The purpose of this study was to examine the linkage between the family system and parent-adolescent relationship quality. The basic question was: "Which types of family systems are more and less conducive to high quality parent-adolescent relationships?" Family systems theory suggested the two major dimensions of the family on which this project focused: (1) family cohesion--the degree to which the family binds itself together (i.e., encourages separateness vs. togetherness) and is either open to or isolated from the outside world, (2) family adaptability--the degree to which a family is able (and/or willing) to change its roles, rules, or strategies in response to internal and external needs and goals. / For this study, adolescents' perceptions of family cohesion, family adaptability, and parent-adolescent relationship quality were utilized. Data were extracted from a larger study, the Profile of Today's Youth Project, at the Florida State University. Purposive sub-sampling procedures were used to select out the responses of 541 black and white adolescents who were living with both biological parents. / The major findings of this study were: (1) a positive relationship existed betwen adolescents' perceptions of family cohesion and their evaluations of parent-adolescent relationship quality; (2) a positive relationship existed between adolescents' perceptions of family adaptability and their evaluations of parent-adolescent relationship quality; (3) adolescents did not differ by sex or social class in their perceptions of family cohesion or adaptability; (4) a slight negative relationship existed between adolescents' age and their perceptions of family cohesion and adaptability; (5) adolescents did not differ by race in their perceptions of family cohesion, but black adolescents reported higher levels of family adaptability than did white adolescents. / In essence, adolescents reported the highest quality parent-adolescent relationships when they perceived their families as high in cohesion and adaptability. Family cohesion proved to be the strongest independent variable for predicting parent-adolescent relationship quality. The theoretical and research implications of these findings are outlined. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-08, Section: A, page: 2804. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_74905 |
| Contributors | LOWE, DENNIS WAYNE., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 156 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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