Families including a young child with a significant cognitive and motor developmental delay need to adapt their routines to the child's needs, while balancing the resources, needs and values of the whole family system. We aim to characterize if and how their routines are sustainable in terms of ecological fit, congruence and meaningfulness, in…

Anyone hoping to understand China and Chinese people's behaviour in the present day must examine China's long history and culture, as these often have crystallized into current behavioural patterns. This paper discusses one important push-out factor for Chinese students' outbound mobility, and an element that is ignored in many futuristic…

Introduces Family Behavior Loop Mapping as diagraming method for wet and dry repetitive behavior cycles of substance abusers. Explains family wet/dry behavior cycles as changes in family function corresponding to abuser shifts from active use (wet) to abstinence (dry). (Author/CM)

Using data obtained from surveys and group interviews, sex differences in migratory behaviors, work patterns and conjugal relations were compared between male and female immigrants moving seasonally between Mexico and the United States. Men's traditional role as providers and female equality in marriage were strengthened through employment in the…

Examines the theoretical constructs about the effects of coalitions in the father-mother-child triad from a family systems perspective. How this triadic view interacts with the historical patriarchal structure and with issues of power is addressed from a feminist perspective. (Author/MKA)

In this study husbands were perceived as more psychologically healthy when they had children than when they had no children. Wives were liked less and viewed more negatively on general personality descriptors when they were described as voluntarily childless than when they were involuntarily childless. (Author)

In this study, the model of two independent dimensions of family connectedness, closeness-caregiving, and intrusiveness, was tested by assessing spouses from 264 couples, using the California Inventory for Family Assessment (CIFA). As predicted, factor analyses distinguished dimensions of intrusiveness (blurring of boundaries) from…

Using "talk time" measures of spouse/stranger interaction styles, tested models of communication. Concluded that (1) a spillover interactionist model best represented the talk time data; (2) sex had no apparent effect on speaking with either a spouse or a stranger; and (3) few personality variables predicted talk time, though relationship…

Describes the historical context of a systems approach to the family; defines basic systems concepts with emphasis on their application to the family; and describes some axioms of human communication theory and the role they play in understanding family communication from a systems viewpoint. (PD)

Coping behavior of families facing plantation closures is evidenced in their job-seeking, in their dependence on social alliance systems, and in role changes experienced within their families. Behavior is constrained by expectations derived from earlier actions of plantation companies and government and limitations in education and…

Investigated the relationship of family structure to psychosocial health in "healthy" and "normal" male adolescents. Families of healthy subjects had significantly more effective parental coalitions and generational boundaries. Suggests the importance of marital transactions for establishing parental coalitions and generational boundaries. (Author)

Issues raised in gay parent custody cases are examined. Data indicate that notions about gay fathers' compensatory behavior, molestation of children, negative influence on child development, and instigation of harassment are largely unfounded. The father's "coming out" to his children tends to relieve family tension and strengthen the father-child…

The traditional division of labor in the household along sex lines establishes dichotomy for females and males resulting in some men's alienation from the intimacy of the house. This study traces the role of early childhood experiences in shaping this dichotomy and examines adult household patterns which maintain sex role division. (Author)

Female-headed families are vulnerable to high levels of stress following divorce. A framework is proposed which conceptually links economic stressors and family management patterns. Ecosystem and management perspectives are offered as an integrated framework. (Author)

Explores the relationship between wife's employment, sex-role traditionalism, and reported division of household tasks and decisions. Findings suggest that despite differences among women in sex-role traditionalism and employment status, most women say that they and their spouses divide tasks in a traditional sex-role fashion. (Author)