Interpersonal influence in family systems: a social relations model analysis.

Is parental control of a child's behavior due to the parenting style of the parent (e.g., authoritative parenting), the child's inclination toward compliance (i.e., an "easy" child), or the reciprocal system of parent-child exchange? This study addressed this question, as well as the broader one of who drives the interaction whenever one family member influences another. Family members from 208 two-parent two-child families of adolescents rated the degree to which each person in the family influenced each of the other family members. Social relations analysis of these data indicated that characteristics of the partner and the unique actor-partner "fit" were systematic sources of interpersonal influence, and that reciprocal influence was present in most--but not all--family dyads. A pattern in which parents compensate for each other's influenceability was also found. It is recommended that these findings be replicated using observational data that have been sequentially analyzed.

[1]  M. Bornstein,et al.  Contemporary research on parenting. The case for nature and nurture. , 2000, The American psychologist.

[2]  G. Holden,et al.  Enduring and different: a meta-analysis of the similarity in parents' child rearing. , 1999, Psychological bulletin.

[3]  R. Plomin,et al.  Adolescent Familial Interactions: A Genetic Extension of the Social Relations Model , 1997 .

[4]  G. Kochanska,et al.  Mutually responsive orientation between mothers and their young children: implications for early socialization. , 1997, Child development.

[5]  W. Cook.  A structural equation model of dyadic relationships within the family system. , 1994, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[6]  W. Cook,et al.  Multiple perspectives on family relationships: a latent variables model. , 1993, Child development.

[7]  W. Cook.  Interdependence and the interpersonal sense of control: An analysis of family relationships. , 1993 .

[8]  D. A. Kenny,et al.  Analysis of the multitrait^multimethod matrix by confirmatory factor analysis , 1992 .

[9]  D. A. Kenny,et al.  Parental affective style risk and the family system: a social relations model analysis. , 1991, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[10]  D. A. Kenny,et al.  Analysis of Family Research Designs , 1990 .

[11]  K. Lay,et al.  Maternal responsiveness and child compliance: the role of mood as a mediator. , 1989, Child development.

[12]  W. Cook,et al.  Expressed emotion and reciprocal affective relationships in families of disturbed adolescents. , 1989, Family process.

[13]  Peter M. Bentler,et al.  EQS : structural equations program manual , 1989 .

[14]  D. Cole,et al.  Assessment of cohesion and adaptability in component family dyads: a question of convergent and discriminant validity , 1989 .

[15]  Michael Chapman,et al.  Child effects in studies using experimental or brief longitudinal approaches to socialization , 1986 .

[16]  Roger Bakeman,et al.  Observing Interaction: An Introduction to Sequential Analysis , 1986 .

[17]  E. E. Maccoby,et al.  Maternal Responsiveness and Subsequent Child Compliance. , 1985 .

[18]  J. Youniss,et al.  Adolescent Relations with Mothers, Fathers and Friends , 1985 .

[19]  W. Cook,et al.  The Social Relations Model: A New Approach to the Analysis of Family-Dyadic Interaction. , 1984 .

[20]  D. A. Kenny,et al.  The Social Relations Model , 1984 .

[21]  D. Bugental,et al.  "Difficult" children as elicitors and targets of adult communication patterns: an attributional-behavioral transactional analysis. , 1984, Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development.

[22]  E. Maccoby,et al.  Socialization In The Context Of The Family: Parent-Child Interaction , 1983 .

[23]  D. Baumrind.  New directions in socialization research. , 1980 .

[24]  D. A. Kenny,et al.  Splitting the reciprocity correlation. , 1980 .

[25]  J. Gottman.  Marital Interaction: Experimental Investigations , 1980 .

[26]  I. Glick,et al.  The Effects of Social Class on Parental Values and Practices , 1979 .

[27]  S. Chess,et al.  Temperament and Development , 1977 .

[28]  A. Sameroff.  Early Influences on Development: Fact or Fancy?. , 1975 .

[29]  R. Q. Bell.  A reinterpretation of the direction of effects in studies of socialization. , 1968, Psychological review.

[30]  D. Baumrind,et al.  Child care practices anteceding three patterns of preschool behavior. , 1967, Genetic psychology monographs.

[31]  M. Hoffman,et al.  Parent discipline and the child's moral development. , 1967, Journal of personality and social psychology.