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The study of Triadic Family Interactions: the Proposal of an Observational Procedure

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Abstract

In the present article we provide an analytical review of 26 recent studies, which investigated triadic mother-father-child interactions through observational procedures. We focused on the methodological framework and compared the studies according to different criteria, in order to highlight the complexity of the object of study as well as the variety of dimensions and measures that have been used. Even if all the considered studies were designed to analyze triads, very few used coherently triadic categories; most of them focused on the individual members of the triad or on the parents with respect to the child. Joining the research that have stressed the importance of focusing on the reciprocal interactions of all members of the triad, we propose a methodological procedure that allows to describe the triad as a system without losing sight of the single participants and the simultaneity, interdependence, and processuality of their actions.

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Notes

  1. Some contributions published in the previous years have not been taken into consideration in the review part, as they were mostly published within books and only research articles have been included in this review. Despite we didn’t include the books published in the period before the one we considered, the important methodological procedures there contained have been so influential to be adopted in the empirical investigations published in the following period, and thus here contemplated and analyzed.

  2. Of course, in families of four o more people the possible triadic forms multiply.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Parma Italy, Parma, Italy

    Elena Venturelli, Elena Cabrini, Laura Fruggeri & Ada Cigala

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  1. Elena Venturelli
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  2. Elena Cabrini
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  3. Laura Fruggeri
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  4. Ada Cigala
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Correspondence to Elena Venturelli.

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Venturelli, E., Cabrini, E., Fruggeri, L. et al. The study of Triadic Family Interactions: the Proposal of an Observational Procedure. Integr. psych. behav. 50, 655–683 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12124-015-9335-1

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