FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS

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FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS CHILDRENS PSYCHOLOGICAL
ADJUSTMENT

• Drs. Esther Hakvoort
• Dr. Frank van Balen
• Dr. Henny Bos
• Prof. dr. Jo Hermanns
• SRIP Conference, 10 - 12 September 2007, Oxford,
  UK

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Introduction

• Family System Theory
• The family system exists of several subsystems

Marital Subsystem Mother-Father
Parent/child Subsystem Parent-child
Sibling Subsystem Child-child
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Aims of the study (1)

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Aims of the study (2)

• To assess the associations between the 3
  subsystems and
• childrens psychosocial adjustment (self
  esteem, social competence)
• childrens cognitive and physical competence
• childrens problem behaviour

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This study

• includes all 3 family subsystems
• based on mothers and childrens report

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Method (sample)

• Including-criteria
• - intact families
• - two (or more) children
• - target child 8 12 years old
• - younger sibling of at least 4 years old
• Recruitment
• - municipal registration
• - elementary schools
• - snowball method
• Procedure
• - home visitations
• - interview with the target child
• - questionnaire filled out by mother

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Method (instruments)

• Marital relationship (mother-father)
• Marital Satisfaction Scale (Relationship
  satisfaction)
• Parental Stress Index (Satisfaction partner as
  co-parent)
• Parent/Child relationship (parent-child)
• Parent/Child Interaction Questionnaire
  (Acceptance, Conflict)
• Sibling relationship (child-child)
• Sibling Relationship Inventory (Affection)
• Leiden Sibling Relationship Questionnaire
  (Hostility)
• Psychological adjustment (child)
• Strengths Difficulties Questionnaire (Total
  problem behaviour)
• Perceived Competence Scale for Children (Social
  competence, Cognitive competence, Physical
  competence, Self esteem)

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Method (participating families)

• 66 families
• Target children
• 40 girls 26 boys, M age 10.1
• mean number of siblings 1.5 (min 1 max 5)
• siblings 35 sisters 31 brothers, M age
  7.2
• Mothers
• M age 40.9
• 75 intermediate professional, higher
  professional or academic level
• 70 has a paid job

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Results (1)

BOYS Significant correlations between all
aspects of both subsystems GIRLS Marital
quality is only significant correlated with the
father/child relationship
BOYS Significant correlations between both
subsystems GIRLS No significant correlations
BOYS Significant correlations between both
subsystems GIRLS Only the quality of the
mother/child relationship is correlated with
both aspects of the sibling subsystem
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Results (2)

• Marital Satisfaction -
• Conflict Mother
• Acceptance Mother -
• Conflict Father
• Acceptance Father -
• Sibling Hostility

CHILDRENS TOTAL PROBLEM BEHAVIOUR
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Results (3)

• Acceptance Mother
• Acceptance Father
• Conflict Father -
• Sibling Affection

CHILDRENS COGNITIVE COMPETENCES

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Results (4)

• Conflict Mother -
• Acceptance Mother
• Acceptance Father

CHILDRENS SELF ESTEEM
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Limitations

• Self-selection of the participating families
• Sample size boys lt girls
• Self-report ? socially desirable answers
• Not all family members are included in the study

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Conclusions

• 1. All family relationships are positively
  correlated with each other. There are more and
  stronger correlations found for boys, compared to
  girls
• 2. All family relationships are correlated with
  childrens problem behaviour. Again, there are
  more and stronger correlations found for boys,
  compared to girls.
• 3. The parent/child relationship appears to
  contribute most to childrens feelings of
  cognitive competence and self esteem.

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Discussion

• Quality of family relationships appears to be
  more important for boys, than for girls.
• All family relationships are associated with
  childrens problem behaviour. Only the
  parent/child relationship appears to be
  correlated with childrens self esteem and
  feelings of competence.

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Thanks for your attention Questions?

• Drs. Esther Hakvoort
• Department of Educational Sciences
• Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences
• Universiteit van Amsterdam
• E.M.Hakvoort_at_uva.nl