Family Developmental Theory Paper
There are two theories that are appealing to me. They are family developmental theory and system theory. I like family developmental theory the most because it is divided into eight developmental stages that a family goes through during their family life span. Furthermore, each stage has its own challenges that a family face and completion of one stage depends on the infrastructure on previous developmental stage. Hence it is easy for a nurse to assess the family developmental stage progress in order to promote family health. Duvall’s eight stages of family developmental theory are as follows-
1. The family as a married couple with no children.
2. Childbearing families with children up to 30 months of age.
3. Families with preschool children.
4. School-aged children, 6 through 13 years old.
5. Families with teenagers.
6. Families assisting their young adults out into the world.
7. Empty nest couples
8. Old age couples from retirement to death. (Grand Canyon University [GCU], 2011, para. 6) System theory views “the family is viewed as a whole unit through which the action of each member influences the others” (Grand Canyon University, 2011, para. 8). This theory is less appealing to me because the nurse has to assess the family as a whole instead of only the individual.
1. The family as a married couple with no children.
2. Childbearing families with children up to 30 months of age.
3. Families with preschool children.
4. School-aged children, 6 through 13 years old.
5. Families with teenagers.
6. Families assisting their young adults out into the world.
7. Empty nest couples
8. Old age couples from retirement to death. (Grand Canyon University [GCU], 2011, para. 6) System theory views “the family is viewed as a whole unit through which the action of each member influences the others” (Grand Canyon University, 2011, para. 8). This theory is less appealing to me because the nurse has to assess the family as a whole instead of only the individual.