ABSTRACT
The chapter explores the impact of family of origin variables on psychological health, marital quality, and the transition to parenthood. A number of family therapists and researchers eschew the construct of family competence, preferring to emphasize that each family has particular strengths and weaknesses. Ethnic and cultural factors also influence the criteria on which competence is assessed and, consequently, the types of family structure that will be associated with optimal functioning. The highly competent family is characterized by a parental relationship in which power is shared and there are high levels of closeness and commitment. Highly competent families have evolved a basic family structure that encourages both attachment and separateness. Dominant-submissive family structures are dysfunctional in that there is an increased probability of the development of psychiatric syndromes in either the submissive spouse or the children. D. Reiss’s consensus-sensitive family system has many parallels to some forms of what we call chaotic marital and family systems.
