ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we explore how marital and family interaction relates to spouses’ physical health, children’s illnesses, adolescents’ substance use and abuse, and adolescents’ and young adults’ sexual health. We also explore some of the major communication processes that families negotiate as they respond to physical health issues. These processes include caregiving, social support, and privacy management. The role of problematic behaviors such as conflict, permissive parenting, controlling punitive parenting, and parental monitoring are considered for their potential influence on health and health-related behaviors. It is safe to say that at some point in time, the communication in every family changes in response to physical health issues or has an effect on the course of physical health problems. The complex ways family interaction and physical health interact are only beginning to be understood.
