Family instability is any factor that creates additional challenges within a family unit that ultimately affects a child/children’s cognitive, behavioral and emotional development, and places their development at significant risk due to the parents’ inability to effectively manage the home and the living environment.
Family instability can come in many forms; economic, emotional, social, and physical. The challenges and struggles of family instability can be passed on from generation to generation if the instabilities are not corrected or the family and children do not receive appropriate physical and emotional assistance when needed.
Types of family instability
Economic or financial instability can come from a layoff, job loss, job change, or significant financial burden such a mortgage, car payment or medical debt. It impacts the families ability to meet the financial needs required to maintain a safe standard of living which includes sufficient food, shelter, medical and utility needs to have a safe and functional home. Children living in an economically unstable home may not have sufficient food, clothing, or utilities; if old enough they may be forced to work to help make ends meet in the home.
Emotional instability in a family is often expressed through neglect, anger, anxiety and fear. Parents that are working demanding jobs or multiple jobs may not have time to adequately show attention and affection toward their children. They may overly express anger and frustration toward the children due to fatigue and share fears with children about adult concerns placing undue stress and anxiety on children. Love can also be an emotional instability when it becomes excessive and or inappropriate.
Social instability in a family is expressed through neglect of tasks around the home and through anger and anxiety expressed by adults. The adults fail to express healthy social interactions which impact how the children will interact with each other and with other adults. They do not receive appropriate social training and this leads to dysfunction in the educational setting among peers, teachers and greatly impacts academic success.
Physical instability in a family can come in two forms; the first one is the physical setting in which the family resides. The child may reside in a home that is not physically safe or supportive; it may have no heat, electricity, water, sewer disposal. The house may be in general ill repair. The second physical instability comes from the physical interactions that occur between family members. A child may be exposed to a physically threatening environment where items are thrown, broken, or used to demonstrate fear and anger.
Causes of family instability
While family instability focuses on these four forms of economic, emotional, social, and physical the cause of these instabilities can be numerous. Job loss, economic hardship, divorce, separation, infidelity, incarceration, extended family, unexpected pregnancy, sexual abuse, physical abuse, substance abuse, foreclosure, medical situation or emergency can all contribute to family instability. Certain socio-economic demographics and cultural groups experience higher levels of family instability.
Consequences of family instability
Children living in homes that experience family instabilities may experience extreme emotional expressions and extremes; they will suffer cognitively and often struggle in school. They will often have difficulty socializing and expressing age-appropriate social behavior. They will often show higher levels of anxiety and have irrational ideas and fears. Children may have clothing that is dirty or doesn’t fit; they may show signs of malnutrition or have eating disorders and behaviors associated with food. Children may tell stories that are inconsistent or fanciful in an attempt to hide the instabilities and insecurities.
In multiple children home, younger children may be victims of the adults as well as that of older siblings that mimic situations or take out their own instabilities on younger children; younger children are more likely to be supervised by older siblings in the absence of adults.
Instability in any form is difficult for children. However, change is inevitable in life for all of us. Role modeling positive ways of managing difficult times can assist them in learning to effectively cope when life happens. Parents play an extremely important role in how children manage tough situations. Parents that keep in mind the long-term impact of how their behavior will impact their children now and in the future are a step ahead in assisting their children to have a positive future.
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FAQs
Causes of family instability
What may disrupt family life cycle? ›
Not everyone passes through these stages smoothly. Situations such as severe illness, financial problems, or the death of a loved one can have an effect on how well you pass through the stages. Fortunately, if you miss skills in one stage, you can learn them in later stages.
What are the factors that cause family disruption? ›
Factors that cause a broken family include communication disorders, egocentricity, dissatisfaction, economic issues, lack of education, third party disturbances, and psychological disturbances . Conflict and disputes between parents leading to divorce are also a major cause of broken families .
What is considered an unstable family? ›
Family instability is defined as repeated changes in a child's family structure, and is often measured as a count of the entrances and exits by a biological parent's romantic partners or spouses into or out of a child's household (Fomby and Cherlin 2007, Osborne and McLanahan 2007, Wu and Martinson 1993).
What happens when the family structure is disrupted? ›
Children who experience family disruption are at higher risk of developing myriad diagnostic and functional difficulties, including depression, anxiety, and academic failure, among other issues.
What are the effects of unstable family? ›
Consequences of family instability
They will often show higher levels of anxiety and have irrational ideas and fears. Children may have clothing that is dirty or doesn't fit; they may show signs of malnutrition or have eating disorders and behaviors associated with food.
What are 4 things that cause changes in family structure? ›
Changes in Family Structures - Key takeaways
Reasons for the declining fertility rates including economic factors, labour market uncertainty, changes in marriage trends, women's higher participation in higher education and employment and improvements in contraception, and the legislation of abortion.
What are 5 causes of conflict in family? ›
Common causes of family conflict
- Learning to live as a new couple.
- Birth of a baby.
- Birth of other children.
- A child going to school.
- A child becoming a young person.
- A young person becoming an adult.
Family disorganization means breaking family relations, family crisis, bracken of marriage relationships, family dissolution, marital maladjustment, dissertation, separation, divorce etc,. It is called the conflict in marriage between family members.
Why does my family have so many problems? ›
Poor or nonexistent communication
Healthy, honest, frequent communication is widely considered to be the foundation of healthy relationships of all types. Families without it are likely to experience recurrent conflict as issues that arise may not be properly addressed and members may not feel heard.
Toxic family members are, at the core, abusive family members. Abuse can take many forms, including physical, sexual, and emotional.
How do you fix a dysfunctional family? ›
If you are currently in a dysfunctional family dynamic, it can be helpful to go to family therapy to change the dynamics within the family. A majority of family therapy includes all the members of the family, so that the therapist can address these interactions and help correct them in real time.
What is a toxic family system? ›
Toxic family dynamics refer to unhealthy family relationships characterized by harmful behaviors, poor interactions, and ineffective conflict management. Unhealthy family dynamics include signs such as: Lack of boundaries and empathy. Lack of personal space and privacy. Constant conflicts, hostility, and aggression.
What are three situations that can lead to a change in a family structure? ›
List 3 ways family structure can change. Separation/divorce. Remarriage. Death of a family member.
What is a broken family structure? ›
In the broken family one or both parents are absent because of death, divorce, separation or desertion. This kind of family is expected to have adverse effects on the child because of lack of proper role models, failure to control the child and insufficient paternal or maternal love (Wilkinson, 1974).
At what age is a child most affected by divorce? ›
Divorce with school-aged kids (5 to 13 years old)
The school-aged years are probably the worst age for divorce for children; the potential for emotional trauma from divorce is highest at age 11.
What is a disruption in a family's usual way of functioning? ›
Definition of a Crisis: A disruption or breakdown in a person's or family's normal or usual pattern of functioning. A crisis cannot be resolved by a person's customary problem-solving resources/skills.
What would cause a change in the normal family life cycle? ›
Learning the skills of each stage helps you to move from one stage of development to the next. Not everyone passes through these stages smoothly. Issues such as severe illness, money problems, or the death of a loved one can affect how you pass through the stages.
What are three crises that can have major effects on a family? ›
Some crises are universally threatening or stressful: the death of close family or friends, divorce, serious illness, personal injury, and environmental disasters. The crisis may spur a rush of memories about traumatic or highly stressful times in the family's past.
