Systems and symptoms: Family cohesion/ adaptability and childhood behavior problems

The relation between family systems and child symptomatology was examined among children aged 6 to 11 and adolescents aged 12 to 16 who had been referred for clinical services. On the basis of an assessment of family cohesion and adaptability, the families were divided into three groups: extreme, midrange, and balanced. Problem behaviors were assessed with a symptoms checklist, and the child's self-esteem was also measured. Families in the balanced range had children with fewer symptoms than did midrange or extreme families; his relation was less strong among families with adolescents. Self-esteem and symptoms were negatively correlated in these samples. Self-esteem did not moderate the relation between systems and symptoms but was independently related to family functioning. These results suggest the operation of bilateral processes within the family that link cohesion and adaptability, on the one hand, with low self-esteem and indications of psychopathology, on the other.This investigation is based on a dissertation submitted by the first author in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph.D. Degree in developmental psychology, University of Nijmegen, and was conducted with financial support supplied by Program Project HD 50527, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Willard W. Hartup, principal investigator. We wish to thank James Hogan, Scott Jacobson, James Jungerberg, Philip Mead, Grace Owen, Mary Sirek, and Gary Yeast for their assistance in gathering the data, and Yoav Lavee for assistance with the data analysis. We are also grateful to the parents and children for their cooperation.