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Family Exploration: The Contribution of Stability and Change Processes

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Abstract

Building upon the redefinition of exploration as a family process, this study analyses how the processes of family stability and change may favour exploration by members of multiple family relational contexts. Sixty non-clinical family triads (mother, father, child) participated in an experimental observational study and were video-recorded while playing in different interactive configurations. The children (37 females and 23 males) were 4–5 years old (M = 55 months). The mothers’ ages ranged from 29 to 45 (M = 38) and the fathers’ ages ranged from 29 to 46 (M = 39). All the parents were employed and were living together. All participants were Caucasians of Italian nationality. Using the Triadic Interactions Analytical Procedure (TIAP), the family morphostatic processes and the family morphogenetic processes were analysed in relation to the family members’ exploration. Data analyses showed that family stability continual construction (morphostasis) and family change (morphogenesis) involve different interactive and relational dynamics (χ²(8) = 13.84, p > .05; CFI = .97, TLI = .94, SRMR = .06), even if they are intertwined processes (p < .001). Both morphostatic and morphogenetic processes were correlated to the level of exploration showed by family members (respectively r = .32, p < .05, and r = .59, p < .001), even if the morphogenetic processes had a stronger relation with family exploration (z = 1.85, p one-tailed  < .05).

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Author Contributions

A.C.: designed and executed the study, analyzed the data and wrote the paper. T.M.: designed and executed the study, analyzed the data and wrote the paper. E.V.: designed and executed the study, analyzed the data and wrote the paper. L.F.: designed and executed the study, analyzed the data and wrote the paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Parma, Borgo Carissimi 10, Parma 43121, Italy

    Ada Cigala, Tiziana Mancini, Elena Venturelli & Laura Fruggeri

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  1. Ada Cigala
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  2. Tiziana Mancini
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  3. Elena Venturelli
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  4. Laura Fruggeri
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Correspondence to Ada Cigala.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all adult participants included in the study.

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Cigala, A., Mancini, T., Venturelli, E. et al. Family Exploration: The Contribution of Stability and Change Processes. J Child Fam Stud 27, 154–165 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-017-0860-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-017-0860-z

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