The dynamics of family chaos and its relation to children's socioemotional well-being.

Abstract

A discussion of chaos effects on child socioemotional well-being necessarily draws attention to family-level processes. Environmental chaos typically refers to disruptions in multiple domains, including sensory overload, physical crowding, and routine family life (Evans, Gonnella, Marcynyszyn, Gentile, & Salpekar, 2005;Matheny, Wachs, Ludwig, & Philips, 1995). When routines are diminished in frequency and family life is disorganized, questions about how the group works together collectively to promote and sustain healthy development are raised. This systems-level question extends beyond parenting practices and family structure. Though there is considerable theoretical support for how systems, as a whole, can support or derail development, systematic investigations of family process as a whole are less prominent . Parent-child relationships, parental warmth, and attachment relationships certainly are essential to the health and well-being of children. However, these qualities are not equivalent to (although they may be related to) family-level processes. From a systems perspective, family-level processes are intermediary to dyadic processes and larger institutional effects on child development such as neighborhoods and schools. In this regard, they may form a nexus in studying chaos and child socioemotional well-being and are essential ingredients in Bronfenbrenner's ecological model (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; see also chap. 1, this volume). Take, for example, the fact that neighborhoods characterized by chronic noise and crowding are associated with more behavior problems in children. Similarly, crowding and elevated noise levels are also associated with poorer parent-child relationships. An apparent missing feature from a socioecological perspective is how the family as a whole, organizing itself in the service of child health and well-being, responds to chaotic environments or itself is the progenitor of chaotic processes. In this chapter we address not only how environmental chaos is associated with socioemotional problems in children but also how the family as a whole, as an organizing influence, responds to chaos in the environment. We do this by focusing largely on chaos conceptualized as a family-wide construct, particularly in studies of family routines.

Investigating the Influence of Relationship Education on Parental Attitudes

“…Variability in work schedules may lead to instability and chaos in family routines, further exacerbating negative child outcomes such as disruptions in school achievement, externalization of behavioral problems (Hsuch & Yoshikawa, 2007), and attention difficulties (Fiese & Winter, 2010). Hardway, Wilson, Shaw, and Dishion (2012) revealed that whereas positive behavior supports cultivation of the development of self-regulatory skills, household chaos acts as a deterrent to the development of many skills over time, stating that poor self-regulatory skills were related to increases in externalizing problems over time.…”

“…Hardway, Wilson, Shaw, and Dishion (2012) revealed that whereas positive behavior supports cultivation of the development of self-regulatory skills, household chaos acts as a deterrent to the development of many skills over time, stating that poor self-regulatory skills were related to increases in externalizing problems over time. Accumulations of stress, limited resources, and unpredictable work schedules are likely to account for the increased amount of chaos in economically strained households in comparison with more economic advantageous households (Fiese & Winter, 2010).…”

Families experiencing housing instability: The effects of housing programs on family routines and rituals.

“…First, family routines and rituals are influenced by context more readily than other family processes (Fiese et al, 2002), and therefore are quickly adjusted to the demands and opportunities of living situations. Second, other family processes (such as parenting behaviors) are enacted during family routines and rituals, and so disruptions of routines and rituals likely lead to disruptions of other aspects of family life (Boyce et al, 1983; Denham, 1995; Fiese & Winter, 2010). Third, family routines and rituals make sense to families (Fiese et al, 2002).…”

Relation of maternal personality to perceptions of environmental chaos in the home

“…Increasing interest in the study of environmental chaos has been fueled by a growing body of research that has found negative associations between measures of cognitive or social-emotional development and exposure of infants and children to both higher levels of general chaos as well as to specific markers of home chaos (Ackerman & Brown, 2010;Asbury, Wachs, & Plomin, 2005;Brody & Flor, 1997;Dumas et al, 2005;Evans & Hygge, 2007;Evans & Stecker, 2004;Fiese & Winter, 2010;Hart, Petrill, Deater-Deckard, & Thompson, 2007;Johnson, Martin, Brooks-Gunn, & Petrill, 2008;Matheny & Phillips, 2001;Pike, Lervolin, Ely, Price, & Plomin, 2006;Tus-Sabah, Gilani, & Wachs, 2011). While higher levels of environmental chaos are more likely to occur in low income families (Ackerman & Brown, 2010;Evans, 2006) chaos is more than a proxy term for low family socioeconomic status (SES).…”