Definition
Family life cycle stages is a theoretical framework to describe the formation, maintenance, change, and dissolution of marital and family relations.
Description
The family life cycle stages perspective is probably the most famous part of family development theory (Rodgers & White, 1993). Evelyn Duvall’s (1962, p. 9) classification table lists eight stages of the family life cycle:
- 1.
Beginning families (married couple without children)
- 2.
Childbearing families (oldest child, birth to 30 months)
- 3.
Families with preschool children (oldest child 2½–6 years)
- 4.
Families with school children (oldest child 6–13)
- 5.
Families with teenagers (oldest child 13–20)
- 6.
Families as launching centers (first child gone to last child’s leaving home)
- 7.
Families in the middle years (empty nest to retirement)
- 8....
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References
Duvall, E. M. (1962). Family development (2nd ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott.
Duvall, E. M. (1977). Marriage and family development (5th ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott.
Hill, R. (1951). Families under stress. New York: Harper & Brothers.
Hill, R., & Rodgers, R. H. (1964). The developmental approach. In H. T. Christensen (Ed.), Handbook of marriage and the family. Chicago: Rand McNally.
McGoldrick, M., & Carter, E. A. (1982). The family life cycle. In F. Walsh (Ed.), Normal family processes (pp. 167–195). New York: The Guilford Press.
Rankin, S. H. (2000). Life-span development: Refreshing a theoretical and practice perspective. Scholarly Inquiry for Nursing Practice, 14(4), 379–388.
Rodgers, R. H., & White, J. M. (1993). Family development theory. In G. Pauline, P. G. Boss, W. J. Doherty, R. LaRossa, W. R. Schumm, & S. K. Steinmetz (Eds.), Sourcebook of family theories and methods: A contextual approach (pp. 225–254). New York: Kluwer/Plenum Press.
Russell, C. S. (1993). Family development theory as revised by Rodgers and White. Implications for practice. In G. Pauline, P. G. Boss, W. J. Doherty, R. LaRossa, W. R. Schumm, & S. K. Steinmetz (Eds.), Sourcebook of family theories and methods: A contextual approach (pp. 255–257). New York: Kluwer/Plenum Press.
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Joronen, K., Rantanen, A. (2014). Family Life Cycle Stages. In: Michalos, A.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5_1004
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5_1004
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