An Intergenerational Examination of Patterns of Individual and Family Adjustment Author(s): Suzanne Bartle-Haring and Ronald Sabatelli Source: Journal

of Marriage and Family, Vol. 60, No. 4 (Nov., 1998), pp. 903-911 Published by: National Council on Family Relations Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/353633 . Accessed: 16/10/2011 14:53
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SUZANNEBARTLE-HARING The Ohio State University

RONALD SABATELLIUniversity of Connecticut*

An Intergenerational Examination of Patterns of Individualand Family Adjustment

Using a multigenerational-systemic model of individual and family development, we propose a model connecting parents' experiences of family of origin, parents' marital adjustment, and parents' psychosocial adjustment to adolescents' experiences of their family of origin. A sample of middle-aged parents and their late-adolescent children were questioned about their perceptions of the dynamics within their respective families of origin. Additionally, the middle-aged adults were given standardized measures of personal and marital adjustment. Using structural equation modeling for the path analysis, we found limited supportfor the proposed model. Multigenerational perspectives on individual and family development are based on the assumption that the dynamics within the family of origin con-

Department of Human Development and Family Science, The Ohio State University, 166A Campbell Hall, 1787 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210 (bartle.2@osu.edu). *Department of Family Relations and Human Development, University of Connecticut, U-58, Room 106, 348 Mansfield Road, Storrs, CT 06269. Key Words:differentiation, family adjustment, family of origin, individual adjustment, intergenerational relationships, marital adjustment.

stitute a legacy that impacts the trajectory of both individual and family development (Allison & Sabatelli, 1988; Bowen, 1978; Farley, 1979; Harvey & Bray, 1991). A secondary assumption of intergenerational family-systems theory is that the influence of the family of origin is sustained whether or not the person continues to interact with the family. As a result, important relational patterns of interaction and adjustment are presumed to be transmitted across generational boundaries (Boszormenyi-Nagy & Ulrich, 1981; Bowen, 1978; Williamson, 1982). These assumptions serve as the focal point for this study, which endeavors to empirically investigate the intergenerational transmission of family patterns of interaction. Despite the growing popularity of multigenerational perspectives, research primarily has explored the interrelationship between the dynamics of family systems and individual development as they apply to a particular generational stage. For example, adolescent's perceptions of their family of origin covaries with adolescent developmental outcomes (cf. Bartle & Sabatelli, 1995; BartleHaring, 1997; Gavazzi, 1993). Researchers have only begun to explore the interrelationship of developmental and systemic variables from a multigenerational perspective (Harvey & Bray, 1991; Harvey, Curry, & Bray, 1991). Such research is needed for a more comprehensive understanding of the intergenerational transmission of patterns of personal and family adjustment.

Journal of Marriage and the Family 60 (November 1998): 903-911

903

904

Journal of Marriage and the Family prematurely will commit to an incomplete view of self and to relationships with others (Allison & Sabatelli, 1988; Minuchin, 1974; Stierlin, 1981). Thus, experiences in the family of origin are presumed to influence patterns of personal adjustment. Multigenerational-systemic perspectives call attention to how experiences in the family of origin affect the abilities of children to manage adult roles and responsibilities. This suggests that tolerances for intimacy and autonomy found within the family of origin have direct implications for an individual's capacity to experience personal intimacy and happiness in adult relationships and to generatively manage the tasks of parenthood. Napier (1988), for example, asserts that the foundation of marital intimacy resides within each spouse's experiences of his or her family of origin. Building on the work of Stierlin (1981), Napier theorizes that the dynamics of the family of origin work their way into marital dynamics when each partner seeks to integrate familiar patterns of interaction from the family of origin into the marital relationship. Napier refers to this replication as a "displaced reenactment" of earlier dramas that unfolds when a person marries someone who will help to recapitulate early struggles with parents. Consequently, the marriage becomes a stage for the replication of functional or dysfunctional processes that have their foundation in the family of origin when the two spouses become the primary "architects" of the emotional atmosphere of the nuclear family and each child is incorporated into that atmosphere (Bowen, 1978). In addition, the investment of one's psychological energies in attempting to resolve family-oforigin issues through one's marriage inhibits the ability of parents to act in a generative way toward their children. Parent-child relationships from generation to generation are presumed to be dynamically influenced by each parent's family-oforigin experiences, along with the qualities and characteristicsof the marital dynamics experienced within the family of procreation (Anderson & Sabatelli, 1995; Napier, 1988). Research clearly demonstrates that parents with troubled family histories and poor marriages tend to have more negative attitudes about parenting and act in less warm and supportive ways toward their children (Cummings & Davies, 1994). Cummings and Davies, for example, have conducted a comprehensive review of the literature on children and marital conflict. Their results indicate that problems in parenting are most often associated with family disorganization, enmeshment, and overde-

A MULTIGENERATIONAL-SYSTEMIC MODEL OF INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY DEVELOPMENT

The model guiding the research described here is presented in Figure 1. The conceptual foundation for the proposed model is derived from a combination of intergenerational (Boszormenyi-Nagy & Ulrich, 1981; Bowen, 1978; Napier, 1988) and developmental-systemic (Farley, 1979; Meyers, 1980; Sabatelli & Mazor, 1985) theories of individual and family functioning. The model asserts that the experiences of individuals in their families of origin establish a legacy that influences patterns of adjustment from generation to generation within a family system. That is, the experiences of individuals in their families of origin impact their personal adjustment, how they structureand experience their intimate partnerships in adulthood, how they interact with their own children, and their children's subsequent levels of adjustment. A multigenerational-systemic model of individual and family development presumes that the patterns of interaction in the family of origin have a significant influence on individual development. For individuals in healthy families, there exists a legacy of tolerance for both intimacy and individuality that results in a strong sense of self as separate (autonomy, uniqueness, freedom of personal expression) and a strong sense of self as connected (support, involvement, personal relationship; Bowen, 1978; Farley, 1979). In this developmental context, individuals are able and encouraged to speak for themselves, take personal responsibility for age-appropriate tasks, and are sensitive to the needs of others (Allison & Sabatelli, 1988). Family systems that are less adequate are characterized by a lack of tolerance for intimacy or individuality or both. For example, some ineffective families foster high levels of fusion that interfere with individual development (Anderson & Sabatelli, 1995; Fleming & Anderson, 1986; Sabatelli & Mazor, 1985). These fused patterns of interaction result in demands for loyalty and obligation that exploit the bonds between family members and inhibit the development of autonomy (Boszormenyi-Nagy & Ulrich, 1981). In other families, expelling patterns of interaction demonstrate a disregard for children's developmental need for interconnectedness and, thus, push them into premature autonomy and inhibit connectedness. In either of these two extremes, the lack of tolerance for both intimacy and individuality increases the likelihood that children

Intergenerational Patterns of Adjustment pendency between family members, marital conflict, and poor family problem-solving strategies. Cummings and Davies conclude that the stress, frustration, and hopelessness of marital conflict carry over into parents' interactions with their children. Marital conflict, parenting impairments, and child behavior problems are interrelated.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

905
1. RELATIONSHIPS AMONG PARENTS' EXPERIENCES FIGURE
OF THEIR FAMILIES OF ORIGIN, PARENTS' MARITAL AND PSYCHOSOCIAL ADJUSTMENT, AND ADOLESCENTS' EXPERIENCE OF THE FAMILY OF ORIGIN

There is ample evidence to support the link between patterns of family interaction and child outcomes. Considerably less research has focused on experiences in the family of origin and how they impact patterns of adult adjustment, marital adjustment, and parenting from generation to generation. Consequently, we set out to test a model that examines the relationships among the parents' experiences in their family of origin and their patterns of psychosocial and marital adjustment and the child's constructions of their experiences of the family of origin. (See Figure 1.) This model explores direct and indirect relationships among these variables. For example, we are interested in the degree to which parents' experiences in their family of origin directly affects the child's experiences in his or her family of origin. We are also interested in exploring the possibility that the experiences of the parental generation in their family of origin are only indirectly related to the child generation's experiences of the family of origin through the parent generation's personal and marital adjustment. We generated several hypotheses: Hypothesis 1: Parents' family-of-origin experience will have direct relationships with their marital adjustment,psychosocial maturity, and child's family-of-origin experience. Hypothesis 2: Parents' marital adjustment will have a direct relationship to their child's family-of-origin experience. Hypothesis 3: Parents' psychosocial maturity will have a direct relationship to their child's family-of-origin experience. Hypothesis 4: Parents' family-of-origin experience will have an indirect effect on their children's family-of-origin experiences through the parents' marital adjustment and psychosocial maturity. We examined data from two generations of a family-a sample of middle-aged parents and their late-adolescent children. The study focuses

on the multigenerational predictors of adolescents' perceptions of the patterns of interaction within their family of origin.
METHODS

Sample The sample consisted of all the mother-adolescent (n = 69) and father-adolescent (n = 57) pairs with complete data from a larger study. (There were 52 three-member families with complete data.) The fathers were, on average, 47.6 years old, married, and White (96%). Sixty percent had mothers who were still living, and their average age was 74.5. Thirty-four percent had fathers who were still living, and their average age was 75.7. The mothers in the sample were, on average, 46.6 years old, married for about 23.7 years, and White (94%). Sixty percent of the mothers had mothers who were still living, and their mean age was 73.6. Fifty percent of the mothers had fathers who were still living, and their mean age was 74.5. There were 45 male and 46 female adolescents in the sample with a mean age of 19.7. The sample of parents was predominately middle class (mean household income $78,000; 65% had received some type of college degree) and married (92% were married at the time of the study; the mean length of marriage was 23 years).

906 Procedure We selected a random sample of 500 students from the student directory of a large Northeastern university. All of these students and their parents were contacted by letter and invited to participate. Where appropriate,both parents were encouraged to participate, but it was not necessary for both parents to participate in order to be included in this study. Only students and parents who indicated a willingness to be involved were sent a self-administered questionnaire. A total of 333 questionnaires were distributed to students.Of these, 244 questionnaireswere completed and returned(a 73% returnrate). Of the 244 questionnaires completed and returned, 108 were from males, and 136, from females. Fewer parents than students participated in the study. In all, usable questionnaireswere returnedfrom 125 parents (57 fathers and 68 mothers). Measures Dynamics of the family of origin. We chose the Differentiation in Family Scale (DIFS; Anderson & Sabatelli, 1992) to capture the functioning of the family of origin for the late adolescents and their parents. Adolescents responded to the DIFS in relationship to their family of origin, and their parents responded to the DIFS in relationship to their family of origin retrospectively. (They were asked to remember what it was like within their family "while they were growing up.") The DIFS employs circular questioning to assess an individual's perception of how the various members of the family interact with one another. The scale asks each respondentto provide information about each of six different reciprocal relationships in the family system-husband to wife, wife to husband, father to child, mother to child, child to father, and child to mother. The scale consists of 11 items repeated for each of the dyadic relationships. An example of an item concerning the relationships assessed in this study is: "My father shows respect for my mother's viewpoints." "My mother shows respect for my father's viewpoints." "My father shows respect for my viewpoints." "My mother shows respect for my viewpoints." "I show respect for my father's viewpoints." "I show respect for my mother's viewpoints." The internal consistency reliabilities (alphas) for these dyadic subscales have been reported to range from .86 to .94. For this sample, alphas ranged between .90 and .95. Validity for this measure is supported by significant correlations be-

Journal of Marriage and the Family tween DIFS scores and measures of identity status among young adults and negative consequences for using alcohol among young female adults (Anderson & Sabatelli, 1992; Bartle & Sabatelli, 1989). Further, this measure was able to distinguish between bulimic women in treatment and a group of nonclinical women of the same age (Bower, 1990). For the purposes of the analysis, we used scores on four of the dyadic subscales to create a marital subsystem score (mother to father, plus father to mother) and a parental subsystem score (mother to child, plus father to child). Marital adjustment. We gained insight into marital adjustmentby deciding to focus on the levels of complaints reported in the marriage and the levels of intimacy experienced between spouses. This decision was based on the work of Donohue and Ryder (1982), who call for the use of measures that assess specific domains of marital adjustment (e.g., intimacy, communication, sexuality, complaints). We assessed marital complaints with the Marital Comparison Level Index (MCLI; Sabatelli, 1984). The index is a 32-item questionnaire based on the exchange framework and is designed to assess the degree to which respondents' marital experiences compare, favorably or unfavorably, with their own expectations about marriage. Higher scores on this measure suggest fewer complaints. This scale has been found to be reliable (alpha = .93; Sabatelli, 1984). For this sample, alpha was .97. Evidence for the validity of this scale is supported by findings that fewer complaints have been associated with relatively higher levels of commitment, greater likelihood of perceiving one's marriage as being equitable and fair, and higher levels of adjustment in dealing with infertility (cf. Sabatelli & Cecil-Pigo, 1983; Sabatelli, Meth, & Gavazzi, 1986). The Miller Social Intimacy Scale (MSIS; Miller & Lefcourt, 1982) was employed to assess marital intimacy. It is a 17-item scale that focuses on self-disclosures, the experiences of empathy and affection, and feelings of emotional closeness to a specific partner.(Higher scores indicate higher levels of reported intimacy.) Reliabilities have been reported to range from .86 to .91. In this study, alpha was .93 for the men and .96 for the women. Validity of the measure is supported by findings that scores on the scale were positively correlated with scores on measures of trust and intimacy and negatively correlated with a measure of loneliness (Miller & Lefcourt, 1982). For the

Intergenerational Patterns of Adjustment

TABLE 1. CORRELATIONSFOR MOTHER-ADOLESCENT PAIRS AND FATHER-ADOLESCENT PAIRS (BELOW DIAGONAL).

907

1. Parentdifferentiation Maritalsubsystem 2. Parentdifferentiation Parentalsubsystem 3. Maritaladjustment 4. Parentpsychosocial maturity 5. Adolescent differentiation Maritalsubsystem 6. Adolescent differentiation Parentalsubsystem

.66*** .60*** .10 .32* .27* .26* .35** .51*** .23 .20

.28* .45** .31* .06 .14

.43*** .65*** .31** .10 .04

.30* .26* .38** .35**

.28* .19 .21 .18 .70***

.70***

Note: Mother-adolescent pairs n = 68; father-adolescent pairs n = 57. *p<.05. **p<.01. ***p<.001.

purposes of our analysis, the MCLI and intimacy scores were added together to create an overall marital adjustment scale. These two scale scores were significantly correlated in this sample (.76 for fathers and .71 for mothers), and no couple fell within a mixed category with high MCLI and low intimacy or high intimacy and low MCLI, using a mean split of scores. Adult psychosocial maturity. We assessed parents' psychosocial maturity with the Modified Eriksonian Psychosocial Stage Inventory (MEPSI; Darling-Fisher & Leidy, 1988). This is an 80-item instrument designed to measure the eight psychosocial stages of human development (cf. Erikson, 1963, 1980). It can be used to derive a total score of psychosocial maturity, as was done in this study, as well as for deriving eight subscales that correspond to the eight psychosocial stages of development. Darling-Fisher and Leidy report a reliability coefficient of .97 for the total scale. For this sample, the reliability coefficient was .95. Darling-Fisher and Leidy provide evidence for construct validity of the MEPSI; scores on the scale were positively correlated with age.

RESULTS

Correlations The correlations, means, and standard deviations for the scales for the mother-adolescent and fatheradolescent pairs are presented in Tables 1 and 2. The variables from the perspectives of the individual parents are listed first, followed by the variables from the adolescents' perspective. The correlations, means, and standard deviations are provided for replication purposes. For the mother-adolescent pairs, the mother's recollection of her parents' interaction with each other was significantly and positively related to all the variables in the model. The mother's recollection of how her parents interacted with her also was significantly and positively related to all other variables except the adolescent's perception of how his or her parents interacted with him or her. This was also the case with the mother's psychosocial maturity and marital satisfaction. These were significantly related to all other variables in the model except how the adolescent perceived his or her parents' treatmentof him or her. Adolescents' perception of parents' interaction with each other was related to all variables in the model.

TABLE 2. MEANS (STANDARD DEVIATIONS) OF VARIABLES FOR MOTHER-ADOLESCENT PAIRS AND FATHER-ADOLESCENT PAIRS

Scale Parent differentiation Marital subsystem Parent differentiation Parental subsystem Marital adjustment Parent psychosocial maturity Adolescent differentiation Marital subsystem Adolescent differentiation Parental subsystem

Mother-Adolescent Pairs 84.5 (13.5) 82.8 (14.1) 303.1 (57.8) 330.5 (36.0) 93.9 (12.9) 95.3 (11.1)

Father-Adolescent Pairs

85.8 (13.06) 83.7 (12.1) 304.3 (49.4) 328.8 (35.3) 95.0 (11.6) 96.5 (11.1)

908 The correlations for the father-adolescent pairs showed a somewhat similar pattern. The father's recollection of how his parents interacted with each other was related to all other variables except his own marital adjustment. The father's recollection of how his parents interacted with him was related to the other father-perspective variables, but not to the adolescent's family-of-origin scales. This was true of the father'smaritaladjustmentand psychosocial maturity. Adolescents' perceptions of their family of origin were related to fathers' perceptions of their parents' marital interaction. Model Test To test the relationships in Figure 1 for motheradolescent and father-adolescent pairs, we performed a structural equation modeling procedure with observed variables using AMOS 3.6 (Arbuckle, 1997). We analyzed the variance-covariance matrix with maximum likelihood estimation. The analysis is similar to a more traditionalpath analysis, except the equations can be estimated simultaneously, rather than in a series of regression equations, and correlated disturbance terms (U's in the figure) within the model can be accounted for. In this instance, the disturbance terms between the adolescent's DIFS subscales were freed to correlate because the variables were highly correlated and because we assumed that what was missing from the equations that predict the DIFS scores would be the same for both subscales.

Journal of Marriage and the Family Note that the sample sizes are small. Bollen (1989) suggests that there should be several subjects per free parameter in the model, and Tanaka (1987) suggests that there should be at least four subjects per free parameter.There are 24 free parameters in the model proposed in Figure 1. Given the guidelines there should be 72-96 analysis units. Unfortunately, there are only 69 and 57 pairs. With small samples, estimation may be biased, and all results should be interpreted with caution. Considering the relative lack of research with multiple generations from the same family, we considered this sample size adequate for a preliminary test of the model. Because the model had many paths, the results are reported in table format for mother-adolescent pairs and father-adolescent pairs (Table 3). The model for adolescent-mother pairs resulted in a X2 (1) = .022 (p = .88). The adjusted goodness-of-fit index (AGFI) was .99, and the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) was .00. These indicate a good model-to-data fit. The model accounted for 42% of the variance in mothers' psychosocial maturity, 20% of mothers' marital adjustment, 9% of the variance in the adolescents' perception of how parents interacted with them, and 24% of the variance in the adolescents' perception of how their parents interacted with each other. The model for adolescent-father pairs resulted in a X2(1) = 1.54 (p = .21) with an AGFI of .81 and a RMSEA of .09. These also indicate an ade-

TABLE 3. LISREL ANALYSIS RESULTS FORMOTHER-ADOLESCENT PAIRSANDFATHER ADOLESCENT PAIRS

Mother-AdolescentPairs Maximum Likelihood Estimate Standardized z Estimate Value -.02 .00 .23 .23 .47 .65 -.25 -.08 .34 .15 .31 .08 .68 -.18 .04 1.67 1.54 3.3* 5.3* -1.44 -.46 2.87* 1.21 2.24* .57 4.64*

Pairs Father-Adolescent Maximum Likelihood Estimate -.62 .04 .19 .23 1.82 1.46 .09 .04 .00 .03 -.00 -.03 78.9 Standardized z Estimate Value -.16 .01 .22 .27 .45 .50 .10 .05 .01 .13 -.01 -.11 .68 -1.0 .12 1.36 1.74 2.89* 3.50* .53 .28 .08 1.0 -.11 -.80 4.21*

Path

Parent-marital to subsystemdifferentiation Maritaladjustment -.11 .01 Psychosocial maturity Adolescent maritalsubsystemdifferentiation .22 Adolescent parentalsubsystemdifferentiation .19 to Parent-parental subsystemdifferentiation Maritaladjustment 1.94 1.66 Psychosocial maturity Adolescent maritalsubsystemdifferentiation -.23 Adolescent parentalsubsystemdifferentiation -.07 Parent-marital to adjustment Adolescent maritalsubsystemdifferentiation .07 Adolescent parentalsubsystemdifferentiation .03 Parent-psychosocial maturityto Adolescent maritalsubsystemdifferentiation .11 Adolescent parentalsubsystemdifferentiation .02 Correlateddisturbance 79.7 *z value > 1.96 = p < .05.

Intergenerational Patterns of Adjustment quate model-to-data fit. The model accounted for 26% of the variance in fathers' psychosocial maturity, 14% of fathers' marital adjustment, 11% of adolescents' perception of how their parents interacted with them, and 8% of the variance in adolescents' perception of how parents interacted with each other. Our first hypothesis was that parents' experiences of their family of origin will have direct relationships with their marital adjustment, psychosocial maturity, and their child's experience of the family of origin. For the adolescent-mother model, there were significant direct relationships between the mother's perception of how her parents interacted with her and her marital adjustment and psychosocial maturity. There were no significant direct relationships between the mother's perceptions of her experience of her family of origin and her adolescent's perception of his or her experience of the family of origin. For the adolescent-father model, the same two relationships were significant. The father's perceptions of how his parents treated him were significantly related to the father's marital adjustment and psychosocial maturity. Again, there were no direct relationships between the father's experience of his family of origin and the adolescent's experience of the family of origin. Our second hypothesis was that parents' marital adjustment will have direct relationships with the adolescent's experiences of his or her family of origin. For the adolescent-mother pairs, the mother's marital adjustment was directly related to the adolescent's perception of his or her parents' interactions. This was not the case for the adolescent-father pairs. Our third hypothesis was that parents' psychosocial maturity will have a direct relationship with their child's experience of the family of origin. For the adolescent-mother pairs, the mother's psychosocial maturity was directly related to the adolescent's perception of his or her parents' interactions. This was not the case for the adolescentfather pairs. Our fourth hypothesis was that parents' experiences of their family of origin will have an indirect effect on their child's experience of the family of origin through parents' marital adjustment and psychosocial maturity. Only for the adolescentmother model were there significant indirect effects, as hypothesized. There was a significant indirect effect for the mother's perception of how her parents interacted with her and the adolescent's perception of how his or her parents inter-

909 acted with each other, through mother's psychosocial maturity (standardized estimate of indirect effect = .20). There also was an indirect effect between the mother's perception of how her parents interacted with her and her adolescent's perception of how she and her husband interacted, through mothers' marital adjustment (standardized estimate of indirect effect = .16).
DISCUSSION

These results provide preliminary and limited support for the model in Figure 1. Given the small sample and its limited generalizability, it appears that adolescents' experiences in their families of origin may be related indirectly to parents' experiences in their families of origin through mothers' psychosocial maturity and marital adjustment. Hypothesis 1 concerned the parents' experiences of their families of origin. For mothers and fathers, perceptions of their parents' interaction with them as they were growing up were related to their marital adjustment and their psychosocial maturity. The more mothers and fathers perceived that the interactions that they had with their parents while growing up were differentiated, the more likely it was that both mothers and fathers said that they had fewer marital complaints and more marital intimacy, and the more likely it was that they reported higher psychosocial maturity. (They were developing through Erikson's psychosocial stages.) These results are similar to the results found when examining adolescent adjustment and differentiation levels in the family (cf. Bartle & Sabatelli, 1989; Bartle-Haring, 1997; Cooper & Grotevant, 1987; Gavazzi, 1993; Sabatelli & Anderson, 1991). Generally, this literature suggests that the more highly differentiated the family system or the more that the family supports both separateness and connectedness, the more likely it is that the adolescent will be positively adjusted. Hypotheses 2 and 3 concerned parents' marital adjustmentand psychosocial maturity.The hypothesis that parents' marital adjustment and psychosocial maturitywould be related to the adolescents' experiences of their family of origin was supported only for mother-adolescent pairs. Both mothers' marital adjustment and mothers' psychosocial maturity were related to how the adolescent viewed their parents' interaction with each other. The higher the mother's marital and psychosocial adjustment, the more her adolescent viewed her relationship with her husband as differentiated. This may suggest that a mother's perception of

910 herself in some way matches her behavior, which the adolescent has accurately perceived. However, it is not just the mother's adjustment that impacts the adolescent's perceptions of the differentiation in the marital subsystem. The mother's perceptions of the parental subsystem in her own family of origin also has an indirect impact on the adolescent's experience of his or her family of origin. The adolescent's perception of the differentiation in the marital subsystem is impacted by the mother's experience of her parents' differentiated behavior toward her, through her own development (marital adjustmentand psychosocial maturity). Thus, in support of Hypothesis 4, we have some evidence of an intergenerational transmission of family patterns of interaction. This transmission may not be as direct as hypothesized, but it may occur through the impact that differentiated relationships in the family has on the individual's adjustment.There is evidence that, during adolescence, the lack of differentiatedrelationships leads to adolescent risk-taking behaviors (Gavazzi, 1993), depression (Sabatelli & Anderson, 1991), and lower identity achievement (Cooper & Grotevant, 1987). These outcomes, then, become some of the factors that influence the process of forming a new family system. Thus, the individual's experiences within the family of origin affect his or her personal adjustment, which further impacts how he or she behaves in relationships. This, in turn, affects how the individual is perceived as interacting by an offspring in the next generation. That these relationships did not hold for fatheradolescent pairs is mysterious. A father's recollection of his family of origin did influence his marital adjustment and psychosocial maturity. This, however, did not seem to impact his adolescent's experience of the interaction with the father or the interactionof father and mother. Bartle and Anderson (1991) demonstrated that adolescents' perceptions of the family were more similar to mothers' perceptions than to fathers'. In a similar way, the results of this investigation suggest that a father's perceptions of his marital adjustment and psychosocial maturity do not seem to match how his adolescent perceives his behavior toward his wife and his behavior toward the adolescent. It is also interesting that the adolescents' perception of how parents interact with them was not impacted by the parents' experiences of their families of origin or parents' adjustment. Somehow parents' interaction with each other is seen differently than parents' interaction with the adolescent. Note, however, that the evidence of intergenerational transmission comes from mothers' recollec-

Journal of Marriage and the Family tions of how their parents interacted with them while they were growing up. How parents acted toward the child seems to be an important influence on psychosocial and marital adjustment. Thus, for the adolescents, the differentiation experienced in relationships with parents appears to be an important variable but was not explained by the model. There are several limitations in this research. The sample is small and one of convenience. Because of this small sample, the six subscales of the DIFS could not be used. If the six subscales could have been preserved, parent's gender also could have been part of the analysis. In this data set, mothers' recollection of family of origin indirectly impacted adolescents' perceptions of their experience in the family of origin. Thus, it may be that a mother's recollection of her mother plays a key role, rather than of parents in general. There is also evidence that suggests that mothers and fathers contribute differently to adolescent development (Bartle-Haring, 1997; Cooper & Grotevant, 1987). With a larger sample, the model could have included variables of adolescent adjustment to complete the process. Future research using this multigenerational model should attempt to preserve parent gender and include different domains of adjustment(i.e., intimacy and identity). It may also be fruitful to investigate gender differences at the adolescent level. Do mothers' and fathers' experiences in their families of origin have differential impacts on the development of male and female offspring?
NOTE

The authorswould like to acknowledgeJudy Bomar, CeciliaForgione,JoannFitzpatrick, and Evan Sabatelli for their help in collecting and managingthe data for this project.
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