Family Environment

Abstract

Research has consistently linked aspects of the family environment to features of children’s cognitive and emotional functioning that predict social competence (Moos, 1991; Patterson, 1982). In the ordinary course of events, interactions within the family system provide the majority of children with the knowledge and experience that will serve as the basis for social growth and peer relations. At the beginning of life, the infant’s development as a separate individual with a coherent identity depends upon interactions between the baby and the parental figure. Early socialization processes in the family gradually shape the child’s social behaviors and attitudes. Interpersonal relations, the family climate, parental abilities or difficulties, and other components of family experience have been found to be closely related to children’s social functioning. Social development and loneliness have essentially been considered a product of family processes and interactions (Large, 1989; Rubin & Slomon, 1984).