Alicia P. Dansie and Dr. Brian Hill, Recreation Management and Youth Leadership

Cohesion and adaptability varies amongst individual families as a result of many known factors including family leisure patterns, work ethic and commitments, and marital and family satisfaction (Orthner & Mancini, 1990) (Steinburg & Silverberg, 1987). Little is known however about the effect family life cycle stage may have on familial cohesion and adaptability. This research was completed to determine if families experience various levels of cohesion and adaptability as a direct result of family life cycle stage. Through this research information is discovered to add to the knowledge base involving family recreation and to answer the question: at what stage in the family life cycle do families experience greatest cohesion and adaptability?

A self-administered questionnaire at a nominal and interval level was developed and administered to thirty subjects from each family life cycle stage as representatives of their entire family. Subjects consisted of males and females over the age of 18 from the Salt Lake and Utah Counties. The nominal portion of the research instrument asked representatives of families to categorize themselves into one of the four family life cycle stages: 1) Married couples without children, 2) Married couples with children living in the home, 3) Married couples with some children living in the home and some launched children, and 4) Married couples with launched children. The interval portion of the questionnaire was adapted from Olson, Bell, and Portner’s FACES II (Family Adaptability and Cohesive Evaluation Scales) (1991), a valid and reliable research instrument. FACES II requires family representatives to determine how frequently a family participated in activities that have been found to build cohesion and adaptability.

The developers of FACES II have created a formula and Circumplex Model which evaluates the responses of included subjects and provides a cohesion and adaptability score which is later combined to determine a family type. Scores of cohesion on the FACES II scale may range from 15 to 80, scores of adaptability can range between 15 and 70. Using this scale scores for cohesion between 15 and 50 are described as disengaged, between 51 and 59 as separated, between 60 and 70 as connected, and between 71 and 80 as very connected. A family with and adaptability score between 15 and 39 is described as rigid, between 40 and 45 as structured, between 46 and 54 as flexible, and between 55 and 70 as very flexible. This study showed scores of cohesion ranging from 37 to 79 across all four family life cycle stages. Again including all four family stages, the scores for adaptability of the subjects for this study fell right in the middle with a low of 28 and a high of 63.

The mean of cohesion and adaptability specific to each family life cycle stage was computed. Married couples without children showed the greatest cohesion and adaptability mean with a score of 72.9333 for cohesion and 52.7000 for adaptability, indicating that married couples without children are very connected and flexible. Again using the FACES II formulas the scores of cohesion and adaptability are added together and divided by two to determine a family type. Family types from lowest score to highest score include extreme, mid-range, moderately balanced and balanced. According to the FACES II formula married couples without children are moderately balanced. Married couples with launched children showed the lowest mean score in both cohesion and adaptability with a cohesion mean of 60.2000 and an adaptability mean of 44.5667 indicating connected and structured families falling in the mid-range of family types. The total mean score of cohesion across all family life cycle stages was 66.6167, while the mean of total adaptability scores across all family life stages is 44.5667, suggesting that families within the Salt Lake and Utah Counties are connected, structured, and moderately balanced (Olson, et al., 1991).

Using ANOVA statistical tests, the Chi Square and significance levels were determined. The results of this study were found to be statistically significant at a level less than zero indicating that there is a very strong relationship between family life cycle stage and the levels of cohesion and adaptability.

Research indicates that families in which a couple is married without children is more cohesive and adaptable than families across the family life cycle stages. As children come into a family, a family will remain cohesive and adaptable at a moderate level. Situations change further when all children are launched from the home. Families with launched children were found to experience the lowest levels of cohesion and adaptability. The subjects of this research who are married with launched children must have experienced a detachment great enough to hinder cohesion and adaptability upon their children leaving the home.

The goal of family recreation practitioners is to provide programs and activities that strengthen family cohesion and adaptability. Understanding different levels of cohesion and adaptability across family life cycle stages has added to the broad knowledge base for practitioners of family recreation, thus programs may be adjusted to meet the varying needs of families across all family life cycle stages.

References

• Olson, D. H., Bell, R., & Portner, J. (1991). FACES II. Family Social Science, 1-20.
• Orthner, D. K., & Mancini, J. A. (1990). Leisure impacts on family interaction and cohesion. Journal of Leisure Research, 22, 125-137.
• Steinberg, L., & Silverberg, S. B. (1987). The relationships between barriers to leisure enjoyment and family stages. Leisure Science, 4, 29-49.