中華心理衛生協會

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of family interaction patterns and children's gender on children's social competence. Methods: The subjects of the present study were 744 families with children of ages 5 to 6, including fathers, mothers and children. Results: The results showed that three symmetrical profiles of family interaction patterns were ”constructive pattern of family interaction”, ”conflictive pattern of family interaction”, and ”destructive pattern of family interaction”. In addition, children in ”constructive pattern of family interaction” performed the highest level of social competence and children in ”destructive pattern of family interaction” performed the least level of social competence. Girls performed higher level of social competence than boys. Nevertheless, children's gender and family interaction patterns did not show significant interactive effect on children's social competence. Conclusions: Due to examinations of family interaction patterns and their effects on children's social competence in the present study, the complexity of family systems could be clarified and the understanding of the effects of family systems on children development could be improved.