Solución de problemas entre padres e hijos/as: Relación entre el contexto familiar problemático, los procesos de evasión y su impacto en la conducta de los niños/as

• Main Author: Felix Fermin, Jahaira
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: Spanish
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01.01.2015
• Subjects: Individual & family studies; Psychology
• ISBN: 1339030144; 9781339030142

Parent-child problem solving: The relationship between the problematic family context, avoidance processes, and their impact on the behavior problems in children. Families can manage their problems in three basic ways: through avoidance, aggressive confrontation, or productively (D’Zurrila et al., 2004; Vuchinich, 1999). Studies have shown that family contexts with high levels of problematic situations would impact parents’ parenting practices, and this in turn would impact child’s management and adjustment (Forgatch & DeGarmo, 2002). Based on the social interaction learning theory, the primary purpose of this study was to observe and evaluate family interaction processes during a parent-child problem solving task. Specifically, it sought to identify the avoidance strategies, the problem solving time, and avoidance time used by family members. The proposed model evaluated how the problem solving practices would mediate the relationship between the problematic family context and children behavior problems. The sample consisted of 135 families with a child between 4-10 years old. Observational procedures were used to identify the variables of interest. The results identified five avoidance strategies used by family members. Children made use of significantly higher number of avoidance strategies than parents. The family context was characterized by high number of problems and low levels of intensity. In addition, children spent more avoidance time when compared to parents. In contrast, parents spent more time in active problem solving. The analysis showed that the mediation model proposed was not significant. However, the context variables significantly explained part of the variance of the externalizing and internalizing problems in children. In general, the results suggest the importance of the parents’ role during the family problem solving interactions. Furthermore, highlight the impact of the problem solving and avoidance time on the efficacy of the proposed solution. The implications of the results for the clinical and the research practice in the family problem solving field are discussed.