Gottmans Balance-Theorie im Kontext von Eltern-Kind-Beziehungen
Abstract
Zusammenfassung. Gottman hat in seiner Balance-Theorie zu Paarbeziehungen postuliert, dass das Verhältnis von positiven zu negativen Interaktionen relevanter für die Stabilität und Zufriedenheit von Beziehungen sei als das absolute Ausmaß dieser Interaktionsqualitäten. Dieser Artikel behandelt die Frage, ob und inwiefern man die Balance-Theorie von Gottman auf Eltern-Kind-Beziehungen übertragen kann. Nach einer Übersicht über die Möglichkeiten und Grenzen einer solchen Übertragung wird im empirischen Teil anhand eines Datensatzes einer Pflegefamilienstudie (GROW&TREAT; N = 251 Familien, davon 94 Pflegefamilien) exploriert, ob der Beziehungsindex (das Verhältnis von positiver zu negativer kindlicher Beziehungsgestaltung) in der Lage ist, die Zufriedenheit mit der Eltern-Kind-Beziehung 1 Jahr später vorherzusagen. Darüber hinaus wird untersucht, ob dieser Zusammenhang über ein Entfremdungserleben mediiert wird. Der Beziehungsindex stellte sich als signifikanter Prädiktor dar, allerdings können auch die jeweiligen absoluten Häufigkeiten die Zufriedenheit mit der Beziehung vorhersagen, jedoch scheint hier bei den (Pflege-)Müttern nur das Ausmaß positiver, bei den (Pflege-)Vätern eher nur das Ausmaß negativer Beziehungsgestaltung bedeutsam zu sein. Eine Mediation über die Entfremdung ließ sich nicht feststellen, da die Varianz in deren Erleben zu gering war und die Voraussetzungen für eine Mediation nicht erfüllt wurden. Des Weiteren wollen wir zur Diskussion über die mögliche Rolle solcher Indizes in der Psychotherapie anregen.
Abstract. Gottman postulated in his balance theory that the ratio between positive and negative interaction is more relevant regarding stability and satisfaction of couple relationships than the absolute extent of these interaction qualities. This study asks whether and to what extent it is possible to transfer the balance theory to parent-child relationships. We first present an overview of the possibilities and limitations of such a transfer and then an empirical evaluation of data from a foster-family study (GROW&TREAT; N = 251 families, thereof 94 foster families) that assesses whether the ratio of children's positive to negative relationship behavior predicts relationship satisfaction 1 year later. We also investigated a possible mediation through an alienation process. Results show that the ratio as well as the absolute extent of positive child behaviors (for mothers) and negative child behaviors (for fathers) were significant predictors of parent-child-relationship satisfaction. The mediation could not be analyzed because of restricted variance in the alienation variable. We want to encourage a discussion about the role of such indices for psychotherapy.
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