March 25, 2022 Types of Family Structures Family structures come in various shapes and sizes, but each one is just as valid as the next. Understanding family structure can better help to figure out the dynamics of relatives and how to make relationships developmentally appropriate. Common Family Types Family types have changed over the years in accordance with shifts in modern cultures’ acceptance of structural changes. Love To Know explains that six types of family structures are considered common. It’s important to note that this article emphasizes that no one type of family structure is superior to another. These structures include: Nuclear families Single-parent families Extended families Childless families Stepfamilies Grandparent families More detailed descriptions of these family structures are available on the Love to Know website. Changes in Family Structure As evidenced by the different types above, trends in family structures have changed in different ways over the years. One of these large changes has become the retreat of marriage and the shift towards cohabitation between partners (Lundberg & Sterns, 2016). Again, the research does not put this family above or below others, but some effects are unavoidable and are being studied. With this, here are some resources on ways to increase success in cohabiting with a partner: 6 Way to Cohabit Peacefully With Your Partner, relate.org Tips for Unmarried Parents Who Want to Raise Children Together, FindLaw
Foster and Adoptive Families Foster and adoptive families are crucial because they fulfill an essential need. Right now, there are about 15,000 children in Pennsylvania’s temporary foster care. (PA Statewide Adoption and Permanency Network). This makes this family dynamic even more important. What are Foster and Adoptive Families? There is a difference between the structure of these two families. Foster families help children temporarily when they have a home that is not adequate for a child. Several aspects of the family are assessed to determine suitability. Adoptive families permanently take in a child who is not their own and raise them as a biological child. These parents go through a legal process to officially adopt. Challenges of Foster and Adoptive Families With children, ambiguous loss often arises as a struggle faced during the transition. Some children in foster care have parents/family that are physically no longer in the child’s life, but psychologically, the child still feels their presence. This creates feelings of ambiguous loss in the child, which can come along with grief and resentment towards the foster and adoptive family. Parents are encouraged to acknowledge this loss with the child, as well as openly discuss the child’s feelings of grief and increase their human connection with support networks (Mitchell 2016). Foster parents may also struggle with letting their foster child go if the situation does not lead to adoption (PA Statewide Adoption and Permanency Network). These children are placed in foster homes as a temporary solution to the problem, but the problem may become resolved. Children are often returning to their homes or a better situation that was worked out. Foster parents play a critical role in providing safety and security for these children in a time when their lives become difficult, which can create strong bonds, but when the time comes, these parents have to be able to let go quickly. Kinship Caregivers Another common structure of foster and adoptive families is kinship care. Kinship care involves grandparents or other extended family members caring for children. These caregivers can face struggles in this process, too. Feelings of shame and failure as a parent of their adult child, guilt, anger, and resentment are just a few of the challenging emotions kinship caregivers might experience in their position. The Child Welfare Information Gateway offers multiple articles with helpful tips and planning for kinship caregivers to have a successful foster period or adoption process. Learn More Both fostering and adopting children can be a challenging process for both the caregiver and the child. Being well-informed about struggles that the child may have difficulty expressing to their caregiver is always helpful. Many organizations have put out useful information and resources for caregivers in these positions. Here are a few: An online course for supportive strategies for foster and adoptive families through Better Kid Care at Penn State University A helpful resource on the way the family dynamic may change when a family who already has children adopts a child Information on becoming a foster or adoptive parent through PA Statewide Adoption and Permanency Network
Developmentally Appropriate Parenting Series: Part XI Family Dynamics Family dynamics are a part of a child’s environment and foundational to many later life outcomes. Understanding one’s family type and the relationships between relatives can help caregivers be aware of the impact on the child. Healthy family dynamics foster an environment that promotes growth and development, rather than hinder it, which can be the result of inappropriate dynamics. Trying Together has published resources on topics including family structures, sibling relationships, parentification, LGBTQ+ families, blended families, and foster and adoptive families. Featured Resources Family Dynamics: A Guide For Families Family Dynamics: A Family Guide provides some brief support to caregivers on how to promote healthy family dynamics in their relationships for the bettering of all family members, but especially, the child. Understanding Family Dynamics This article becomes foundational in that it provides a clear definition of family dynamics and explains why ensuring positive dynamics is critical for health and well-being. Learn more about putting resources into practice! Types of Family Structures Six types of family structures are widely recognized. Identifying structure can help dive deeper into one’s family dynamics. Learn more about the six types of family structures. Navigating Sibling Relationships Siblings are often in a very unique relationship with being so close to the child’s inner circle. Positive sibling relationships can be a very important component of a child’s daily dynamics. Learn more about this impact and how to handle sibling rivalry. Parentification Parentification is a process where caregiver responsibilities are put on a child, and with this, there come many detrimental consequences to a child’s development. Learn more information on how to be aware of these behaviors. LGBTQ+ Families With greater acceptance, the number of LGBTQ+ families is in the millions in the United States. These families are very similar to heterosexual parent relationships, but many still have biases that create challenges for these families. Learn more. Blended Families Blended families, also called stepfamilies, are common, especially with rising divorce rates. This can be a challenging transition for a child, but there are many helpful suggestions for success in navigating the new dynamic. Foster and Adoptive Families In foster and adoptive families, the child is being taken in, rather than born into, the family. Challenges can arise from this family dynamic, but support is available to help caregivers navigate this situation successfully. Learn More Additional resources and information can be found on the Trying Together website.
Navigating Sibling Relationships Although often overlooked, sibling relationships are some of the most lasting of one’s life. In most family structures, siblings grow up in the same environment with similar experiences. These similarities give this relationship a unique aspect in terms of bonding. Sibling relationships both result from and create family dynamics. Therefore, these relationships have an impact on later life outcomes. How Siblings Affect Development Siblings affect each other’s development in many realms, including social skills and social-emotional development. However, research on birth order does not confirm many stereotypes. Research does show that positive sibling relationships will have positive impacts on development. To achieve a positive relationship, each sibling has to learn to respect each other for their similarities and differences (Psychology Today). Research from Columbia University reveals that high-conflict sibling relationships can lead to more problematic behaviors in individuals throughout life, including criminal behavior. In addition, it is found that a positive parent-child relationship can predict a positive sibling relationship. This demonstrates the permeation of all relative relationships in constructing family dynamics (Ahn, 2019) Siblings share many similar experiences, and that connection can strengthen their bond. With this, hardships can be seen as easier when having a deep, trustworthy, supportive relationship to help one another through life (Psychology Today). Sibling Rivalry According to Psychology Today, sibling rivalry is completely normal for children. However, without care, this rivalry can become detrimental to child development. Especially in the case of parents having a clear favorite child. Parents unfairly treating their children can be detected by the child at less than a year old. This can lead to many negative outcomes such as aggression between siblings, depression, and low self-esteem. Tips for Navigating Rivalry in Sibling Relationships NAYS.org suggests to help reduce the likelihood of a rivalry between siblings negatively affecting a child’s life: Be aware of actions that may be interpreted as favoritism: Give each child attention and focus on their strengths. For example, if a parent used to play football and one of their children now plays football, but the other plays basketball, the parent might tend to converse more passionately with the football player. It is more constructive to talk to each child about their practices and why they enjoy their sport. Focus on encouragement on effort instead of outcome: Emphasizing effort over performance can help feelings of equality. When one child gets more praise from parents over better grades in school, the child with lower grades may become frustrated and take it out in the form of resentment of the other sibling. Comment on how you saw a child studying or how the child completed their homework on time all week to increase their focus on the work, not the grade. Set consistent standards and rules for behavior for all children: Setting clear rules for all children sets the tone that all expectations are the same across the board. While teasing between siblings is normal, it’s helpful for all children to know where the line is drawn. Make it clear to all children that physical violence is not tolerated in the household by anyone.
Family Guide: Family Dynamics Ensuring children are given the appropriate environment to develop is important to caretaking. Understanding family dynamics is critical to a child’s development of a foundational familial environment to be constructive and healthy to promote growth and positive life outcomes. Support for Healthy Family Dynamics Understanding Different Family Structures Families come in all shapes and sizes, and we emphasize that one family structure is not placed above another. From nuclear families to single-parent families to stepfamilies, all families have the potential to have supportive family dynamics. However, understanding the basics of your family structure can be the first step in understanding your family dynamics. Family types classified most often are nuclear, single-parent, extended, childless, step-, and grandparent families. Sibling Relationships Sibling relationships are some of the earliest relationships a child makes. These relationships have an impact on development. A positive sibling relationship has a positive influence on child development. Through sibling relationships, children learn respect for others, social skills, and socio-emotional development. However, sibling rivalry can be detrimental to the child and a barrier to positive development. As a caregiver, it helps to be aware of favoritism, encourage effort over the outcome, and set clear standards for all children to avoid sibling relationships becoming harmful to a child’s development. Parentification Parentification is the process of when a child is given the physical and/or psychological responsibilities of a parent or caregiver. When a child goes through parentification, the responsibilities build and build, and result in the child taking more time away from themselves and putting more into their parental responsibilities. This may cause numerous effects like negative mental health, insecure attachment, and PTSD. LGBTQ+ Families Growing acceptance and legal changes have enabled LGBTQ+ families to receive recognition and support. Research finds that these families do not differ from straight, heterosexual parent families. Importantly, LGBTQ+ parents are equally capable of marrying and raising children and deserve recognition just as any other family type. Blended Families Blended families occur when a divorced parent with a child remarries, sometimes with the new spouse also having children, referred to as stepfamilies. New step-siblings endure a huge transition while parents are living their newfound happiness. These changes can pose challenges. If not resolved, they can lead to negative dynamics. Planning, giving the children time, bonding, and maintaining the quality of the marriage are just a few ways to support a blended family. Counseling and therapy can be a great help, too, to help family members navigate this new situation. Adoptive and Foster Families Adoptive parents permanently take in a child who is not biologically theirs, but foster families take in nonbiological children temporarily until another situation comes along. In either case, these families have a unique dynamic where the child experiences grief, which can be ambiguous when the parent is physically absent but not psychologically. These families may also include kinship caregivers, such as grandparents or other extended family members who become primary caregiver(s). These families are just as capable of healthy family dynamics as biological families. Resources for Understanding Family Dynamics National Resources The National Family Support Network Child Welfare Information Gateway National Stepfamily Resource Center Center for the Study of Social Policy Local Resources Family Resources Hello Baby PERSAD Center City of Pittsburg Gender Equity Commission Angels’ Place University of Pittsburgh Youth and Family Research Program Learn more Additional resources and information can be found on the Trying Together website. Download a PDF version of this resource.
Blended Families Stepfamilies occur when a divorced parent with children remarries to another partner. This other partner may also have children. With this process, the partners are often excited to start their new found happiness together, but sometimes children struggle with the transition. Blended families can become as bonded as a blood-related family, and there are helpful ways to bring about success and happiness for both the parents and the children. Making Your Blended Family a Success HelpGuide provides constructive suggestions for blended families who are new to the transition: Plan Your Blended Family Too many changes at once can be overwhelming and make the transition off putting. Take your time and give everyone a chance to get used to each other and the idea of the new family. Bond With Your New Blended Family As the parent, think about the child(ren)s’ needs. Children typically want to feel safe, secure, loved, valued, heard, and emotionally connected. If children feel like these needs are being met, they may be more open to a relationship with the new parent and sibling(s). Help Children Adjust Children of different ages and genders will react and adjust differently to a newly blended family. Taking this into account can help parents adjust their approach to establish a trusting relationship. Maintain Marriage Quality While the focus in the beginning might be on the children, partners in a newly blended family need to keep quality in their marriage because this ultimately benefits the children, also. If kids see a model relationship, they will feel more secure in their new dynamic. Help From The Outside Navigating a blended family is a new experience for everyone, even the parents. With this, sometimes parents don’t have all the answers and needing guidance from an outside party can be extremely helpful for the family’s success. Counseling can help parents voice their opinions and concerns about parenting, and it gives children an opportunity to express their fears and concerns regarding the new situation. Family therapy and family systems therapy are also available ways to support your new blended family through the transition (GoodTherapy). Helpful Reading Books are a great tool to help children relate to experiences through characters. Being in a blended family can feel alienating because every experience is different. By using books that are themed with the complexities of stepfamilies, it can help children feel less alone in what they are going through. Visit the Read Brightly website for a list of thirteen books that may help your child work through this challenging transition in their life.
Understanding Family Dynamics Familial relationships are amongst the first, and therefore, most foundational relationships of one’s life. With this, it is becoming increasingly important to be aware of their effects on children because of associated lasting outcomes. Parents are encouraged to understand family dynamics, not only to improve their relationships but also to enhance their child’s life. Defining Family Dynamics To help families better understand ways to promote healthier family dynamics, the National Center for Biotechnology Information first clearly defined the term as, “the patterns of interactions among relatives, their roles and relationships, and the various factors that shape their interactions”. The NCBI article explains issues in family dynamics that are of concern, such as health, wellness, and recovery outcomes, as well as the clinical significance of the topic, which focuses on health-related outcomes. Why Are They Important? In the existing research, the impact on health outcomes becomes critical in why healthy, adaptive family dynamics are important. Marital satisfaction can support the health and well-being of parents, which translates to more adaptive parent-child relationships that provide a multitude of positives, including cognitive, behavioral, physical, and mental health (Lincoln, 2015). For more information on how to promote healthy family dynamics to achieve positive health outcomes for all members of the family, view the articles provided by healthychild.org on family dynamics. Some particularly helpful linked articles include: Family Relationships: This short video shows Dr. Michael Rich explaining the value and importance that parent and sibling relationships hold in a child’s life. He also gives some helpful suggestions on ways to foster strong bonds within your family. Normal Functioning Family: While there is no such thing as a “normal family”, this article explains how to promote healthy family functioning. Feeling Overwhelmed With Parenting Demands?: Knowing that being a parent can often be overwhelming and stressful, this article offers some tips and tricks on how to bring it back down when you’re feeling maxed out.
LGBTQ+ Families In the past, children of LGBTQ+ families were from a previous different-sex relationship. Today, greater acceptance from society and technology advancements have allowed LGBTQ+ individuals to come out earlier in life and start their families as partners. Common ways that people of this community and same-sex couples are having children are through assisted reproductive technology, fostering, and adopting (Family Equality). What Do LGBTQ+ Families Look Like? With between 2-3.7 million children under 18 living with at least one LGBTQ+ parent (Family Equality), it is a rising question of how these families work. Research repeatedly finds that these families are very similar to different-sex parent families. These families can also be married, divorced, single-parent, cohabiting, etc. The SPSSI found five important research findings regarding the equality of LGBTQ+ families: LGBTQ+ people are equally as fit to marry and raise children. There is no foundation for the idea that LGBTQ+ mothers and fathers should not become parents because of their sexual orientation. Being involved in a relationship with (an) LGBTQ+ person(s) is unrelated to their ability to care for a child. LGBTQ+ and heterosexual women show similar child-rearing practices. LGBTQ+ fathers are not found to be different from heterosexual fathers in their ability to parent or foster healthy development for the child. Learn More Visit Family Equality’s postings to learn more about these families and the discrimination they face. The Movement Advancement Project also has various resource maps on helpful statistics.
Parentification ownWith numbers on the rise, parentification is coming to light in the conversation of family dynamics. This role reversal negatively impacts children’s development and leads to maladaptive adulthood. The two types of parentification have different impacts, but neither seem to yield much positivity. It becomes important that parents and children remain in their appropriate roles for proper developmental progression. About Parentification is a term used to describe the process where “children are assigned the role of an adult, taking on both emotional and functional responsibilities that typically are performed by the parent”. The term includes several subtypes. Instrumental parentification occurs when parents assign the child functional duties, such as grocery shopping and paying bills. With more detrimental outcomes, emotional parentification describes when the child is expected to provide the emotional and psychological needs of a parent (Engelhardt 2012). Consequences of Parentifying a Child Often, when a child goes through parentification, they continue to take on more and more responsibility for the parent to receive praise or attention. This can escalate to the child disregarding their own needs and tasks for the parents (Engelhardt 2012). Both research and common discussions of parentification, often find that a consequence of this process are attachment issues. Insecure attachment has cascading effects on behavior, emotional regulation, and more that can continue into problem behaviors in adulthood. Specifically, there appears to be a link between maternal behaviors and parentification. Mothers who experienced parentification during their childhood tend to be less warm towards their children and often push parentification on them. This results in externalizing behavior problems in children that are found to follow them into adulthood and even, then, their own families (Nutall et. al, 2012). This research further reinforces the need to look at the big picture of family dynamics because one detrimental relationship can have a snowball effect. Other issues that may arise as a result of parentification include: Extreme anxiety over abandonment and loss Difficulty handling rejection and disappointment Depression Feelings of hopelessness Mental health issues Trauma/PTSD
