Representation Of Relationships Research Articles

Social and emotional adjustment, post-traumatic stress disorder, and representations of family relationships: The effects of intimate partner violence on very young children

IntroductionPregnancy and the birth of a child are times of great vulnerability that can disrupt the couple and sometimes trigger violence. ObjectiveThis study sets out to examine how a child's exposure to intimate partner violence at a very young age can impact their development and adjustment, and more specifically, to highlight the social, emotional, traumatic and family consequences for children exposed to intimate partner violence in early or late childhood. MethodOur sample comprised 46 children aged between 5 and 12. The following measurement tools were used: SAGA (Systemic Analysis of Group Affiliation) test (Compagnone, 2009) for family cohesion representations, CBCL (Child Behavior Checklist) (Achenbach, 1991) for social and emotional adjustment, and TSCC (Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children) (Briere, 1989) for post-traumatic stress. ResultsResults indicate that children exposed to intimate partner violence at an early age are the most likely to present symptoms of anxiety and depression. ConclusionThe representation of the cohesiveness of the mother–child relationship plays a moderating role between the onset of intimate partner violence and the externalized adjustment displayed by the children. This leads us to posit that a poor cohesive mother–child relationship is a risk factor for the child's adjustment.

Representations of Family Relationships and Generational Conflicts in the Works of British Writers in Diaspora

Writing in English at the advanced level often refers to the process of writing. As a process, it normally goes through a series of stages such as prewriting, outlining, writing, and revising. However, teaching writing within the context of distance higher education is mostly delivered through the Internet. This paper explores an online tutorial package that is specially designed for advanced level students to improve their proficiency in writing essays. For this purpose, a research question was developed: To what extent can the technology-based online tutorial help both the tutors and the students in the teaching and learning process? A critical analysis of this practice in association with the notion of admission test to an undergraduate degree programme in translation, in particular, was then followed by a detailed discussion. Conclusions drawn from this case study are in two folds; on one hand, online advanced writing course tutorials can be considered as an alternative strategy for students to their competency in writing essays which have been achieved by learning through printed self-instructional modular packages (i.e., Writing 4 course module), and on the other, the findings are closely linked to some students’ poor writing performance prior to pursuing translation core courses could have a possible impact on retention rates in the long run.

Kith and kin

Nursery WorldVol. 2017, No. 21 Positive RelationshipsKith and kinNicola Stobbs, Alison ProwleNicola StobbsSearch for more papers by this author, Alison ProwleSearch for more papers by this authorNicola Stobbs; Alison ProwlePublished Online:21 Dec 2017https://doi.org/10.12968/nuwa.2017.21.34AboutSectionsView articleView Full TextPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail View articleAbstractTo improve their relationships with kinship carers, and to help make these people feel less isolated, practitioners should understand their particular challenges. By Nicola Stobbs and Alison ProwleMORE INFORMATION• ‘Grandparents’ charity wins kinship carer funding’, ‘Old hands?’ by Annette Rawstrone and ‘A grey area for managers?’ by Richard O'Neill are at: www.nurseryworld.co.uk Google Scholar• Farmer E (2009) ‘Making Kinship Care Work’, Adoption & Fostering, 33 (3), 15-27 Crossref, Google Scholar• Gautier A and Wellard S (2014) Disadvantage, discrimination, resilience: the lives of kinship carers. Grandparents Plus, http://bit.ly/2y93yIZ Google Scholar• Poehlmann J et al. (2008) ‘Representations of family relationships in children living with custodial grandparents’, Attachment & Human Development, 10 (2), 165-188 Crossref, Google Scholar FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails 16 October 2017Volume 2017Issue 21ISSN (print): 0029-6422ISSN (online): 2059-9358 Metrics History Published online 21 December 2017 Published in print 16 October 2017 Information© MA Education LimitedPDF download

Family Drawings before and after Treatment for Child Conduct Problems: Fluidity of Family Dysfunction

Children’s drawings have previously been found to reflect their representations of family relationships. The present study examined whether evidence-based parent training for child conduct problems impacts on representations of family functioning using the Family Drawing Paradigm (FDP). N = 53 clinic-referred children (aged 3–15) with conduct problems and their families were assessed pre-treatment and at 6-month follow-up on a modified version of the FDP. Analyses of changes in the FDP revealed improvements in family functioning but not tone of language (as indicated by written descriptors) following treatment. Higher family dysfunction scores were associated with increased levels of callous-unemotional (CU) traits in the children pre-treatment. Children with high levels of CU, however, demonstrated greater change in FDP dysfunction than a low CU group, resulting in similar levels at follow-up. CU traits also moderated the association between change in family warmth and conduct problem severity, with increased FDP warmth more strongly related to improved conduct problems in the high vs. the low CU group. FDP drawings are sensitive to changes in family functioning arising from parent training, accounting for unique variance in child outcomes independent of verbal reports.

Parenting and children's representations of family predict disruptive and callous-unemotional behaviors.

Data from a large prospective longitudinal study (n = 1,239) was used to investigate the association between observed sensitive parenting in early childhood and children's representations of family relationships as measured by the Family Drawing Paradigm (FDP) in first grade as well as the extent to which these representations partially mediate the influences of early caregiving experiences on later conduct problems and callous-unemotional behaviors. A structural equation modeling approach revealed that less sensitive parenting at 24, 36, and 58 months predicts higher levels of conduct problems (CP) and callous-unemotional (CU) behaviors in first grade controlling for earlier measures of CP and CU behaviors. Results also indicated that greater dysfunctional family representations, as assessed with the FDP, are significantly associated with higher CU behaviors in the first grade, but not CP. Finally, a test of the indirect pathway suggests that children's dysfunctional family representations may, in part, account for the association between sensitive parenting and CU behaviors.

‘Your household accounts have always been so interesting’: family relations and gender politics in Lincoln's two ‘houses’

Since the release of Stephen Spielberg's Lincoln (2012), film critics and scholars have debated the film's depictions of race and who was responsible for abolition, as well as its historical accuracy and the actors' portrayals of the Lincolns and key characters in the White House and House of Representatives. There has been a more scattered response, however, to the film's representations of family relationships and gender politics. This essay explores how the film blends twenty-first century perceptions about nineteenth-century expectations of fathers and mothers, men and women, and political and familial agency. The film encourages this type of analysis by turning the two ‘Houses’ into sites for affirming, reinforcing, policing, and challenging gender appropriate practices.

Early parenting, represented family relationships, and externalizing behavior problems in children born preterm

Through assessment of 173 preterm infants and their mothers at hospital discharge and at 9, 16, 24, 36, and 72 months, the study examined early parenting, attachment security, effortful control, and children’s representations of family relationships in relation to subsequent externalizing behavior problems. Less intrusive early parenting predicted more secure attachment, better effortful control skills, and fewer early behavior problems, although it did not directly relate to the structural or content characteristics of children’s represented family relationships. Children with higher effortful control scores at 24 months had more coherent family representations at 36 months. Moreover, children who exhibited less avoidance in their family representations at 36 months had fewer mother-reported externalizing behavior problems at 72 months. The study suggests that early parenting quality and avoidance in children’s represented relationships are important for the development of externalizing behavior problems in children born preterm.

Children's representations of family relationships, peer information processing, and school adjustment.

This study examined children's peer information processing as an explanatory mechanism underlying the association between their insecure representations of interparental and parent-child relationships and school adjustment in a sample of 210 first graders. Consistent with emotional security theory (P. T. Davies & E. M. Cummings, 1994), results indicated that children's insecure representations of the interparental relationship were indirectly related to their academic functioning through association with their negative information processing of stressful peer events. Insecure interparental relationships were specifically linked with negative peer information processing patterns that, in turn, predicted increases in child maladjustment over a 1-year period. These pathways remained robust after taking into account the roles of representations of parent-child relationships, trait measures of child negative affect, and socioeconomic characteristics as predictors in the analyses.

Representations of family relationships in children living with custodial grandparents

Children's representations of family relationships were examined in relation to grandparent responsivity and depression, family sociodemographic risks, and children's behavior problems in custodial grandparent families. Using multiple methods, data were collected from 79 families with children aged 3 to 7.5 years. In 37 families, children were raised by grandparents as the result of maternal incarceration and, in 42 families, children lived with grandparents because of other parental problems. Results indicated that children with representations of less optimal family relationships and children whose grandparents were less responsive to them at home were more likely to exhibit externalizing behavior problems. In addition, children were more likely to include relationship violence in their story stem enactments when grandparents reported elevated depressive symptoms. Results suggest links among grandparent depression, quality of children's family relationships, and children's behavior problems in grandparent-headed households.

Parental Depressive Symptoms, Children's Representations of Family Relationships, and Child Adjustment

AbstractThis study extends the investigation of family process models of parental dysphoria and child adjustment, by examining depressive symptoms in both fathers and mothers, and by examining children's representations of family relationships as possible explanatory mechanisms. Participants were 232 children (Time 1 mean age: 5.99; 105 boys, 127 girls) and their cohabiting parents, who participated for three consecutive years. Children's internal representations of multiple family relationships were assessed by means of a story stem completion task. Structural equation modeling indicated that children's inter‐parental and attachment representations are part of the process whereby parental depressive symptoms influence child externalizing symptoms. Maternal depressive symptoms also predicted changes in children's representations of marital and attachment relationships over time. The implications for family process models of relations between parental depressive symptoms in community samples and child development are discussed.

Improvements in Salivary Cortisol, Depression, and Representations of Family Relationships in At-Risk Adopted Children Utilizing a Short-Term Therapeutic Intervention

Adopted children with histories of abuse, neglect, or trauma are disproportionately represented among those who deteriorate into behavioral and emotional disorders. Numerous mechanisms have been identified which are believed to drive these aberrations in development such as changes in children's trust and belief systems, changes in their stress reactivity, and changes in their brain development and brain chemistry. The current study was carried out in the context of a therapeutic summer day camp for at-risk, adopted children with histories of neglect, abuse, or trauma. Research findings document reduced levels of salivary cortisol, reductions in child depression, and healthier attachment representations as assessed through family drawings. These findings highlight reduction of fear as a crucial element in creating positive behavioral change in at-risk adopted children.

Maternal Emotional Expressiveness and Attachment Security: Links to Representations of Relationships and Social Behavior

The goal of this study was to examine whether the security of the relationship between mothers and children influenced the relation between maternal emotional expressiveness and aspects of children’s social development. Fifty-one preschool children (M age = 52.80 months) and their mothers took part in the study. At their homes, mothers completed the Attachment Q-set. At the lab, children completed a measure of their representations of family relationships, while mothers completed measures of maternal emotional expressiveness and reports of the child’s social competence. Findings supported the idea that the quality of the attachment relationship moderated the influence of maternal positive expressiveness. For children who were low in attachment security, maternal positive expressiveness was an important predictor of representations of relationships. For those who were high in attachment security, maternal positive expressiveness was unrelated to social development. Overall, the pattern of findings suggests that high levels of maternal positive expressiveness may compensate for a lack of attachment security in promoting social development. Although researchers have found fairly consistent links between maternal emotional expressiveness and children’s social behavior, they have yet to examine how maternal expressiveness relates to children’s developing relationship schemes. In addition, researchers also have not yet examined how the quality of the mother-child attachment relationship might moderate the links between maternal emotional expressiveness and children’s social development. Therefore, this study was designed to examine the links between

Marital Conflict, Children's Representations of Family Relationships, and Children's Dispositions Towards Peer Conflict Strategies

AbstractThe links among marital relations and children's representations were examined. Forty‐seven children between the ages of 5 and 8 completed the Family Stories Task (FAST) to obtain their narrative representations of family relations and performed a variation of a puppet procedure (Mize & Ladd, 1988) to assess children's dispositions towards peer conflict strategies. Their parents completed a set of questionnaires regarding marital quality. Results demonstrated relations between marital conflict and children's dispositions towards peer conflict strategies in conflict situations. Children's more negative dispositions towards peer conflict and aggressive behavior in the peer conflict scenarios were each associated with more overt conflict behaviors by mothers and fathers, respectively, and more covert conflict behavior by mothers. In addition, children's internal representations of parent–child relations served as a mediator between marital conflict and children's notions about conflict behavior towards peers.

A picture is worth a thousand words: Children's representations of family as indicators of early attachment

To ascertain whether attachment representations at age 7 are related to early attachment behaviour, family drawings of 123 7-year-olds of known infant attachment status (25 avoidant, 80 secure, 18 resistant) were scored in four ways. Three of these were based in previous attachment research and one was based on a clinical method. The attachment-based coding schemes included specific markers for each attachment pattern (Kaplan & Main, 1985), global ratings (Fury, Carlson, & Sroufe, 1997) and efforts to classify each drawing as belonging to one of the three primary infant attachment groups (secure, avoidant, resistant). In the clinical scheme, children who had been resistant infants were distinguished from the others by use of overlapping and encapsulated figures. For the attachment based schemes, although individual markers were not successful in discriminating attachment groups, the more global approaches (aggregation of markers, global rating scales and judgments of attachment classification) succeeded in this task. In regression analyses controlling for concurrent child and parent measures, infant attachment did not make a significant contribution to predicting insecurity markers in drawings, although child current emotional functioning did. These findings linking attachment relationships with later representations of family relationships were in accord with the conception that avoidant attachment strategies de-emphasize intimate relationships, while resistant attachment strategies are preoccupied with close relationships. These links are most evident in global interpretive strategies rather than those that rely on specific markers.

Interparental aggression and young children's representations of family relationships.

Children's maternal, self, and marital representations were examined in 46 children 3 1/2 to 7 years old using the MacArthur Story Stem Battery. Children drawn from agencies serving battered women expressed fewer positive representations of their mothers and themselves, were more likely to portray interparental conflict as escalating, and were more avoidant and less coherent in their narratives about family interactions than children from a nonviolent community sample. Interparental aggression uniquely predicted representations of conflict escalation and avoidance after accounting for parent-child aggression, and the two types of aggression had additive effects in predicting positive maternal representations. The results suggest that witnessing aggression in the family affects children's developing beliefs about close relationships and may be a process by which these experiences give rise to later problems in social and emotional functioning.

Interparental aggression and young children's representations of family relationships.

Interparental aggression and young children's representations of family relationships.

Marital Conflict, Parenting Styles, and Children's Representations of Family Relationships

Objective. Consistent with the view that marital relationships are a dimension of parenting, the objective was to determine whether marital conflict predicted children's representations of family relationships, including parent - child and marital relationships. Design. To assess children's representations of family, 47 5- to 8-year-old children provided narrative descriptions in response to story stems about topics concerning multiple family systems. Fathers and mothers independently completed questionnaires assessing dimensions of their marital conflict behavior and parenting. Results. The results indicated that both mothers' and fathers' marital conflict strategies were related to children's representations of multiple family systems. Moreover, assessments of parents' self-reported parenting styles added to the understanding of children's representations of family relationships. For both parents, negative marital conflict strategies were linked with negative representations of family relationships, whereas for fathers, positive parenting styles (e.g., acceptance, behavioral control) were associated with positive representations of family relationships. Conclusions. The results provide further support for the role of the marital relationship as a dimension of parenting and specifically demonstrate that marital conflict has implications for children's representations of family relationships.

Marital Conflict, Parenting Styles, and Children's Representations of Family Relationships

Marital Conflict, Parenting Styles, and Children's Representations of Family Relationships

Abstract

Fiese, Barbara H.; Sameroff, Arnold J.; Grotevant, Harold D.; Wamboldt, Frederick S.; Dickstein, Susan; and Fravel, Deborah Lewis. The Stories That Families Tell: Narrative Coherence, Narrative Interaction, and Relationship Beliefs. With Commentary by Philip A. Cowan. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 1999, 64(2, serial no. 257)Personal narratives are receiving considerable interest as reflections of important psychological processes. Less attention, however, has been paid to how narratives are constructed among family members and serve as markers of family relationship functioning that directly affect child development. As a group activity, the telling of family stories may be one way that families regulate social interactions. As reflections of individual and family beliefs, family stories also may be a way that representations of relationships are passed down across generations. The Family Narrative Consortium was formed by a group of family researchers who aimed to devise a system by which family stories could be coded reliably. The consortium members were interested in how narratives about personal experiences could be considered a central aspect of the family's attempt to make sense of their social world and to share representations of relationships with their children.The narratives used in the collaborative project came from family interviews conducted with four different samples using four different interview protocols. The data sets were originally part of larger research projects aimed at studying a variety of family processes including intimate couple formation, family rituals, family adoption, and effects of parental psychiatric illness on the family. Three dimensions were proposed as part of the coding scheme: Narrative Coherence, Narrative Interaction, and Relationship Beliefs. Family narratives are proposed to involve the process of creating a coherent statement about family events, the exchange of information among family members, and attribution of meaning to family experiences. Analyses conducted across the samples and within each site provided support for the reliability and validity of the narrative scales.The consortium members conclude that narratives provide access to the insider's view of the family, can detect interactional and representational aspects of family process, and are important markers of family functioning. Furthermore, the study of family narratives emphasizes how the meaning‐making process comes to life in family interaction and transacts with representations of family relationships.

Family narratives: Internal representations of family relationships and affective themes

Family narratives provide a window for viewing aspects of past and present family relationships. There appear to be meaningful variations among families with respect to their narrative recounting of family events. This paper describes results of a pilot study designed to elicit family narratives using a structured, multigenerational family interview with parental couples. A structured, multigenerational family interview seems to have clinical utility. The paper will suggest directions for further empirical research using the family genogram interview.