Stressful Family Contexts Linked to Unmarried Parenting, Working Mothers and Marital Instability in a Globalizing Society Chapter 11. Family Relationships as Sources of Stress and Support: Making the Connection Between Work and Family Experiences 1

Abstract

Dorothy Parker has been quoted as saying, “Women and men, men and women-- it will never work. ” Many feel the same pessimism about relationships between parents and children, as positive affect is abraded and worn down by the competing agendas and priorities of multiple generations, varying in age and gender, but held together by shared residence and family ties. Individuals continue to see family ties as important potential sources of existential meaning, life satisfaction, and happiness. Nevertheless, their actual experience in family interaction is often an uncertain and volatile mixture of contentment, disappointment, pride, and anxiety. There is little doubt that the quality of family relationships contributes to individual well being, and much research has investigated this linkage between relationship quality and individual outcomes. Studies of family influences on children repeatedly find that what parents do with and for their children-- the materials they provide, the attention and warmth they display, and the investments of time and energy they make in their child