No abstract

This study examines how college students' family communication environments influence their adjustment during the first year of college in two distinct cultures: Belgium (n = 513) and the United States (n = 431). Three structural equation models were tested to determine the mediating effects of (a) perceived family support, (b) quality of academic advice from parents, and (c) quality of social advice from parents on associations between family communication patterns (FCPs) and student adjustment. Although most relationships are more complicated than predicted based on FCP theory and research, several patterns occur across models and populations. Conversation orientation tends to foster positive adjustment for both cultures

Sibling relationships are influenced both by the behaviors performed within the relationship (e.g., relational work; Myers et al., 2001) and by the family system as a whole (White & Klein, 2008). This study extends family communication patterns theory (FCP) by examining whether communicative relationship maintenance plays a role in the relationship between FCP and sibling relationship satisfaction. Data from 327 adult siblings from across the United States tested using Hayes (2013) PROCESS revealed that conversation and conformity orientation had positive indirect effects on sibling relationship satisfaction through both (a) relational maintenance expectations and (b) perceptions of sibling actual maintenance behavior in nearly all models (i.e., including positivity, openness, assurances, networks, and tasks maintenance behaviors). The results suggest that the parent-child relationship remains important long after children become adults as it continues to influence interpersonal relationships with others. Future directions for communication scholars are discussed along with theoretical implications for research on family communication patterns and the maintenance strategy framework.

No abstract

No abstract