Deck 13: Family Tasks During Middle Adulthood

Question 1

The research literature largely supports the conclusion that the launching of children is experienced by women as

A) a time of despair and depression
B) a time of profound role loss
C) a time of increased marital stress and conflict
D) an opportunity for growth

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A) Over 60% of all parents with children in their 20's have at least one adult child living at home.
B) The research finds no benefits associated with multigenerational households.
C) When adult children aged 19 to 34 live at home, most parents are happy with the arrangement.
D) all of the above

Answer 2

C

Question 3

involves terminating the hierarchical parent/child relationship and establishing a symmetrical, peer like relationship in its place.

A) Differentiation
B) The Mid-life crisis
C) Individuation
D) Personal authority

Answer 3

D

Question 4

The child's changing perspective on his or her own developmental needs and the changing demands that parents place upon their children are

A) factors that stress the relationships between parents and children
B) factors that insure the success of the individuation process
C) factors that undermine the quality of the parent/child relationship
D) all of the above

Question 5

Termination of the hierarchical parent-child relationship

A) establishes relational equality between children and parents
B) allows for feelings of affection and trust between parents and children
C) establishes a more peer-like relationship between parents and children
D) all of the above

Question 6

Increased life expectancy and declines in the size of the average family mean that contemporary couples

A) will spend more years than previous generations in the post child-rearing stage of the family life cycle.
B) will spend fewer years than previous generations in the post child-rearing stage of the family life cycle.
C) will spend more years than previous generations launching children than previous generations.
D) will spend more years than previous generations coping with the empty nest syndrome.

Question 7

It has been suggested that married couples will spend about of their married lives in the post child phase of the family life cycle.

A) one-fourth
B) one-third
C) one-half
D) two-thirds

Question 8

Which parents are more likely to successfully transform their relationships with their launching children?

A) Parents who struggled to launch from their own families of origin
B) Parents from well differentiated families of origin
C) Parents who were expelled from their families of origin
D) Parents who were enmeshed with their families of origin

Question 9

Parents' control and dominance of the children

A) can never foster intimacy
B) can foster intimacy only as long as the parents' power is accepted as legitimate by the children
C) can foster intimacy only as long as the parents' power is accepted as legitimate by both parents and the children
D) is never accepted as legitimate by children.

Question 10

Which of the following statements about fathers' reaction to the empty nest phase is NOT TRUE, according to research cited in the text?

A) Fathers have few difficulties with the shift in parenting responsibilities.
B) Fathers are less emotionally prepared for this phase than mothers.
C) Fathers evaluate the empty next experience negatively more often than positively.
D) Fathers who are negatively affected by the empty nest report a sense of lost opportunity.

Question 11

Which parents will have the easiest time launching their children?

A) Parents who have stayed married "for the sake of the children"
B) Parents who rely on their children to provide a sense of meaning to daily life
C) Parents who rely on their children to stabilize marital conflict
D) All of these parents will have an equally difficult time in the launching process

Question 12

Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A) The age group between 45 and 54 tends to have the highest mean household income of age group.
B) A stable, intimate, and supportive marriage has been found to be one of the strongest predictors of husbands' adjustment to the stresses of the middle years.
C) Less role strain combined with the positive benefits of working can contribute to the middle years being a time of increased personal satisfaction for women.
D) all of the above

Question 13

Once children are launched and no longer reside in their parents' household, parents and children are confronted with the task of

A) developing an adult-to-adult relationship
B) becoming free from one another's influence
C) maintaining parental authority in spite of the changes in children's status
D) all of the above

Question 14

What is the key developmental task for the family with adolescents?

A) Launching the children.
B) Increasing the flexibility of family boundaries to enable children to move in and out of the family system.
C) Preventing children from exploring their identity separate from the family until they are in the early twenties.
D) Promoting social skill development in adolescent children

Question 15

Which of the following statements are NOT TRUE?

A) The mass media and popular literature portray relationships between parents and adolescents as being dominated by intense conflict and adolescent rebelliousness.
B) In actuality, the relationships between parents and adolescents as dominated by intense conflict and adolescent rebelliousness.
C) In the social sciences, the prevailing view is that adolescence is marked by "storm and stress."
D) The research literature suggests that the view of adolescence as a time of excessive conflict is untenable.

Question 16

Parents must participate in the individuation process by

A) demanding that their children to leave the family
B) transforming their own roles and identities
C) fostering autonomy by reducing financial support
D) all of the above

Question 17

The effects of work on marriage during the middle adult years are determined by all of the following EXCEPT

A) The overall quality of the marriage established during earlier stages of the life cycle.
B) How satisfied men and women are with their work.
C) How the couple negotiates the changes that may be occurring in their work experiences during the middle years.
D) Whether or not dependent children remain at home during the middle years

Question 18

Which of the following statements is true with respect to the relationship between parents and adolescent children?

A) These relationships are dominated by conflict and tension
B) Most adolescents report little respect for their parents.
C) Family problems are worse during adolescent than during any other stage in the family life cycle.
D) There is no evidence suggesting that family problems are worse during adolescence than at any other stage of development.

Question 19

Which of the following factors impacts on the degree of parental authority accepted as legitimate in the relationship between parents and their adult children?

A) gender
B) class
C) ethnicity
D) all of the above

Question 20

The term refers to that situation where adult children who have been launched from the family at an earlier point in time return home to live with their parents.

A) generational squeeze
B) empty nest
C) re-nested family
D) developmental misfit

Question 21

Couples experiencing "generational squeeze" must attend to the needs of while they are launching their children.

A) their own aging parents
B) their partners
C) themselves
D) all of the above

Question 22

The term refers to a period of the family life cycle occurring after all children have left home to live on their own.

A) empty nest
B) launching
C) generational squeeze
D) morphogenesis

Question 23

The term is used to refer to the situation where middle-aged adults are responsible for simultaneously meeting the needs of their own dependent children and those of their aging and frail parents.

A) empty-nest
B) generational squeeze
C) mid-life crisis
D) re-nested family

Question 24

The term refers to a period of the family life cycle that begins with the departure of the first child from the home and ends when all children have left home to live on their own.

A) empty nest
B) generational squeeze
C) launching
D) morphogenesis