Family Processes, Parent-Child Interactions, and Child Characteristics Influencing School-Based Social Adjustment

Abstract

This investigation examined the relationship between family processes and children's schoolbased social adjustment for a sample of 161 fourth-grade and 151 seventh-grade children. The study examined the direct and indirect associations among general family relations, schoolfocused parent-child interactions, child personal characteristics, and school adjustment. Path analyses indicated that child characteristics (exclusive of self-esteem) demonstrated the most consistent and direct association with school social adjustment. A variety of parent-child interaction factors and family life factors also were found to predict adjustment indirectly. Preliminary evidence for developmental differences is reported. Key Words: family, school, social adjustment. Little is known about the connection between the family and school contexts for children's schoolbased social adjustment, but growing attention is being drawn to the issue (Epstein & Lee, 1995). Recent research has identified possible associations between several family variables and school outcomes (e.g., Bierman & Smoot, 1991; East, 1991; Loeber & Dishion, 1984; Ramsey, Walker, Shinn, O'Neill, & Steiber, 1989). At the same time, a fully tested model capable of integrating and guiding the research in this area has not been available. Ryan and Adams (1995) have proposed a conceptual model intended to encompass family characteristics and processes relevant to children's academic and social outcomes. Their family-school relationships model includes seven classes or levels of variables: child outcomes (e.g., school achievement or social adjustment behaviors), child personal characteristics (e.g., self-esteem or assertiveness), school-focused parent-child interactions (e.g., parental support or pressure for school success), general parent-child interactions (e.g., authoritative parenting style), general family relations (e.g., family cohesion or conflict), parental characteristics (e.g., educational expectations for the child, parental beliefs, maternal depression), and exogenous sociocultural and biological variables (e.g., family income, ethnic group, sex of child). The model can be envisioned as a series of concentric blocks, with child outcomes at the center and successive levels extending through general family relations to the exogenous variables that are taken as givens with respect to within-the-family processes. Using the model, the study presented here examines the influences of general family relations, school-focused parent-child interactions, and child personal characteristics on children's school-based social adjustment in a sample of middle-class, White children largely in two-parent families. The importance of this investigation is based on the emerging understanding that the perceived quality of family processes, including the ongoing patterns of behaviors, feelings, and expectations among family members, are critical in determining children's social adjustment in school contexts. As a general rule, however, these relationships appear to apply most clearly to families of European North American origin. As Chao (1994) noted, not all developmental or social-psychological concepts can be transported readily across cultural or ethnic lines. LITERATURE REVIEW Family Processes Family cohesion-the commitment, help, and support that family members provide one another (Moos & Moos, 1986)-is one family process consistently linked to positive child outcomes such as self-esteem (Cooper, Holman, & Braithwaite, 1983: Kawash & Kozeluk, 1990) and rule compliance (Kurdek & Sinclair, 1988b). Additional aspects of the family environment also have been connected to child competencies. Cohesive, expressive, well-organized families that are oriented toward active recreational activities and intellectual or cultural activities have been positively related to children's self-concept and self-esteem (Burt, Cohen, & Bjorck, 1988: DuBois, Eitel, & Felner, 1994; Nelson, 1984), goal directedness (Kurdek & Sinclair, 1988a), and tolerance of frustration (Bronstein, Clauson, Frankel Stoll, & Abrams, 1993). …