Intergenerational Transmission: Individuation and Intimacy Across Three Generations

This study examined the transmission of intergenerational family processes across three generations, employing Williamson's construct of Personal Authority in the Family System (PAFS) as a theoretical back-drop. From a PAFS perspective, psychological health is viewed as directly related to the degree of individuation and intimacy (PAFS) experienced within the family of origin. Overall, the results provided a degree of support for the intergenerational transmission hypothesis. The strongest predictor of the transmission process was from the participant/parent relationship to the participant/spouse relationship (spousal fusion/individuation). Separate male and female analyses of the Spousal Fusion/Individuation model found a moderate effect for females and a large effect for males. A small effect was found in predicting nuclear family triangulation from parent and spouse variables, although there was no gender effect. The findings suggest that degree of individuation and its related constructs are more critical in the transmission process than is intimacy.