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An evaluation of Family Adaptability & Cohesion Evaluation Scales (FACES) & the Circumplex Model
Abstract
Two basis assumptions of the Circumplex Model of family systems were evaluated: Healthy families evidence balanced degrees of cohesion and adaptability, whereas problem families evidence extreme degrees, and families with balanced degrees of cohesion and adaptability possess more positive communication skills than families with extreme degrees. Subjects were 58 mother-son dyads from father-absent families. In 29 of the families the adolescent was a juvenile offender, while in the remaining families there was no history of arrest or psychiatric referral. The dyads completed the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scales (FACES) and an unrevealed differences interaction task. FACES was highly proficient at differentiating delinquent from nondelinquent families. Moreover, in families with balanced degrees of cohesion and adaptability, the mothers' communication was significantly more supportive and explicit, and the dyads evidenced significantly greater warmth and affection than dyads with extreme degrees.
... According to the circumplex model, it has been hypothesized that balanced (BAL) families (i.e., those with moderate levels of flexibility [flexible and structured] and cohesion [separated and connected]) function better as families in coping with various emotional issues and exhibit more positive communication patterns among family members than families categorized as unbalanced or extreme (EXT) regarding levels of flexibility and cohesion (i.e., those who fall into the chaotically enmeshed, chaotically disengaged, rigidly enmeshed, and rigidly disengaged ranges). Indeed, there is evidence supporting the hypothesis that BAL families function better than EXT families (for review, see Olson, 1996) and that BAL families employ more positive communication styles than EXT families (Barnes & Olson, 1985;Rodick, Henggeler, & Hanson, 1986). ...
... In this regard, the negative influence of early family environments upon coping with interpersonal confrontation appears to be more extensive among young men than among young women from EXT families. Analyses of negative verbal and nonverbal behaviors replicated findings observed in our previous work (Larkin et al., 1996) as well as of others who have shown that offspring from EXT families exhibit poorer communication skills than offspring from BAL families (Olson, 1985;Rodick et al., 1986). This study demonstrated that the response differences in negative verbal behaviors also extended to women. ...
This study aimed to examine the role of family environment upon responses to interpersonal conflict in young adulthood, and to determine whether response patterns differed between men and women. Behavioral, affective, and cardiovascular responses of 17 young adults from families rated extreme (EXT) on scales of cohesion and flexibility were compared with those of 21 young adults from balanced (BAL) families. Participants engaged in 2 role‐play conflicts, 1 with a male confederate and 1 with a female confederate. Measures of positive and negative verbal and nonverbal behaviors, self‐reported anxiety and anger, and heart rate and blood pressure were obtained. Results showed EXT participants exhibited more negative verbal and less positive verbal behavior during both interactions than BAL participants. EXT men exhibited greater DBP, state anger, and negative nonverbal responses than BAL men, findings not observed for women. These findings indicate that exposure to a negative family environment influences how young adult men respond to interpersonal confrontation more than young adult women.
... respectively) and test-retest reliabilities (.80 and .83, respectively) and have discriminated between functional and dysfunctional families of adolescents in several samples (e.g., Garbarino et al., 1984;Rodick, Henggeler, & Hanson, 1986). Although Olson et al. (1982) originally proposed that there was a curvilinear association between family adaptability/cohesion and the psychosocialfunctioningof family members, recent evidence with families of nonproblem adolescents (Barnes & Olson, 1985) and behavior problem adolescents (Blaske, Borduin, Henggeler, & Mann, 1989) suggests that this association is linear. ...
This study examined the individual characteristics, family relations, and stress/social support of 50 maltreated adolescents and their mothers. Dyads were divided into 4 demographically similar groups: neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and nonmaltreatment control. Results show that adolescent neglect was primarily associated with extrafamilial difficulties and social isolation. Adolescent physical abuse was linked more with rigidity in family relations, poorer maternal understanding of child developmental skills, and adolescent externalizing behaviors. In contrast, adolescent sexual abuse was related to maternal emotional problems and adolescent internalizing behaviors. In general, each group of maltreated adolescents experienced lower levels of family cohesion, more attention problems, and more daily stress than did their nonmaltreated counterparts. Findings are consistent with an ecological model of adolescent maltreatment.
... Ferreira and Winter (1968) were among the first to show that troubled family members, parents in particular, offered significantly less information when describing their interactions than did nontroubled family members. This finding, which was replicated by Rodick, Henggeler, and Hanson (1986), was also pursued by Wahler and Hann (1984), who analyzed conversations between mothers and their therapists and between the same mothers and their friends. Results showed that severely troubled (multistressed) mothers said less about their problem children's actual deviant behavior than did less troubled mothers. ...
A review of the literature on dysfunctional mother–child interactions indicates a consistent association between dysfunction and environmental stressors. The association does not always seem due to an absence of parenting skills but more so due to a stress-induced deficiency in maternal attention. Some mothers, who also live in the midst of stressors, are not in synchrony with cues offered through their children’s various behaviors. The literature suggests that the stress-induced attention problem is mediated by organizational properties of a mother’s response repertoire. These properties, conceptualized by the term response class, refer to covariations among the various behaviors composing the mother’s repertoire. According to this interbehavioral model, mothers who manifest high response class intercorrelations will also be most susceptible to the attention-debilitating influences of stress. The heuristic value of this model is outlined in a section on clinical strategies geared to changing a mother’s attention. Clinical teaching procedures described as analysis and synthesis are presented.
... The FACES II [75] is a 30-item scale that assesses perceived family functioning (i.e., family adaptability and family cohesion) on a 5-point Likert scale from 1 (not at all true) to 5 (always true). Specifically, family adaptability refers to the ability of a family to change in response to developmental or situational stress, while family cohesion refers to the degree to which the family members are connected with each others (i.e., the emotional bonding between family members). ...
Objectives
Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) behavior is a severe public health issue in adolescents. This study investigated the possible impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and analyzed psychological risk factors on adolescent NSSI.
Methods
A one-year follow-up study was conducted in September 2019 (Time 1) and September 2020 (Time 2) among 3588 high school students. The completed follow-up participants (N = 2527) were classified into no NSSI (negative at both time points), emerging NSSI (negative at Time 1 but positive at Time 2), and sustained NSSI (positive at both time points) subgroups according to their NSSI behaviors before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Perceived family functioning, perceived school climate, negative life events, personality traits (neuroticism, impulsivity, and self-control) were assessed using self-report scales.
Results
The data indicated an increase (10.3%) in the incidence of NSSI. Compared to no NSSI subjects, the emerging NSSI and sustained NSSI subgroups had lower perceived family functioning, higher neuroticism, higher impulse-system but lower self-control scores, and more negative life events. Logistic regressions revealed that after controlling for demographics, neuroticism and impulse-system levels at Time 1 positively predicted emerging NSSI behavior, and similarly, higher neuroticism and impulsivity and lower self-control at Time 1 predicted sustained NSSI behavior.
Conclusions
These findings highlighted the aggravated impact of the COVID-19 on NSSI, and suggested that individual neuroticism, impulsivity, and self-control traits might be crucial for the development of NSSI behavior among adolescent students.
... More recent research regarding adaptability, the family systems ability to change its power structure, role relations, and relationship rules in response to situational and developmental stress, has also suggested a link to delinquency. Rodrick, Henggeler, and Hanson (1986) found that families of delinquents were more chaotic and disorganized than families with nondelinquents. Geismar and Wood (1986) had similar findings in their study of parental control strategies and delinquents; families with adolescents who were delinquent were identified as highly chaotic and rigid. ...
... Chinese Version of Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scales (FACESII-CV): scale was compiled by Olson et al. in 1982, and the internal consistency reliability coefficients for the adaptive and cohesive scales were scored as 0.75 and 0.83 [25]. And translated and revised by Fei Lipeng et al. [26], the Cronbach's α coefficient of the scale 0.6, good reliability and validity. ...
Objectives
To clarify the adaptability of cancer patients to return to work and explore its influencing factors.
Design
A cross-sectional study.
Settings/participants
From March to October 2021, 283 cancer patients in the follow-up period were recruited from the oncology departments of four secondary and above hospitals and cancer friendship associations in Nantong city using self-developed scale of adaptability to return to work for cancer patients by convenience sampling method.
Methods
The contents included general sociodemographic data, disease-related data, cancer patients’ readability to work Scale, Medical Coping Style Questionnaire, Social Support Rating Scale, Family Closeness and Readability Scale, General self-efficacy Scale and Social impact Scale. Paper questionnaires were used for face-to-face data collection, and SPSS17.0 was used for statistical analysis. Univariable analyses and multiple linear regression analysis were conducted.
Results
The overall score of cancer patients' adaptability to return to work was (87.05±20.255), (22.54±4.234) for the dimension of focused rehabilitation, (32.02±9.013) for the dimension of reconstruction effectiveness, and (32.49±9.023) for the dimension of adjustment planning. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that the current return to full-time work (β =0.226, P 0.05), the current return to non-full-time work (β =0.184, P 0.05), yield response (β = −0.132, P 0.05), and general self-efficacy (β =0.226, P 0.05) could affect their return to work adaptation.
Conclusion
The results of status quo and influencing factors showed that the adaptability of cancer patients to return to work was generally higher in this study. Cancer patients who had participated in work, had lower yield coping scores and stigma scores, and higher self-efficacy scores and family adjustment and intimacy scores had better adaptability to return to work again.
Ethical approval
It has been approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of the Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University (Project No.202065).
... As for the contradictory results existing in the family functioncohesion and the family function-adaptability, it can be explained by the different connotations. Family function-cohesion refers to the emotional connection among family members, and family functionadaptability is the ability of the family system to change its relationship rules according to situational and developmental problems (Rodick et al., 1986). The latter one is more dynamic, unstable, and susceptible, which may be more difficult to show improvement, reminding medical staff to conduct the more targeted interventions to enhance it. ...
Aims:
To evaluate the effects of couple-based dyadic interventions on breast cancer patients and their intimate partners and compare the effects between interventions with different durations (<3 months; =3 months; >3 months).
Design:
A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Data sources:
Six English databases, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science Core Collection, the Cochrane Library, Medline, PsycINFO, and three Chinese databases, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), WanFang, and Weipu (VIP), from database inception to 19 February 2022.
Review methods:
The quality of the included RCTs was evaluated using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool and the data analysis was performed by using RevMan 5.4 and Stata 15. The outcomes were categorized into five aspects: dyadic relationship, overall quality of life (QOL), physical health, psychological health and social adjustment.
Results:
Nineteen RCTs were included. For patients' overall effects, couple-based dyadic interventions can improve sexual frequency, psychological health (anxiety; depression; well-being; body image) and social adjustment (family function-cohesion; social function-total). In the subgroup analysis, it can adjust patients' relationship satisfaction (>3 months), sexual frequency (>3 months), depression (<3 months and >3 months), well-being (>3 months), and body image (3 months). For intimate partners, no statistically significant overall effects were found, and all results in the subgroup analyses showed no statistical significance.
Conclusions:
The results revealed the different effects of couple-based dyadic interventions on dyads. It also suggested that tailored intervention duration should be a focus in future studies to obtain the potential actor-partner benefits.
Impact:
This study revealed that the overall effects of the couple-based dyadic interventions include enhancing patients' sexual frequency, psychological health and social adjustment. Clinical practitioners should consider the intimate partners' outcomes and conduct couple-based dyadic interventions that contain more tailored elements to achieve better effects.
No patient or public contribution:
Registration: The systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs has been registered in PROSPERO (Number: CRD 42021286679).
... The difference between ideal and actual family functioning is also measured by this measure. Family Adaptability Cohesion Evaluation Scale (Rodick et al., 1986) highlights the interaction between families and their members as well as family dynamics. Family roles, values, norms, communication, affective interaction, and problem-solving are the main features that are raised in all the abovereported scales. ...
The Family Functioning Scale has been widely utilized in the literature to determine whether a family is healthy or dysfunctional. The current study aimed to translate the Family Functioning scale into the Urdu language and find out its initial psychometric properties on the Pakistani population. The measure was translated from English to the Urdu language by following standardized procedures. Cross-language validation was assessed by comparing the scores of a bilingual sample, (n=40) of 20 males and 20 females (Mage = 15.9, SD = 1.42). Urdu translated version of GFS was administered on 360 individuals from the general population of Faisalabad with 190 men (52.8%) and 170 (47.2%) women age ranged between 12 to 56 years (Mage = 21.68, SD = 7.12). Convergent validity of the General Functioning Scale was assessed by correlating the scores of GFS and the Confusion, Hubbub, and Order Scale, while Satisfaction with Life Scale, Multidimensional Scale for Perceived Social Support, and the Subjective Happiness Scale were used to check discriminant validity. Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient and Pearson- Product Moment Correlation Coefficient were applied to determine the internal consistency, convergent, and discriminant validity of the translated measure respectively. The results revealed that the Urdu version of GFS has good internal consistency (α = .80). GFS was significantly positively correlated with CHAOS while a significant negative correlation was found between family dysfunctioning and family support, life satisfaction, and happiness. Findings reflect that the Urdu version of the GF is a psychometrically sound measure to assess the family functioning in the Pakistani cultural context. Keywords: Family Dysfunctioning, Urdu, Psychometric Validation, Pakistan
... 2001; Franklin & Streeter, 1993;Loriedo et al., 2013;Marsac & Alderfer, 2011;Mirnics, Vargha, Tóth, & Bagdy, 2010;Rivero, Martínez-Pampliega, & Olson, 2010;Rodick et al., 1986). More than 1200 studies have been conducted based on the FACES IV model, and supportive findings for the major hypotheses of the model have emerged (Türkdogan, Duru, & Balkıs, 2018). ...
The Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale IV (FACES IV) has been widely used to assess family functioning and to implement family therapeutic interventions. Cross-cultural adaptation is needed given the high sensitivity of family norms with culture. This study investigates the psychometric properties of the FACES IV in the context of Saudi culture. The sample consisted of 369 participants (270 females and 99 males) aged between 13 and 70. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis supported the FACES IV model, after some adjustments. The findings indicated that FACES IV was a reliable and valid measure that can be used in the context of Saudi Arabia. The study showed some particularities with the rigid and enmeshed dimensions and concurred with previous validation studies in suggesting that these dimensions must be investigated further with respect to different cultures.
... Adaptability reflects a family's ability to generate new solutions and shift roles and processes to changing circumstances, while cohesion captures the level of emotional bonding in a family (Olson et al., 1980). While the original intention of the circumplex model combined both dimensions to categorize family functioning, clinical studies have found utility in using the dimensions separately to describe each element of functioning separately (Rodick et al., 1986). A diverse array of studies has demonstrated lower levels of both adaptability and cohesion in families caring for a member with schizophrenia, first-episode psychosis, or youth at CHR, compared to control families (Koutra et al., 2014;Phillips et al., 1998;Wang et al., 2015). ...
Background
Families can play a critical role in the development of psychosis. Adaptability (i.e., flexibility) and cohesion (i.e., emotional bonding) are important markers of family functioning, but have rarely been studied in youth at clinical high risk for developing psychosis (CHR), especially not from a multi-informant perspective.
Methods
The current study examined adaptability and cohesion (using youth and mother reports) and clinical symptoms (in youth) among 75 youth at CHR and their mothers (N = 48) and 79 matched healthy controls and their mothers (N = 42).
Results
Findings showed that (1) youth at CHR and their mothers reported lower adaptability and cohesion than their healthy control counterparts. (2) All youth reported lower adaptability than mothers, but only youth at CHR (not control youth) reported lower cohesion than their mothers. (3) There were no significant links between CHR youth and mother reports of adaptability and cohesion and clinical symptoms.
Conclusions
Findings support existing literature that families with a youth at CHR are at risk for poorer functioning and demonstrate pronounced youth-mother discrepancies with youth at CHR (but not controls) reporting lower emotional bonding than their mothers. Future studies may further probe multi-informant perspectives of family environment as a clinical marker in the clinical high risk state.
... The model suggests that healthy or functional families have balanced levels of cohesion and flexibility (Olson, 2000). While Olson (2000) suggests that families with balanced structure will display more functional or adaptive communication, such findings are supported by research (Barnes & Olson, 1985;Rodick, Henggeler, & Hanson, 1986). In contrast, unbalanced families are more likely to have members exhibiting psychopathology (Carnes, 1989;Clarke, 1984). ...
The structural and strategic family therapy approaches are foundational in the field of systemic family therapy due to their emphasis on systemic process over content and altering family interaction patterns that create, maintain, or exacerbate symptoms through the clinical use of reframes, changing family rules, and modifying behavioral sequences. This chapter provides the history, development, and the core theoretical and conceptual constructs associated with problem development and the process of change for both approaches. This chapter also summarizes more contemporary developments and applications of each approach. In addition, this chapter presents critiques of each approach, including issues of diversity and sociocultural factors.
... The model suggests that healthy or functional families have balanced levels of cohesion and flexibility (Olson, 2000). While Olson (2000) suggests that families with balanced structure will display more functional or adaptive communication, such findings are supported by research (Barnes & Olson, 1985;Rodick, Henggeler, & Hanson, 1986). In contrast, unbalanced families are more likely to have members exhibiting psychopathology (Carnes, 1989;Clarke, 1984). ...
The structural and strategic family therapy approaches are foundational in the field of systemic family therapy due to their emphasis on systemic process over content and altering family interaction patterns that create, maintain, or exacerbate symptoms through the clinical use of reframes, changing family rules, and modifying behavioral sequences. This chapter provides the history, development, and the core theoretical and conceptual constructs associated with problem development and the process of change for both approaches. This chapter also summarizes more contemporary developments and applications of each approach. In addition, this chapter presents critiques of each approach, including issues of diversity and sociocultural factors.
... For example, using a sample of 27 families at high risk for destructive parentchild interaction and 35 low risk families, Garbarino et al (1985) found FACES successfully discrim inated between low and high risk families. Similarly Rodick et al (1986) distinguished between families w ith and w ithout a juvenile offender. ...
The purpose of this thesis was to examine how participation in intensive sports training affected the risk of depressive disorder in a randomly selected group of young athletes. The possible adverse effects of intensive training upon the physical and psychological development of the young athlete have become of increasing concern. In general little is known about the psychological effects of early involvement in sport. Despite this paucity of knowledge there has been considerable concern that young athletes are more at risk of emotional problems. The data for this investigation were part of a general population survey designed to monitor the effect of intensive training on a sample of highly trained young athletes. A country-wide randomly selected group of 453 young athletes aged from 9 to 18 years, from four different sports - football, gymnastics, swimming and tennis - were assessed and then monitored for two consecutive years. In addition a group of children (n = 471) were drawn from the general population for comparative purposes. All completed the Depression Self Rating Scale for Children (DSRS), the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale (FACES II) and the Great Ormond Street Self Image Profile (GOSSIP). An empirical analysis revealed young athletes had significantly lower levels of depressive symptomatology, higher levels of self esteem and perceived their families to be closer and more cohesive than children from the comparison population. Further analysis indicated children from the comparison population were over 9 times more likely to have low self esteem and high depression scores than children involved in intensive training. Longitudinal data analysis investigated the stability of these findings over time and showed the best predictors of Time 2 DSRS scores were a combination of baseline DSRS, global and family self esteem, age and cohesion. In conclusion, strengths and weaknesses of the research design are described in the light of the empirical findings, explanatory models are suggested and implications for future research discussed.
... Una tercera dimensión, la comunicación, se considera como el mecanismo mediante el cual la familia puede adquirir un mayor o menor grado de cohesión y adaptabilidad (Barnes & Olson, 1985;Olson, 2011). Las familias ubicadas en niveles intermedios en las dimensiones de cohesión y flexibilidad muestran mejores niveles de comunicación que aquellas que presentan valores extremos en dichas dimensiones (Bhushan & Shirali, 1992;Rodick, Henggeler & Hanson, 1986). El nivel de comunicación familiar tiene una importancia fundamental porque permite mantener o alterar las condiciones del sistema, lo que ocurre, como señalan Morrison y Zetlin (1992), por medio de facilitar procesos de negociación de las reglas que rigen las relaciones en el seno familiar. ...
p>El objetivo fue presentar evidencias de validez y confiabilidad de la Escala de Comunicación Padres-Adolescente de Barnes y Olson (1982) en universitarios de Lima de 16 a 25 años. Participaron 255 estudiantes (162 mujeres) de dos universidades de Lima. Se realizó un análisis factorial exploratorio con el objetivo de evaluar la viabilidad de las estructuras bifactorial y trifactorial de la escala. El análisis factorial exploratorio apoyó la estructura de los dos factores inicialmente propuestos para esta escala (apertura de comunicación y problemas de comunicación). Tanto en la versión de comunicación con el padre como en la de comunicación con la madre se obtuvieron altos valores de alfa de Cronbach (entre .80 y .90). El modelo estructural construido presentó también adecuados índices de ajuste. Con ello se confirma la confiabilidad y la validez de este instrumento en la muestra investigada.</p
... The life story class records data on life events, 28,38 experiences in intimate relationships, 39 childhood trauma 40 and the familial environment. 41,42 Personal experiences throughout life vary considerably, as does the personal perception of these experiences. 43 The data are self-report and often retrospective, selected to measure and compare the influence of life experiences in the context of BP disorder. ...
... FACES III is comprised of 30 items, 16 of which evaluate cohesion, and 14 of which evaluate adaptability (Olson 1993;Olson 1991;Ravi & Shirali, 1992;Rodick & Henggeler, 1986). ...
Useful for clinical evaluation as well as to evaluate the efficacy of marital and family therapeutic intervention is Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales III; the functional family models have moderate scores in cohesion and flexibility. Objectives: Identifying the influence of residence environment, age and gender on Adaptability and Cohesiveness the evaluating power of FACES III on a sample of 1215 subjects aged between 18 and 74 in comparison with the results obtained by interview with 324 subjects. Mid-range and Balanced type families are the most frequent. Families from urban environment tend to lack somewhat in cohesion, showing increased flexibility. For Romanian cultural space some of the items should be reworded because in the case of extreme scores the evaluation should be verified by interview.
... Selain itu, secara tradisional, perempuan disosialisasikan memiliki hubungan emosional yang abadi dengan keluarga, sedangkan laki-laki didorong untuk menjadi lebih otonom dan menemukan cara sendiri untuk mandiri (Block, 1983;Leaper et al., 1989, diacu dalam Barbato et al., 2009Megawangi, 2014). Komunikasi ibu dengan remaja perempuan lebih berdampak positif ketika mereka meminimalkan sikap defensif, mengedepankan pemecahan masalah, dan kedua pihak (remaja perempuan dan ibu) sama-sama menunjukkan sikap empati dan saling mempercayai (Rodick et al.,1986). ...
... The FACS is a self-rating scale with 30 items that assess perceived family functioning including family adaptability (15 items) and family cohesion (15 items), using a 5-point response scale from 1 (Bnot at all true^) to 5 (Balways true^) (Rodick et al. 1986). Scores ranged from 30 to 150, where higher scores represented greater perceived family functioning. ...
Loneliness has particularly significant effect on the quality of life of elderly individuals. In this study, we examined the direct and indirect effects of social support on loneliness in elderly respondents. A total of 388 people, aged 60–65 years with a mean of 62.44 (SD = 1.82), completed questionnaires measuring family functioning, social support, and loneliness. Structural equation modeling results showed that social support partially mediated the relationship between family functioning and loneliness, and bootstrap estimation procedure and subsequent analyses indicated that the indirect effect of social support on the relationship between family functioning and loneliness of elderly individuals is significant. In short, we found that family-functioning and social support play significant roles in helping older Chinese individuals overcome their high risk of loneliness.
... Research on family systems theory in general and the circumplex model in particular has generated strong empirical support. For example, Barnes and Olson (1985) and Rodick, Henggeler, and Hanson (1986) found that balanced family types enjoy significantly better communication skills than unbalanced families, and that better communication skills increase the chance that families remain functional over time. Regarding unbalanced families, Clarke (1984) showed that schizophrenic, neurotic, and other individual traits requiring therapy are more likely to be found among people from unbalanced families. ...
While families have a large and undeniable impact on human behavior, management research is yet to fully embrace how aspects of families (e.g., family-member relationships, family structures, and family events) influence entrepreneurs, employees, managers, and their organizations. There is a large body of research known as family science that draws from sociology, psychology, and education and offers theories that describe families and explains important family outcomes. Management researchers have not widely exploited knowledge from family science, but it could be applied to advance management theories by answering questions about how families impact organizations and the people in them. Therefore, we review seven family science theories and leverage our review to map research agendas for how management researchers might use each theory to advance understanding of how families influence organizations and vice versa. Our review suggests a wide range of research topics in management that could advance by drawing upon family science research.
... There is convincing empirical evidence that balanced families communicate better. This finding has been confirmed with multiple methods, in research using both self-report scales (Barnes & Olson, 1986) and observational coding of family interaction (Rodick, Henggler, & Hanson, 1986). ...
The Family Circumplex Model and its self-report instruments, FACES II and FACES III, have been used in hundreds of research studies, which consistently find positive, linear relationships between one of its dimensions—cohesion or flexibility—and various family health outcomes. The number of studies in the disciplines of psychology, medicine, and psychiatry has grown to represent half of all studies conducted with FACES. This research provides strong support for a biopsychosocial approach to treatment, confirming that the social context of the family is useful to study and the family serves as an important resource for dealing with psychological disorders as well as physical illness. The Circumplex Model and its instruments show great promise for future research on family health behaviors and outcomes. 1 An abbreviated version of this paper will appear as a chapter in the forthcoming Family Assessment Package (FAP), to be published by Life Innovations, Inc. The FAP will introduce FACES IV, which is designed to measure the dimensions of cohesion and
... Research investigating the relationship between family cohesion and adaptability and individual functioning has produced inconsistent findings, likely due to differences in methodology between the studies. Although some research supports Olson's curvilinear hypothesis, indicating that medium levels of family cohesion and adaptability promote adaptive individual functioning (e-g., Garbarino, Sebes, & Schellenbach, 1985;Rodick, Henggler, & Hanson, 1986). ...
... "Balanced couples/families will tend to have more positive communication skills than Extreme families" (Olson et al., 1989, p.68). Empirical evidence has supported the validity of this hypothesis -balanced families communicate better (Barnes and Olson, 1985;Roderick, Henggler & Hanson, 1986). ...
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... 연구대상자의 가족유형별 성공적 노화 인지 정도 4. (Kim, 1998;Rodick, Henggeler, & Hanson, 1986 ...
Purpose: The objective of this study was to identify the relationships between family function and successful aging of vulnerable elderly using the circumplex model. Methods: The participants were the elderly (N=401) who were over 65 years old living in H city under the National Livelihood Security Act. Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale III and Successful Aging Instrument were used. Results: The family function perceived by the study subjects was average out of maximum 100 points. According to the analysis on family types suggested by circumplex model, there were 183 people for balance family (45.6%) and 218 people (54.4%) for extreme family. The total points on successful aging were out of 3 points. When the difference in points on the Successful Aging instrument were analyzed according to the scores on the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scale those points of the balanced family were statistically significant (t=2.087, p=.038). Conclusion: In case of the balanced family type, the level of perceiving successful aging was relatively higher. For the improvement of family function, it is advised that the successful aging perception among vulnerable elderly can be uplifted through a program that enables effective communication with other family members.
... Measuring instruments. FACES III is comprised of 30 items, 16 of which evaluate cohesion, and 14 of which evaluate adaptability (Olson 1993;Olson 1991;Ravi & Shirali, 1992;Rodick & Henggeler, 1986). Through the structured interview, the interlocutors were asked to recount about communication, cohesion and flexibility in their families, based on an interview guide with specific questions regarding: boundaries between family members, availability to share space and time with other family members, the emotional bond and the ability to adapt to change; ten questions concerning cohesion, five concerning flexibility and six concerning communication within the family were used, inspired by FACES III (see Rada, 2013). ...
The objectives of the study are a diagnosis of Romanian family using Family Adaptability and Cohesiveness Evaluation Scale III, and interviews. Mid-range and Balanced type families are the most frequent, the Chaotically Connected model being predominant. Families in the urban environment tend to lack somewhat in cohesion, showing increased flexibility. Out of the Mid-range type families, most of them are located in the urban environment. Circa half of those interviewed described the family with very high cohesion, very low flexibility and average to high communication; these were correlated with the marital (couple) satisfaction expressed in the interviews.
... for parents' reports in the present study. The subscales have proven useful in the study of general delinquency (Matherne & Thomas, 2001;Rodick, Henggeler, & Hanson, 1986). Consistent with Olson's (2000) recommendations, we treated adaptability and cohesion as linear scales in subsequent statistical analyses. ...
This study examined the individual functioning, interpersonal relations, and academic performance of 142 female adolescents who were divided into three demographically similar groups: violent juvenile offenders (n = 51), nonviolent juvenile offenders (n = 56), and nondelinquent youths (ND; n = 35). Both the violent and the nonviolent offenders had histories of serious crimes (i.e., felonies). Parents and youths completed self-report instruments, behavior-rating inventories, and a videorecorded interaction task, and teachers completed a rating measure. Results showed that violent juvenile offenders and nonviolent juvenile offenders had more behavior problems, more difficulties in family and peer relations, and poorer academic performance than did ND. However, violent juvenile offenders did not differ from nonviolent juvenile offenders on any of the measures of individual functioning, family relations, peer relations, or academic performance. Taken together, the findings suggest that girls who commit serious crimes, regardless of whether violence is involved, share a number of risk factors across key domains of individual and interpersonal functioning. The implications of these findings for research, theory, and treatment are discussed.
... Analyses with PTSD symptom severity were only conducted among the assaulted adolescent girls. Additionally, the caregivers completed the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scale (FACES) (Rodick et al., 1986;Henggeler et al., 1991;Olson, 1991;Matherne and Thomas, 2001), a self-report measure of family functioning that includes a scale measuring the degree of disengagement in the family (e.g., family members avoid contact with one another). As noted above, social support is a robust predictor of clinical functioning following trauma, so we focused on family disengagement in order to understand the degree to which the support of the immediate family environment modulated brain activity among the assaulted girls. ...
Assaultive violence exposure during childhood is a significant risk factor for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The purpose of the present study was to characterize the relationships of assault and PTSD severity with the organization of large-scale networks identified during emotion processing. Adolescent girls aged 12-16 with (N=15) and without (N=15) histories of assault underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while engaged in a task that presented images of fearful or neutral facial expressions. Independent component analysis (ICA) identified a frontocingulate network, a frontoparietal network, and a default mode network. Assault exposure was associated with significantly greater activation of the frontocingulate network for fear versus neutral faces. Within the frontocingulate network, Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) severity was associated with weakened functional connectivity between the left amygdala and the perigenual anterior cingulate. Within the frontoparietal network, assaulted girls demonstrated weakened connectivity of the premotor cortex with the right middle frontal gyrus. Within the default mode network, assault exposure and PTSD severity were associated with strengthening functional connectivity of the parahippocampus with the medial and lateral prefrontal cortex, respectively. Individual differences in functional connections within the frontocingulate network and frontoparietal network among the assaulted group were strongly associated with caregiver-rated family disengagement. These results demonstrate associations between assault and PTSD symptoms with the functional organization of large-scale frontoparietal, frontocingulate, and default mode networks during emotion processing. The relationship with caregiver-rated family disengagement suggests the impact of family support on the neural processing correlates of assault and PTSD symptoms.
... There is convincing empirical evidence that balanced families communicate better. This finding has been confirmed with multiple methods, in research using both self-report scales (Barnes & Olson, 1986) and observational coding of family interaction (Rodick, Henggler, & Hanson, 1986). ...
ABSTRACT, The Family Circumplex Model and its self-report instruments, FACES II and FACES III, have been used in hundreds of research studies, which consistently find positive, linear relationships between,one of its dimensions—cohesion or flexibility—and various family health outcomes. The number of studies in the disciplines of psychology, medicine, and psychiatry has grown to represent half of all studies conducted with FACES. This research provides strong support for a biopsychosocial approach to treatment, confirming that the social context of the family is useful to study and the family serves as an important resource for dealing with psychological disorders as well as physical illness.
Background:
Depression is the most common mental illness in postpartum mothers, and the etiology of postpartum depression remains poorly understood. Over the past several decades, studies have reported that postpartum depression is caused by multiple factors, such as genetic, psychological, pregnancy, and environmental factors, with the family environment being an important environmental factor. The theory of family cohesion and adaptability put forward by Olson is a classic model that describes the level of family function. However, to date, this model has not been examined regarding its applicability to patients with postpartum depression.
Aim:
To investigate the relationship between family cohesion and adaptability and the risk of postpartum depressive symptoms.
Methods:
We retrospectively analyzed 1446 patients admitted to the postpartum healthcare clinic of the Affiliated Foshan Maternity and Child Healthcare Hospital from April 2021 to December 2021. Patients were grouped according to whether postpartum depression symptoms were reported (symptoms, n = 454; no symptoms, n = 992). All patients completed the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale and the Chinese version of the Family Cohesion and Adapt-ability Assessment Scale II. Baseline and clinical data were compared between groups. Univariate regression analysis was used to investigate the association between different types of family cohesion and postpartum depressive symptoms and the association between different family adaptability types and postpartum depressive symptoms.
Results:
After adjusting for age, education, occupation, gravidity, parity, and mode of delivery, disengaged [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 3.36, 95%CI: 1.91-5.91], and separated (AOR = 1.97, 95%CI: 1.34-2.90) family cohesion types showed a higher risk of postpartum depression than the connection type, whereas the enmeshed type (AOR = 0.38, 95%CI: 0.28-0.51) protected against postpartum depressive symptoms. Rigid (AOR = 4.41, 95%CI: 3.02-6.43) and structured families (AOR = 1.88, 95%CI: 1.34-2.63) had a higher risk of postpartum depressive symptoms than flexible families, whereas chaotic families (AOR = 0.35, 95%CI: 0.24-0.51) protected against postpartum depressive symptoms.
Conclusion:
Family cohesion and adaptability are influencing factors for postpartum depressive symptoms, with higher family cohesion and adaptability being associated with a lower risk of postpartum depressive symptoms.
This paper focuses on the relationship between a child’s family relationship, emotional well-being, and self-regulated learning in Korea. The sample of this study consisted of 527 elementary school students who were selected from three different schools in South Korea. The data were collected using the family relationship scale, the self-regulated learning scale, and the emotional well-being scale. The results showed that the structural equation modeling analysis was a good model fit to indices. Family relationship such as cohesion or conflict had a direct and indirect effect on a student’s emotional well-being. Also, family cohesion and family conflict indirectly influenced a child’s emotional well-being through self-regulated learning. It was also evident that there were significant grade differences in the students' emotional well-being where 5th graders had higher positive emotions than 6th graders and 6th graders had higher family conflict than 5th graders. To sum up the findings, there was clear evidence that a positive family relationship predicted a student’s emotional well-being directly and anticipated a child’s emotional well-being indirectly through self-regulated learning.
This chapter makes four important distinctions about how the word ‘assessment’ is used. There are many existing schemes for assessing families. The McMaster model and the Process model of family functioning are both derived from the family categories schema. The Circumplex model, the Beavers systems model of family functioning, the Darlington family assessment system, and respective utility of family assessment models are derived from conceptualize family functioning. In addition to offering useful concepts for understanding families, the Darlington approach provides guidance on how family therapists should position themselves in relation to families. Research data on the relative merits of the different assessment frameworks are beginning to emerge. Whatever theoretical scheme is used, it is important to develop a clinical understanding of how the family functions. It also needs to be clear about the family's developmental stage and whether its current problems are related to difficulties surmounting a developmental challenge.
This paper examines the relationships between individual and familial functioning among adult cocaine abusers, using the FACES III scales to determine family functioning, and the Beck Depression Inventory, the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-90, and SCID to determine individual functioning. The correlations between family cohesion and the three different measures of psychological impairment consistently show that persons who are psychologically the most functional are part of the most cohesive families, while the relationships between adaptability and the measures of psychological functioning are found to be inconsistent. The Olson “circumplex” model hypothesis is not confirmed for families in this sample.
In response to United States special education law requirements, this study attempted to differentiate emotionally disturbed and socially maladjusted students using parent ratings on the FACES III and a newly developed interview measure of primarily internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Forty mothers of students in special education and 40 mothers of students in court schools rated the target student and a close in age sibling. Data showed differences in family typology between the groups. Mothers rated socially maladjusted students similar to siblings but did not rate emotionally disturbed youth similar to siblings. Study results also indicated the importance of peer influence and age of problem onset for multidisciplinary teams to consider in evaluations of emotional disturbance.
Multisystemic therapy (MST) delivered through a community mental health center was compared with usual services delivered by a Department of Youth Services in the treatment of 84 serious juvenile offenders and their multiproblem families. Offenders were assigned randomly to treatment conditions. Pretreatment and posttreatment assessment batteries evaluating family relations, peer relations, symptomatology, social competence, and self-reported delinquency were completed by the youth and a parent, and archival records were searched at 59 weeks postreferral to obtain data on rearrest and incarceration. In comparison with youths who received usual services, youths who received MST had fewer arrests and self-reported offenses and spent an average of 10 fewer weeks incarcerated. In addition, families in the MST condition reported increased family cohesion and decreased youth aggression in peer relations. The relative effectiveness of MST was neither moderated by demographic characteristics nor mediated by psychosocial variables.
The Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale, the Kansas Parental Satisfaction Scale, a version for couples of the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales (FACES III), and three subscales from the Marital Communication Inventory were subjected to common factor analysis using data from 1222 rural, heterosexual couples, husbands and wives from eight western and midwestern states in the United States. The analysis supported the expected dimensionality of the Marital Communication Inventory and the two satisfaction scales but suggested that the adaptability scale may have more than one dimension
This study examined the individual functioning, family relations, and peer relations of 60 male adolescents who were divided into 4 demographically matched groups (sex offenders, assaultive offenders, nonviolent offenders, and nondelinquent controls). Mothers and adolescents completed self-report inventories and a video-taped interaction task, and teachers completed a rating measure. Results showed that assaultive offenders' family relations were characterized by rigidity and low cohesion and that their peer relations evidenced high levels of aggression. Nevertheless, assaultive offenders and their mothers reported little anxiety or interpersonal discomfort. In contrast, sex offenders and their mothers reported high rates of neurotic symptoms, and the peer relations of sex offenders showed relatively low levels of emotional bonding. Implications for research and emerging theories of delinquency are discussed.
The FACES instrument, based on Olson's Circumplex Model of family functioning, was administered to 96 adolescent drug-abuse clients and their parents. The majority of these families categorized themselves as “disengaged” (rather than “enmeshed) on the cohesion dimension, and as “rigid” (rather than “chaotic”) on the adaptability dimension. These findings were unexpected as they were substantially different from published findings on families with other types of problems. Family therapists, utilizing Olson's Clinical Rating Scale for the Circumplex Model, characterized significantly more of these same families as “enmeshed,” rather than “disengaged.” rather than “disengaged.” Possible explanations for the difference between the therapists' perceptions and the families' self-perceptions are discussed.
Purpose:
To describe and compare adolescent and parent perspectives on communication, family adaptability and cohesion, as well as relationships among these variables, during the first month of an adolescent's cancer diagnosis.
Methods:
Seventy adolescent-parent dyads were enrolled as part of a larger multi-site study. The adolescents ranged in age from 11 to 19, and 61% were males. Parents were predominately mothers (83%). Dyads were predominately non-Hispanic Caucasian (63%). Measures included the Parent-Adolescent Communication Scale and the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale (FACES II). Paired t-tests, Pearson correlations, intra-class correlation coefficients and multiple linear regression analyses were completed.
Results:
Adolescent scores on communication, family adaptability and cohesion were significantly lower than parent scores. The inter-dyadic agreement between adolescents and parents was low. Communication, family adaptability and cohesion were examined separately for adolescents and for parents, and significant relationships were found. Both adolescent- and parent-perceived communication was significantly associated with family adaptability and cohesion outcomes.
Conclusions:
Differences were found in adolescent and parent perceptions of communication, family adaptability and cohesion. When both adolescents and parents had better perceived communication, this was associated with better perceived family adaptability and cohesion. Results suggest that the development of interventions to enhance adolescent-parent communication could help foster better family adaptability and cohesion, which may ultimately impact their psychological adjustment. In addition, understanding the degree to which adolescents and parents disagree on their perceptions, including the results that parents generally have more favorable perceptions, may be a useful starting point when developing interventions.
The relationships of family cohesion and adaptability to adolescent intimacy development were explored by administering the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales survey and the Fundamental Interpersonal Relationship Orientation - Behavioral Version survey to 207 middle adolescents (70 males and 137 females) from a small midwestern high school. The adolescents' perceptions of family adaptability correlated with the amount of responsibility the teens expressed in their relationships, while cohesion correlated with companionship and affection in their relationships; however, females' scores were related to cohesion, while males' scores were related to satisfaction with cohesion in their families. The study suggests that family cohesion and adaptability differentially influence intimacy development based on the adolescent's gender.
This study examined the relationship of previously determined predictors of general delinquency to violent behavior of African American and Caucasian males. Independent variables included multiple measures of family and individual variables. With the exception of family structure, results indicated that predictors of violent behavior are similar to predictors of general delinquency. Differences between African American and Caucasians are highlighted. Recommendations for future research and application to prevention and intervention program development are offered.
Listening to music often evokes in individuals cognitive and affective memories of important life events and significant losses. The authors have observed that music and lyrics significantly contribute to individuals’ creation of relationship narratives that restrict their ability to form and/or maintain intimacy. By connecting music with past relationship experiences, individuals’ perceptions of the viability of loving relationships are often affected. This connection may serve to support or impede their ability to engage in or commit to a love relationship. The authors present a method, the musical chronology, that can assist clients in identifying and reauthoring restrictive relationship narratives. A case example that demonstrates the method’s application is included.
This study investigated perceived parental rejection, family cohesion and adaptability, and levels of trait anger and anxiety and their relationship to the etiology of aggression in adolescents who have been adjudicated for assaultive crimes. An attempt was made to translate these psychological constructs into a theory-based model from the principles of individual psychology by Alfred Adler. This study supports Adler’s aggression theory, which established that aggression may begin with feelings of inferiority or anxiety within the family. When these feelings of anxiety increase, some adolescents may use anger as a safeguard to their selfesteem. Adler described this use of anger as the compensatory movement and suggested that anger used to overcome feelings of inferiority results in aggression. This intense anger appears to direct attention, interests, perceptions, and memory into paths of impulsive aggression.
This chapter provides an overview of the research regarding family responses to a handicapped child using family stress theory as a framework. It focuses upon family coping and family stress and describes the factors, which facilitate family adjustment to a handicapped child. While the stress experienced by mothers, fathers, and siblings of developmentally handicapped children is widely documented in case studies and retrospective personal accounts, the latest research focuses increasingly upon the relationships between family resources, coping strategies, and stress associated with a handicapped child. With the growing need for community based support systems for families of developmentally handicapped children across the life-span, the data gathered from research that takes a multidimensional perspective should be of great value to professionals, caregivers, and parents as the complex relationships among family stress, coping, and adaptation are unravelled.
This study evaluated the association between family relations and changes in children's popularity during the school year when controlling for the influence of important third variables. Participants were 24 third-grade children and their parents. Sociometric nominations were used to measure popularity, and multiple self-report and observational measures were used to assess family relations. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that perceptions of positive family relations and observed paternal receptivity to children's proposed solutions on a teaching task were linked with favorable changes in peer acceptance even when the effects of the children's social competence and academic competence were statistically controlled. These findings support the view that positive family relations facilitates the development of children's peer relations.
From several theoretical perspectives as well as in psychotherapeutic practice it is assumed
that family characteristics have a causal influence on the course of emotional and / or
behavioral problems of children and adolescents (e.g., Boszonneny-Nagy & Sparke, 1973;
Dadds, 1995; Hetherington & Mat1in, 1986; Jacob & Tennenbaum, 1988; Minuchin, 1974;
Patterson, 1982). However, although there is an enollatous amount of evidence for the
presence of an association between family functioning and children's problem behavior (e.g.,
Adams, Overholser, & Lehnert, 1994; Davies & Cunnnings, 1994; Emery, 1982; Grych &
Fincham, 1990; Hollis, 1996; Patterson, 1982; Reid & Crisafulli, 1989; Rollins & Thomas,
1979; Rothbaum & Weisz, 1994; Simons, Robertson & Downs, 1989), it has hardly been
shown whether family functioning and family relations, and changes therein are causative of
changes in children's intematizing and / or extemalizing problem behavior, or vice versa. In
other words, empirical support for the above stated assumption is rather lacking. Therefore,
the primary aim of the research project which is reported in this thesis was to examine the
causal relation between the course of family characteristics and the course of problem
behavior in children and adolescents referred to outpatient mental health services.
In order to improve our understanding of the nature and direction of the relation between
family characteristics and child problem behavior longitudinal studies are indispensable.
There has been little empirical research regarding the needs of family members of incarcerated male alcohol and drug offenders. This study surveyed the perceptions of eighty-five family members using FACES II, Quality of Life, and Quality of Counseling Services instruments. Statistically significant results yielded a relationship between significant others with a low quality of life and an interest in counseling services. The findings from this exploratory study, coupled with previous research linking the needs of family members to the quality of interaction with the multiple systems in which they interact, substantiate the value of counseling interventions for significant others and other family members related to offenders.
Approximately 20% of all sexual offenses are committed by individuals under the age of 18. Furthermore, nearly 60% of all sexual offenses against children under the age of 12 are committed by juveniles. Unfortunately, however, the assessment and treatment of juvenile sex offenders has been largely neglected in the empirical literature, as research with sexual offenders, especially pedophiles, has typically focused on adult offenders. While there are some similarities with adult offenders, juvenile sex offenders require distinct interventions and assessment approaches. Although the frequency and quality of studies that have been conducted to specifically examine juvenile sexual offenders appears to be increasing in recent years, an integration of such findings is warranted. Hence, the purpose of this paper is threefold: (1) to provide an empirically based description of juvenile sexual offenders, (2) to review the empirical support of assessment and treatment methods utilized with this population, and (3) to suggest areas warranting future empirical exploration.
Videotape recorded 22 normal and 20 delinquent families while performing discussion and resolution-of-differences tasks. The interaction data generally support the hypotheses generated by systems theory and prior small group research that abnormal families would express high rates of system-distinguished (i.e., defensive) communications, while normal families would express more system-integrating (i.e., supportive) communications. Additional data support the hypothesis that families operate as systems-demonstrating reciprocity and feedback. Furthermore, differences in intensity and content of system functioning in the 2 groups provided information concerning the processes through which some families adapt to stress and others disintegrate. (19 ref.)
PARENTAL WARMTH AND DOMINANCE WERE FOUND TO BE SALIENT VARIABLES IN IDENTIFICATION; HOWEVER, PARENTAL DOMINANCE WAS MORE IMPORTANT FOR IMITATION BY BOYS WHILE MATERNAL WARMTH WAS MORE EFFECTIVE WITH GIRLS. SUPPORT WAS FOUND FOR IDENTIFICATION WITH THE AGGRESSOR UNDER THE CONDITIONS OF A HIGH-CONFLICT HOME WHERE BOTH PARENTS WERE LOW IN WARMTH. (17 REF.)
Collected demographic, psychometric (the Behavior Problem Checklist, the Vocabulary subtest of the WAIS or WISC––R, the Eysenck Personality Inventory, a family relationship questionnaire, and an unrevealed differences questionnaire), and observational measures on 163 families with an adolescent son to determine their relationship to adolescent criminal activity. In 74 families the father was present, but in 89 families he was absent. Stepwise multiple regression analyses showed that socialized-aggressive disorder, as rated by the parent(s), was the most consistent and powerful predictor of serious and repeated arrests among the male adolescents and their siblings. The adolescent's age at first arrest was the second most powerful predictor. It is suggested that determination of high risk indicates that the individual, family, peer, and social factors involved must be assessed to determine what interventions are required. (51 ref)
A policy regarding the family-based nature and treatment of female juvenile status offenders was developed. To implement this policy, a family-oriented treatment program was instituted and evaluated with regard to the Circumplex Model (Olson, Russell and Sprenkle, 1979). Twenty-nine families are assessed on the Moos Family Environment Scale (Moos, 1974) both before and after the treatment program. Comparisons are made between families who complete and families who drop out of treatment. Results indicate that all families improve in their family environment scores but that recidivism rates do not decrease as a result of treatment completion. No statistically significant differences were found between recidivism rates and scores on the adaptability dimension. However, families with extremely high Cohesion scores are more likely to be recidivists than families with low or moderate scores on Cohesion. The Circumplex Model is only minimally supported by the data. Explanations for the findings and implications for family-based treatment are discussed.
To evaluate the application of Systems Theory concepts to family functioning, videotape recordings of 21 families performing two discussion tasks were analyzed for the frequency of defensive and supportive communications. The data demonstrated that normal families behaved as adaptive systems, both in generating and reciprocating high rates of supportiveness. Conversely, system disintegrating defensiveness occurred at a much lower rate, and was not reciprocated. As an additional focus, rates of parental defensive and supportive communications to son were related to rates of son's aggressive behavior. As hypothesized, son's aggression was positively related to mother's defensiveness, and inversely related to mother's and father's supportiveness. It was concluded that although the data were correlational, they provided support for the hypothesis that the patterns of defensiveness, and supportiveness, of parents towards their son influences his tendency to act aggressively in other interpersonal contexts.
Presents an analysis of the various forms of paternal deprivation and their effects, the influence of fathering on cognitive functioning and school adjustment, how inadequate fathering can contribute to the development of personal, sexual, and social problems, biological and sociocultural perspectives on paternal deprivation and sex-role functioning, and paternal deprivation and mother-child relationships. (37 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Olson, Bell, and Portner (11) have recently developed a measure of family adaptability and cohesion (The Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales). This study is a critical evaluation of the construction of the cohesion subscale of this instrument. Included is a partial replication of the original work of Olson et al. (11). Some problems with this subscale and its construction are pointed out, and a subset of the original items is presented and discussed. Some implications of these results for the conceptualization of the nature of family cohesion are also discussed.
The interaction processes of twenty-five couples receiving marriage counseling were compared with a control group of twenty-five couples not receiving counseling. The study was a partial test of a circumplex model of marital and family systems. The major variable was adaptability. Creativity and support were also examined. The study also sought to evaluate the usefulness of the principal instrument, SIMFAM, as a behavioral indicator of marital adjustment and an assessment tool for marriage and family counselors. Under stressful circumstances, there was evidence that better adjusted couples have a more equalitarian leadership (relative control) pattern. A combination of high support and equalitarian leadership was especially characteristic of NC (non-clinic) couples. NC couples were significantly more creative, more supportive and more responsive to each other's attempts to influence each other (control efficiency) than clinic couples.
This paper updates the theoretical work on the Circumplex Model and provides revised and new hypotheses. Similarities and contrasts to the Beavers Systems Model are made along with comments regarding Beavers and Voeller's critique. FACES II, a newly revised assessment tool, provides both “perceived” and “ideal” family assessment that is useful empirically and clinically.
The conceptual clustering of numerous concepts from family therapy and other social science fields reveals two significant dimensions of family behavior, cohesion and adaptability. These two dimensions are placed into a circumplex model that is used to identify 16 types of marital and family systems. The model proposes that a balanced level of both cohesion and adaptability is the most functional to marital and family development. It postulates the need for a balance on the cohesion dimension between too much closeness (which leads to enmeshed systems) and too little closeness (which leads to disengaged systems). There also needs to be a balance on the adaptability dimension between too much change (which leads to chaotic systems) and too little change (which leads to rigid systems). The model was developed as a tool for clinical diagnosis and for specifying treatment goals with couples and families.
This study was designed to test the circumplex model of family systems that hypothesizes moderate family cohesion and moderate adaptability to be more functional than either extreme. Thirty-one Catholic family triads with daughters ranging in age from 14 to 17 years participated in a structured family interaction game (SIMFAM) and filled out questionnaires that measured the variables of cohesion and adaptability and the facilitative variables of support and creativity. All families were considered normal but were subdivided into those that had more and less difficulty with this adolescent. Analysis of the data yielded considerable support for the circumplex model. High family functioning was associated with moderate family cohesion and adaptability, and low family functioning had extreme scores on these dimensions. As predicted, high family support and creativity were also related to high family functioning. Implications of these findings for family therapy are discussed.
This paper examines the parental, adolescent, and family system characteristics that place a family at risk for destructive parent-child relations in adolescence. It is based on a study of 62 families, all of which contained a youth (age 10-16) and 2 parents and were referred because of the adjustment problems of the adolescent. A 3-member team visited the family at home to administer a 3 1/2-hour battery of questionnaire, interview, and observation instruments. These included a measure of risk for destructive parent-child relations (the Adolescent-Abuse Inventory); the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist; a measure of the family as an interactional system (FACES); the Cornell Parent Behavior Description; and assessments of adolescent physical maturation, interparental conflict, cognitive functioning, life events (A-FILE), and demographic and socioeconomic factors. The results permit identification of families as high risk for destructive parent-child relations using the parental scores on the Adolescent-Abuse Inventory. The high-risk group tends to be "chaotic" and "enmeshed" (FACES), to include more stepparents, to be more punishing and less supportive (Cornell Parent Behavior Description), and to be more stressed by life changes (A-FILE). Adolescents in the high-risk families are characterized by significantly more developmental problems (both internalizing and externalizing), and the number of such problems correlates significantly with the risk for destructive parent-child relations. The development of adolescent psychopathology appears to interact with the evolution of a high-risk family system to produce destructive relationships between parents and their adolescent offspring. Stepfamilies appear especially vulnerable to this dysfunctional evolution.
The Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales (FACES), a measure of family functioning, contains three scales: cohesion, adaptability, and social desirability. These were slightly modified (FACES-R) on the basis of pilot data and were administered to 42 clinic families (families seeking or receiving psychological services) and 206 nonclinic families. Support for the scales was found in high coefficient alpha reliabilities and similarity of the sample means and standard deviations to those of the standardization sample. However, there was little agreement among family members' scale scores. Therapists' ratings of cohesion and adaptability did not correlate with scale scores among clinic families. There was no difference between clinic and nonclinic samples on the cohesion or adaptability scales, although the social desirability scale did discriminate between groups. Factor analysis suggested that cohesion, adaptability, and social desirability cannot be clearly differentiated using this measure.
This paper updates the theoretical work on the Circumplex Model and provides revised and new hypotheses. Similarities and contrasts to the Beavers Systems Model are made along with comments regarding Beavers and Voeller's critique. FACES II, a newly revised assessment tool, provides both "perceived" and "ideal" family assessment that is useful empirically and clinically.
The interaction patterns of 64 well-adjusted family triads, divided into eight equal groups by race, social class, and sex of adolescent, were assessed across observational and self-report measures of family affect, conflict, and dominance. Any social class or race differences similar to those of prior research could not be described as deficits since all families met extensive criteria to assure favorable psychosocial adjustment. However, in contrast to much extant literature, statistical analyses revealed few social class or race effects. In light of the present strict methodological controls, it is suggested that previous findings of race and social class differences might have resulted from uncontrolled sampling, procedural, or measurement factors.
Olson, Bell, and Portner (11) have recently developed a measure of family adaptability and cohesion (The Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales). This study is a critical evaluation of the construction of the cohesion subscale of this instrument. Included is a partial replication of the original work of Olson et al. (11). Some problems with this subscale and its construction are pointed out, and a subset of the original items is presented and discussed. Some implications of these results for the conceptualization of the nature of family cohesion are also discussed.
Memphis-Metro Youth Diversion Project: Local evalu-ation final report. Memphis: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Circumplex Model of marital systems IV: Empirical study of clinic and non-clinic couples
- L J Severy
- D S Morton
Severy, L. J., & Morton, D. S. (1982). Memphis-Metro Youth Diversion Project: Local evalu-ation final report. Memphis: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Sprenkle, D., & Olson, D. H. (1978). Circumplex Model of marital systems IV: Empirical study of clinic and non-clinic couples. Journal of Marriage and Family Counseling, 4, 59-74.
Separation, divorce, and single parent familiesThe family life cycle: A framework for family therapy
- E M Beal
Underorganization in the poor family
- H J Aponte
- H. J. Aponte
The family life cycle of the multiproblem poor familyThe family life cycle: A framework for family therapy
- F Colon
Clinical application of the Circumflex Model to chemically dependent families
- E Killorin
- D Olson
Families of the slums
- S Minuchin
- B Montalvo
- B G Guerney
- B C Rosman
- F Schumer
- S. Minuchin
The family life cycle of the multiproblem poor family
- F Colon
- F. Colon
The family life cycle: A framework for family therapy
- E M Beal
- E. M. Beal
Memphis-Metro Youth Diversion Project: Local evaluation final report
- L J Severy
- D S Morton
- L. J. Severy