CHFD 3920

A period of the family life cycle occurring after all children have left home to live on their own

The situation in which middle-aged adults are responsible for simultaneously meeting the needs of their own dependent children and those of their aging and frail parents.

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

The situation that results when adult children who have been launched from the family return home to live with their parents

The reduced speed in responding to stimuli and the sensory changes in vision, hearing, taste, touch, and smell that accompany the aging process

A condition brought on by a decline in health status that stresses the relationships between aging spouses and between adult children and their aging parents

A role transition that is discussed in the context of the later-life family because the birth of grandchildren symbolically signifies a shift in centrality and power from the aging generation to the middle generation within the family hierarchy

Both a physical withdrawal from paid employment and a psychological reorientation of the importance of work to one's identity

An emotional reliving of a person's death each year around the time that the death occurred

The emotional response to a death felt throughout the family system, producing stress and altering relationships even among family members who are emotionally removed from the deceased

A cognitive understanding of a death that helps the family to accept the pain of the loss and makes it possible for the family to evolve a new perspective that reestablishes a positive sense of control, fairness, and trust in the future

When a child is conceived to take the place of a deceased family member, or when a surviving child is affirmed for traits that remind parents of a deceased child

Grief that exists even though society does not recognize one's need, right, or capacity to grieve

A role transition brought on by the death of a spouse

A system comprised of two active and involved parents and two separate households

Confusion about who is in the family and who is not

The legal parameters of each parent's relationship with the children that are established following divorce

The termination of the spousal role combined with the maintenance o the parental role and the sharing of responsibilities for one's children.

The legal termination of a marriage

A negotiation process designed to minimize divorcing couples' conflicts over personal, economic, or child related differences by concretely examining their options in a goal-focused and task-oriented manner and making constructive decisions before appearing in court.

The 4th and final transition of the divorce process, during with the family clarifies its new internal and external boundaries, redefines its identity, stabilizes its emotional environment, and reestablishes strategies for managing the newly created household

The 1st transition of the divorce process, which begins when a spouse first realizes that he or she is feeling dissatisfied or distressed in the marriage.

When both parents continue to be parents to all of their children despite a divorce

When one or both partners in a marraige-like relationship believe that the relationship suffers from serious, long-standing problems that threaten the stability of the relationship.

The 3rd transition of the divorce process, which occurs when one spouse moves out of the home

When one parent assumes complete responsibility for child care with the other parent generally receiving visitation rights and, in many instances, responsibility for child support.

When one parent has legal and physical custody of one or more children, and the other parent has legal and physical custody of one or more other children.

Money that higher-earning spouses provide to their lower-earning counterparts following the end of their marriage

When parents legally share responsibility for child care, parental decision-making, and economic support of their children following divorce.

When parents equally share the responsibility for providing their children with a residence. The term is used to distinguish between this arrangement and joint legal custody, which involves shared parental decision-making and economic support, and a situation in which children generally reside with one parent most of the time.

A role assumed by a child (often a daughter or older child) requiring him or her to take responsibility for parenting other children (or the parent) in the single-parent family systems

The role assumed by a single parent that involves accepting complete authority and responsibility for the household and all related tasks and enlisting the help of others when needed, without allowing them to take over. That is, the parent accepts that the single-parent household can no longer operate as it did when two parents were present.

An initial stage in the process of remarriage that provides time to resolve issues related to the earlier divorce of one or both partners and a gradual introduction of the new stepparent into the present single- parent system.

The 2nd stage of the process of remarriage beginning immediately after the remarriage, during which the system typically remains divided primarily along biological lines.

A lack of norms and institutional supports for stepfamilies

The 4th and final stage of the remarriage process, marked by a greater sense of shared intimacy and authenticity in family relationships. Restructuring is now complete, and the family is characterized by flexibility in roles and interactional patterns. Personal one-to-one relationships take precedence over disruptive triangles and coalitions

A remarried family system that includes the household of both biological parents (perhaps other stepparents, siblings, and step-siblings), biological relatives (perhaps grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins), and steprelatives (perhaps grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins)

The 3rd stage of the remarriage process during which the structure of the family will gradually undergo change

A family in which one or both spouses have been married previously

A family in which one or both partners bring children into the household, resulting in the presence of both biological and non-biological parents.