Parent and adolescent perceptions of family functioning: a comparison of clinic and non‐clinic families

Abstract

In this paper two studies are reported which compare (a) the perceptions of family functioning held by clinic and non‐clinic adolescents, and (b) the perceptions of family functioning held by adolescents and their mothers in clinic and non‐clinic families. In Study 1, matched group of clinic and non‐clinic adolescents were compared on their responses to a 30‐item scale (ICPS) designed to measure three factors of family functioning: Intimacy (high vs. low), Parenting Style (democratic vs. controlled) and Conflict (high vs. low). Clinic and non‐clinic adolescents were also compared on their responses to a multi‐dimensional measure of adolescent self‐concept. Although there was little difference between the two groups of adolescents in terms of their perceptions of family functioning, there were strong relationships between the self‐concept variables and the family functioning variables. In Study 2, comparisons were made between the perceptions of family functioning held by mothers and adolescents for both clinical and non‐clinic families. There were no differences between the two groups of adolescents in terms of their perceptions of family functioning, although there were clear differences between the two groups of mothers. In addition, clinic adolescents and their mothers did not differ in their perceptions of the family, whereas adolescents in the non‐clinic group saw their families significantly as less intimate and more conflicted than did their mothers.