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Poster #30 - The role of family alliance on child well-being

Fri, March 24, 2:30 to 3:15pm, Salt Palace Convention Center, Floor: 1, Hall A-B

Abstract

Family Systems Theory proposes the idea that the family functions as a whole and the existence of each member affects one another and the overall family system (Dallos & Draper, 2015). Likewise, the family's overall functioning could influence individual outcomes, such as the children’s well-being (Favez et al., 2017). Previous literature showed that children's behavioral and social development are usually affected by family functioning (McHale & Fivaz-Depeursinge, 2010). Likewise, former studies (i.e., Parke & O’Leary, 1976; Udry-Jørgensen et al., 2016) indicated that studying the mother-father-child triad can be beneficial to understanding the child’s development rather than dyads, since both mothers and fathers are considered as “significant partners for the child” (Favez et al., 2017, p. 2).

The current study aims to examine the relationship between child well-being and family alliance, which is used to assess the overall functioning of a family as a unit. One hundred and twenty families of mother-father-child triads (N=360) have been recruited. Family triads were sat in a triangular fashion at the table. Each family completed four tasks: mother-child play, father-child play, triadic play, and dyadic parental conversation, which are directly adopted from the Lausanne Trilogue Play protocol. All four tasks are coded as a whole for eleven different coding schemes (i.e., postures, gazes, role implication, task fulfillment, co-construction, parental scaffolding, family warmth, validation, authenticity, communication mistakes, and transitions) that were defined in Family Alliance Assessment Scales and have been used to assess a composite family alliance score. The triads were video recorded by two cameras (of their own) in their home settings via Zoom. An instructional video on how to set the cameras and the seating requirements was prepared by the project team and shared with the parents a day before data collection. In addition, both parents filled out a demographic information form and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, which aims to screen children’s well-being (Goodman, 1997).

Findings of the preliminary analyses were run by the first ten families (N=30), and the preliminary results revealed that the family alliance score was associated with children's well-being [F(1)=6.298, p=.022, Adjusted R-square=.22, b=.509, t=2.509]. Future studies should focus more on the family context as a system and its potential role in child functioning.

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