Family
routines, rituals beneficial,
says
50-Year research review
Family routines and rituals are important to the health and
well-being of today's families trying to meet the busy demands of juggling
work and home, according to a review of the research over the past 50 years.
The review finds that family routines and rituals are powerful organizers of
family life that offer stability during times of stress and transition.
The
50-year review, part of a special section dedicated to the study of family
routines and rituals in the December issue of the American Psychological
Association's (APA) Journal of Family
Psychology, finds that family routines and rituals are alive and
well and are associated with marital satisfaction, adolescents' sense of
personal identity, children's health, academic achievement and stronger
family relationships.
Psychologist
Barbara H. Fiese, Ph.D., and colleagues at Syracuse University begin their
review by distinguishing the difference between a family routine and a
family ritual. "Routines involve instrumental communication conveying
information that 'this is what needs to be done' and involve a momentary
time commitment so that once the act is completed, there is little, if any,
afterthought," says Dr. Fiese. "Rituals, on the other hand,
involve symbolic communication and convey 'this is who we are' as a group
and provide continuity in meaning across generations. Also, there is often
an emotional imprint where once the act is completed, the individual may
replay it in memory to recapture some of the positive experience." Any
routine has the potential to become a ritual once it moves from an
instrumental to a symbolic act.
Of
the 32 studies reviewed, one of the more common routines identified was
dinnertime, along with bedtime, chores, and everyday activities such as
talking on the phone or visiting with relatives. The most frequently
identified family rituals were birthdays, Christmas, family reunions,
Thanksgiving, Easter, Passover, funerals and Sunday activities including the
"Sunday dinner."
During
infancy and preschool, children are healthier and their behavior is better
regulated when there are predictable routines in the family, according to
the review. Children with regular bedtime routines get to sleep sooner and
wake up less frequently during the night than those with less regular
routines, according to one study. Regular routines in the household,
according to the review, shorten bouts of respiratory infections in infants
and improve preschool children's health. Other studies examined whether the
effects of regular routines are restricted to two-parents families.
"The presence of family routines under conditions of single parenting,
divorce, and remarried households may actually protect children from the
proposed risks associated with being raised in nontraditional
families," according to Fiese and colleagues.
Family
size influences some of the routines and rituals of the family, especially
the mealtime ritual. In larger families the father's caretaking role
increases in order to help out while the mother's leadership role is less
relative to that experienced in smaller families, one study finds. But in
single-parent families or in other situations when fewer adults are
available as conversation partners, more time is spent in adult-child talk
than in two-parent families of similar size.
Despite
these differences and the time and work challenges to arrange a family meal,
the authors say the studies show the repetitive nature of the family
mealtime allows families to get to know each other better, which can lead to
better parenting, healthier children and improved academic performance.
"We
know that families are busy, but we also know that most mealtimes only last
about 20 minutes," says Dr. Fiese. "Three or four shared family
meals a week is about one hour - considerable less time than a weekly
televised sport event or movie. Although intervention studies have not been
conducted yet there is reason to believe that regular family mealtimes that
include responsive and respectful communication among members would benefit
all who sit at the table."
The
amount of direct influence routines and rituals has on making our lives
better is up to future research. "It is likely that competent parents
are more effective in creating family routines and that satisfying routines
provide a sense of competence," according to the review authors.
"It is also possible that families who are able to maintain routines
and rituals even in the face of divorce may be distinguishable by other
characteristics, such as lower levels of conflict, which can contribute to
child adjustment."
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