Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

6-1981

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Psychology

Major Professor

Robert G. Wahler

Abstract

The existing literature on the role of the father in the family is extraordinarily conflicted, inconclusive, and incomplete. Thus, the intent of this study was to take a look at the father's impact upon the family. His direct influence upon the children was investigated by observing the aversive behavior of both fathers and children when they were interacting alone with one another in the home. Mother-child interactions were assessed in the same manner for comparison purposes.

The population for the present study was comprised of 24 mostly low-income intact families with problem school-age children referred to a university affiliated clinic. This study of "direct effects" of fathers and children in the home depended upon home observation using a standardized coding system. The data were analyzed statistically, and the results showed a rather unexpected finding in terms of any previous literature. A behavioral contrast effect was seen for children's aversive behavior. In the observation condition of children alone with their mothers, child aversive levels- significantly decreased from baseline to treatment as" expected (p<.0003). Quite the opposite phenomenon occurred in the father-child condition, however. Children's coercive behavior actually increased significantly in treatment (p< .01). Although the behavioral contrast phenomenon was well-known in both animal and human research, it had never been observed either inside the family or in this particular configuration.

Child opposition decreasing in treatment with mothers and increasing with fathers was a finding which led to several logical inferences. First, it appeared that intrafamily behavior was an even more complex phenomenon than had originally been thought. Yet another implication of the contrast effect pertained to the lack of maintenance of treatment effects over time; a persistent problem in this high-risk population. The present research found that although child opposition was reduced in the mother setting, it never really left the family interactional system because of its reappearance in the father setting. The persistence of child coercive in the family system may make its resurgence more likely in follow-up, once a active family therapeutic intervention ceased. The implication was that there may be a hitherto-unknown additional risk factor for maintenance of treatment gains in a population already at risk for such problems. At the very least, accelerated levels of child opposition with father seemed to indicate a need to include him as an equal partner with mothers in family treatment programs (most programs have been essentially matrifocal in approach). The inclusion of fathers in treatment programs may prove to be difficult, given the fact that this study showed that he was much less in volved in or affected by children's behavior than was the mother.

Download
Files over 3MB may be slow to open. For best results, right-click and select "save as..."

Share

COinS