Family, Social, Cultural, and Religious Influences on Child Health Promotion : Family roles

Family roles

• All family members have designated roles within the family unit
• Many cultural & societal influences on family roles— however, this is slowly changing

Family stress theory

• Families encounter stressors (events that cause stress and have the potential to effect a change in the family social system), including 
  • Predictable (e.g., parenthood)
  • Unpredictable (e.g., illness, unemployment)
• They are cumulative, involving simultaneous demands from work, family, and community life.

Developmental theory

• An outgrowth of several theories of development.
  • Duvall’s Developmental stages of the Family
    • Stage I: Marriage and an Independent Home: The Joining of Families
      • Re-establish couple identity.
      • Realign relationships with extended family.
      • Make decisions regarding parenthood.
    • Stage II: Families with Infants
      • Integrate infants into the family unit.
      • Accommodate to new parenting and grand-parenting roles.
      • Maintain marital bond.
    • Stage III: Families with Preschoolers
      • Socialize children.
      • Parents and children adjust to separation.
    • Stage IV: Families with Schoolchildren
      • Children develop peer relations.
      • Parents adjust to their children’s peer and school influences.
    • Stage V: Families with Teenagers
      • Adolescents develop increasing autonomy.
      • Parents refocus on midlife marital and career issues.
      • Parents begin a shift toward concern for the older generation.
    • Stage VI: Families as Launching Centers
      • Parents and young adults establish independent identities.
      • Parents renegotiate marital relationship.
    • Stage VII: Middle-Aged Families
      • Reinvest in couple identity with concurrent development of independent interests.
      • Realign relationships to include in-laws and grandchildren.
      • Deal with disabilities and death of older generation
    • Stage VIII: Aging Families
      • Shift from work role to leisure and semiretirement or full retirement.
      • Maintain couple and individual functioning while adapting to the aging process.
      • Prepare for own death and dealing with the loss of spouse and/or siblings and other peers.