Emotional Communications in Parent-Child Relationships and the Resilience of the Future Adult Family

Objective. To analyze the contribution of the most immediate contextual influences (child-parent emotional communications) to the resilience of the adult family (using the samples from Belarus and Russia). Background. Understanding the role of emotional dysfunctions in parent-child relationships in the context of Russian and Belarusian cultures helps to identify the conditions for the resilience of a future adult family, which can become the basis for social family policy at the state level and improvement of the practice of psychological assistance to families.
Study design. The study was conducted online using the snowball method. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to determine the impact of dysfunction in parental families, intensity of the negative events, age of respondents and number of children on family resilience. Children's experiences of adults are illustrated by the results of projective technique.
Participants. The study involved 853 respondents (595 people from the Russian Federation, 258 from the Republic of Belarus) aged from 18 to 77 years (average age 36 ± 12 years, median = 36 years), 90,5% female.
Measurements. Family resilience was assessed using Gusarova’s et al. “Family Resilience Assessment Scale” (FRAS-RII). Dysfunctions in parental families were determined according to Kholmogorova’s et al. “Family Emotional Communications” and the projective technique of Odintsova et al. “Space of Trees and Light.” The intensity of negative events in families was assessed on a scale from 1 to 10.
Results. Dysfunctions in parental families make a significant contribution to the resilience of the future adult family (up to 20% of explained variance). Family perfectionism has a positive effect, and the elimination of emotions has a negative impact on the resilience of adult families in the context of two cultures. In Russian families of origin there is over-involvement, and in Belarusian families criticism negatively affects the resilience of respondent’s families.
Conclusions. The critical atmosphere in parental families, the high intensity of adverse events in Belarusian families, and overprotection in the parental families of Russians contribute to a decrease in families’ resilience. The presence and number of children in a family contributes to the family resilience in both countries. Culture and traditions are a solid basis for the majority of Russians and Belarusians.

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