Family Development Theories for National MFT

What are the stages in the Family Life Cycle according to Carter & McGoldrick?

Leaving home: Single young adults
The joining of families through marriage: The new couple
Families with young children
Families with adolescents
Launching children and moving on
Families in later life

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What is the primary developmental task of Stage 1: Leaving Home (Single Young Adults)?

Differentiation of self from family of origin, development of intimate peer relationships, and establishment of self in work and financial independence.

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What emotional process occurs during Stage 1: Leaving Home?

Accepting emotional and financial responsibility for self; separating from parents while maintaining connection.

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What is the key task of Stage 2: The Joining of Families Through Marriage?

Formation of the marital system and realignment of relationships with extended families and friends to include spouse.

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What emotional process is central to Stage 2: The New Couple?

Commitment to the new system; negotiating roles, boundaries, and creating shared meaning while managing two family cultures.

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What are the primary tasks of Stage 3: Families with Young Children?

Adjusting marital system to make space for children, joining in child-rearing, financial and household tasks, and realignment of relationships with extended family to include parenting and grandparenting roles.

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What emotional work is required in Stage 3: Families with Young Children?

Accepting new members into the system; sharing responsibilities; managing the decreased couple time and increased demands.

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What characterizes Stage 4: Families with Adolescents?

Increasing flexibility of family boundaries to permit adolescent independence while maintaining appropriate parental authority. Refocusing on midlife marital and career issues.

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What is the emotional challenge of Stage 4: Families with Adolescents?

Accepting adolescent movement in and out of the system; managing the parent’s own midlife transitions and relationship with aging parents.

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What happens during Stage 5: Launching Children and Moving On?

Renegotiation of marital system as a dyad, development of adult-to-adult relationships with grown children, realignment of relationships to include in-laws and grandchildren, and dealing with disabilities and death of parents.

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What is the key emotional process in Stage 5: Launching Children?

Accepting multiple exits from and (re)entries into the family system; letting go while staying connected; reinvesting in couple relationship.

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What defines Stage 6: Families in Later Life?

Accepting shifting generational roles, maintaining own and couple functioning in face of physiological decline, supporting middle generation, making room for wisdom and experience of elderly, and dealing with loss of spouse, siblings, and peers.

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What is the emotional work of Stage 6: Families in Later Life?

Accepting one’s life and death; life review; adapting to role changes including potential caregiving needs and role reversals.

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What is a ‘second-order change’ in family development?

A fundamental reorganization of the family system that occurs during transitions between stages, requiring new rules, roles, and ways of relating (not just adjustments within existing patterns).

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What is ‘horizontal stressor’ in family development?

Predictable developmental stressors as the family moves forward through time (e.g., birth of child, child starting school, launching).

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What is ‘vertical stressor’ in family development?

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Patterns of relating and functioning transmitted across generations, including family attitudes, expectations, labels, and unresolved issues.

How do horizontal and vertical stressors interact?

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When horizontal (developmental) stressors intersect with vertical (multigenerational) patterns, the stress level can escalate, potentially creating dysfunction or symptoms in family members.

What is the developmental task of a couple forming a stepfamily?

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Recovery from loss of the first marriage, commitment to new marriage and family formation, planning for cooperative co-parental relationships with ex-spouses.

What makes the ‘Families with Young Children’ stage particularly stressful?

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It requires the most dramatic role changes; involves sleep deprivation, financial strain, decreased marital satisfaction, and need to renegotiate everything from division of labor to relationships with extended family.

Why is the ‘Launching’ stage considered challenging?

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Parents must let go while staying connected; marital relationship must be reinvented; awareness of aging increases; may coincide with caring for elderly parents; ‘empty nest’ requires redefining purpose and identity.

Circumplex Model of Family Systems

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A model developed by David Olson that identifies three central dimensions of family functioning: Cohesion, Flexibility (Adaptability), and Communication. It hypothesizes that balanced levels of cohesion and flexibility are most conducive to healthy family functioning.

What are the three dimensions of the Circumplex Model?

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Cohesion - emotional bonding between family members
Flexibility (Adaptability) - ability to change power structure, roles, and rules
Communication - facilitating dimension that enables movement in the other two dimensions

Cohesion

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The emotional bonding that family members have toward one another. It reflects the degree of separateness or connectedness individuals have to their family system.

What are the four levels of Cohesion in the Circumplex Model?

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From low to high:

Disengaged (very low)
Separated (low to moderate)
Connected (moderate to high)
Enmeshed (very high)

Define '**Flexibility**' (formerly Adaptability) in the Circumplex Model.

The amount of change in leadership, role relationships, and relationship rules. It is the ability of a family system to change its power structure, roles, and rules in response to situational and developmental stress.

What are the **four levels** of Flexibility?

From low to high: 1. Rigid (very low) 2. Structured (low to moderate) 3. Flexible (moderate to high) 4. Chaotic (very high)

What is the role of **Communication** in the Circumplex Model?

Communication is a facilitating dimension that enables families to alter their levels of cohesion and flexibility. Good communication skills enable families to move more easily between levels as appropriate for developmental or situational demands.

According to the Circumplex Model, what is '**balanced**' family functioning?

Families that fall in the central/moderate levels of both cohesion (Separated or Connected) and flexibility (Structured or Flexible). These families can experience the extremes when appropriate but don't typically function at extreme levels.

What are '**mid-range**' families in the Circumplex Model?

Families that are extreme on one dimension (either cohesion or flexibility) but balanced on the other. They may function adequately but have more difficulties than balanced families.

What are '**extreme**' families in the Circumplex Model?

Families at extreme levels on both dimensions (e.g., Disengaged-Rigid or Enmeshed-Chaotic). These families tend to be most problematic and may benefit most from therapy.

How does the Circumplex Model view **change** over time?

Families need to change their levels of cohesion and flexibility as they move through the family life cycle. What works for a family with young children may not work for families with adolescents.

What is the **FACES assessment**?

Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales - a self-report instrument developed to assess family functioning based on the Circumplex Model, measuring perceived and ideal family cohesion and flexibility.

What does **research** say about 'balanced' vs 'extreme' families?

Research generally supports that balanced families (moderate cohesion and flexibility) have better outcomes including: better communication, more effective problem-solving, less conflict, better individual adjustment, and healthier child development.

What is a **limitation** of the Circumplex Model?

Cultural considerations - the model was developed primarily with White, middle-class families. Different cultures may have different norms for cohesion and flexibility; what looks 'enmeshed' in one culture may be normal connectedness in another.

How does the Circumplex Model **integrate** with family development?

Families need different levels of cohesion and flexibility at different life stages. For example, families with young children may need more structure (lower flexibility) while families with adolescents need higher flexibility to allow age-appropriate independence.

Family Development Theories Flashcards

Understand major family development theories and models to explain the stages, tasks, and transitions that occur across the family life cycle. (35 cards)