Characteristics of extended family and children's trait anxiety

Abstract

Abstract This study examined the ways in which perceived cohesion and adaptability (change patterns) in three subsystems of extended family were related to 4–5 year old childrens' level of trait anxiety. Maternal and paternal grandparents, and their adult children (parents), described functioning in their current families by completing the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales (FACES III), (Olson, Portner&Lavee 1985). Based upon Olson, Ruseel, and Sprenkle (1983) and Olson et al.'s (1985) assumption regarding a curvilinear relationship between cohesion, adaptability, and adjustment, it was hypothesized that children's trait anxiety would be related to parents' and grandparents' perceptions of family in a curvilinear pattern: Highest trait anxiety will be reported by children who are exposed to extreme levels (high or low) of either cohesion or adaptability in the significant subsystems of their family. Additionally, we have examined Kohlmann, Schumacher, and Streit's (1988) hypothesis regardi...