Effects of Family Structures and Family Processes on Children

The paper provides a brief overview on the effects of family structures and family processes onthe psychological well-being of children. The continuous changes in the demographics offamilies have had positive and negative effects on the psychological well-being of children. Howdo family structures impact on a child's psychological well-being? What are the effects ofbackground differences, family structural change and social environment on the psychologicalwell-being of children? What are the effects of family processes on the psychological well- beingof children? How does socioeconomic status affect children's psychological well-being? Thepaper tried to answer these questions. Children from two parent family structures have shown tobe displaying high levels of psychological well-being in most areas of development than theirassociates from single parent families. Two theories dominated the study, the family compositionperspective which looks in the structure of the families and the family process perspective whichlooks into the processes of the families.