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FAMILY PATHWAYS PROJECT
The main purpose of the Family Pathways Project is to better understand
families and how they grow. Dr. Karlen Lyons-Ruth, a child psychologist
at Cambridge Health Alliance, started the project more than 20 years
ago with 75 pairs of new mothers and their babies from the Somerville
and Cambridge area. It was known then as the Family Support Project.
At that time, the focus was on the earliest years of the parent-child
relationship. Staff made home visits and families came into the
office too. According to Karlen, "Lots of research studies
don't spend this much time with their participants, but we wanted
to make sure we really got to know all the people we were going
to be working with. We wanted a sense of their history. We asked
to hear their stories. Everyone has stresses, and starting a family
can add to those stresses."
The study asked new parents how they dealt with the stresses of
everyday life. Then, when the children were 4-5 years old, and again
when they were 7-9, families shared their personal experiences and
stories about the elementary school years. Now, we are following
up to see what life has been like since then, especially as the
children moved through adolescence into young adulthood.
What have we learned so far?
One thing we have learned is that a strong parent-child bond early
in life is very meaningful for later development. We have also learned
that families have many different styles of communication. Also,
as families and children have grown, there are a number of ways
that they cope with life's challenges and changes.
What is this stage of the study about?
Parents and teens often say that adolescence and young adulthood
is a complicated time for everyone. We are interested in learning
more about the things families feel and think about their relationships
as they go through these transitions. As young people try out their
own ways of doing things and strive to be independent, things can
become difficult and confusing for families.
We want to learn more about what this period of change is like
in order to discover how different families handle the different
changes. Right now, we are fortunate to be able to interview not
only the families that we've been in contact with for 20 years,
but 60 new mothers and their adolescent/young adult children as
well.
Thank you for your continued participation.
For those of you who recently have been in for a visit or in touch
by phone or mail, all of us at the Family Pathways Project wish
to thank you for your continued participation. For those of you
we haven't seen yet, we look forward to speaking to you soon and
learning about changes and new developments in your families.
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