FAMILY STORIES & RITUALS--RELATION TO CHILD MH

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

This proposal is aimed at the study of family factors which contribute to child mental health. It is being proposed that the parent's family of . origin experiences are transmitted to their children through family stories and rituals. A model is Proposed in which family rituals serve as a mediating factor between the thematic and affective content the parent's stories from their family of origin and the child's mental health as measured through ego resiliency and control. Four types of family configuration are proposed which are related to identifiable family interaction patterns and child outcome. In addition to proposing that family stories and rituals can be directly related to child outcome the investigator proposes that family rituals enacted in the contemporary family may act as a protective factor for the child when parents recall their own childhood in maladaptive ways. One hundred and twenty families with four year old children will participate in the study. A multi-method approach will be used relying on home observations conducted by outside observers, video recordings of family interaction, self-report by parents and Q-sort measures of child outcome completed by the child's teacher. Regression analyses will be used predicting child outcomes from the family variables. Structural equation modeling will be used to test the proposed model along with two alternative models. Results will be used to build an empirical base for family based intervention and prevention programs in early childhood.