedules around school and co-curricular activities.
Children learning to adjust to regulated routine.

Question 6

Describe the 2 types of developmental tasks and 2 challenges associated with this stage.

5. Families with Teenagers

Answer 6

DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS
Adjusting family boundaries to deal with teen demands for independence.
Re-defining personal autonomy.

CHALLENGES
Parents challenged and out-reasoned by their formerly manageable child.
Teenagers loosening family ties and establishing closer relationships with peers

Question 7

Describe the 2 types of developmental tasks and 2 challenges associated with this stage.

6. Families Launching Young Adults

Answer 7

DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS
Preparing young adults for independent living.
Accepting and promoting youth’s self-sufficiency.

CHALLENGES
Young adults having difficulty finding work or getting into tertiary education.
‘Sandwich generation’ having to look after both their own children and their aging / frail parents.

Question 8

Describe the 2 types of developmental tasks and 2 challenges associated with this stage.

7. Middle-aged Parents

Answer 8

DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS
Adjusting to the ‘empty nest’ (new roles and relationships apart from children).
Adjusting to own aging process and changes in relationships.

CHALLENGES
Depression when children leave home (for education or work) and life lacks meaning.
Parents need to re-establish themselves as couple.

Question 9

Describe the 2 types of developmental tasks and 2 challenges associated with this stage.

8.Families with elderly parents

Answer 9

DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS
Involvement with grandchildren and partners of the children.
Dealing with problems of aging.

CHALLENGES
Adjusting to old age and facing death.
Inadequate finances.