Implicit Family Process Rules and Adolescent Psychological Symptoms

Implicit family process rules refer to unspoken rules about family expectations regarding communication, closeness, and organization that may have a powerful influence on adolescent psychological well-being. This study focused on the relationship between implicit family process rules and adolescent psychological symptoms, such as hostility, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, and somatization. A sample of 243 adolescents completed measures of psychological symptoms and implicit family rules. Family process facilitative (healthy) rules were significantly related to decreased adolescent psychological symptoms. These findings suggest that perceived implicit family process rules are important in research and in treatment.