Family Strengths and Individual Functioning

I wrote this critical reflection for our interpersonal systems class at the University of Rochester. The professor asked us to find a paper on “Family Systems Theory” and write about it. I chose a paper I found by Dunst (2021) that looks at family strengths and their relation to individual functioning.

Dunst (2021) wishes to understand relationships between family strengths, the way a family functions, and individual functioning. In order to do this, he uses the Circumplex Model of Marital and Family Systems. The circumplex model, developed by Olson, views the family as a system, defined and measured by three domains. The first, cohesion, looks at how family members emotionally bond, balancing togetherness and separateness. Then, flexibility looks at how adaptable roles are, balancing stability and change. Finally, communication mediates both cohesion and flexibility.

Another assessment was included in the research, also developed by Olson: the Family Strengths Scale. This is a 12-item assessment with two dimensions: family pride, which includes intrafamily beliefs and behaviors such as trust and loyalty, and family accord, which includes family competencies such as problem-solving. Dunst then conducted a meta-analysis of 26 reports containing 33 independent study samples, totaling 8,259 participants. Overall, Dunst found that having a strong family does relate to personal functioning; however, family strength was more strongly related to family functioning than personal functioning. Family strength was also related to domains of cohesion, flexibility, and communication.

When evaluating Dunst’s research, I was able to see how the addition of clear assessments and constructs makes the research more objective. I felt it was limited without more detail; for example, what specifics of emotional bonding lead to family strength? Or does family pride specifically connect to individual functioning? I can see how in a systems approach there may be many more variables than just a simple independent and dependent variable. Understandably, this makes it seem more complicated to do quantitative analysis, especially in a meta-analysis. Overall, the research does imply that as counselors we should look at family-level strengths and functions, at a system level, as they do have significant impacts.

References

Dunst, C. J. (2021). Family strengths, the circumplex model of family systems, and personal and family functioning: A meta-analysis of the relationships among study measures. Journal of Behavior, Health & Social Issues, 13(2), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.22201/fesi.20070780e.2021.13.2.77837