多重時空框架經驗整合能力內涵及其對成人親子關係的效果

The Construct of Capacity of Integrating Cross-time-and-space Experience and Its Effect on Relationship between Adult Children and Aging Parents

本研究關注成年子女對親子關係的回顧與統合歷程，討論成年子女「多重時空框架經驗整合（簡稱多框架整合）」能力與其親子互動間的關係，並以兩個實徵研究檢驗提出的假設。研究一以問卷調查探討成年子女之多框架整合能力與其對父母感激之情、忍讓行為及親子關係融通三者間的關聯。研究二為一項書寫介入方案，藉由四週的線上書寫練習來提升個體的多框架整合能力，並預期對父母感激之情、忍讓行為及親子關係融通皆有對應的增進。參與者主要為35歲以上，或其父母65歲以上且至少一位健在之成年子女。研究一募得424位有效樣本填答問卷資料，研究二則有42位（26位完成實驗組、16位完成對照組）參加書寫介入方案。研究一結果顯示：多框架整合能力可正向預測成年子女對父母的感激之情、忍讓行為及親子關係融通程度；研究二實驗組書寫介入方案可增進成年子女的多框架整合能力，且其變化量能正向地預測參與者從方案前至方案後三星期之親子關係融通程度、對父母感激之情以及衝突下對父母忍讓行為的變化，其作用效果進一步支持研究一的結果。整體而言，成年子女對過往親子關係經驗的多框架整合能力與其對父母的感激及親子間情感融洽程度關係密切，並願意在衝 突情境中展現較多的忍讓行為。此多框架整合能力可經由觀點轉換的書寫練習方案提升，進而對成人親子互動關係有正向影響。

 

Previous studies on parent-child conflicts majorly focused on parent-adolescent interactions and take cognitive improvement training as the solution. However, in an aging society today, communication and conflict issues and their solutions are obviously different between adult children’s and teenager’s relationships with their parents. Based on decades of interactions with parents, adult children have more common memories and understanding of their aging parents. Adult children have also experienced more interpersonal interaction and cognitive maturity, which give them the capacity to have more consideration in conflict and to form holistic mindsets about a relationship. This implies that emotion and long-term relationships are important features in adult children’s relationships with their aging parents. In this study, we consider the distinctiveness of adult children and the perspective of positive psychology for discussing the issues of parent-adult child interaction. This research uses the construct of ""Integrating Cross-Time-and-Space Experience (ICTSE)"" and tests its effect on the relationship between adult children and their aging parents. ICTSE is a construct that contains cognitive transformation, emotional acceptance, and relational concerns. Adult children can develop ICTSE capacity by reviewing and reframing their early parent-children interactive experiences, including recalling memories of the relationship, openness and acceptance of the current relationship, and imagination of the future relationship. Study 1 used questionnaires to explore the relationship between ICTSE and feeling of appreciation towards parents, forbearance behaviors towards parents during conflict, and deepening relationships with parents. Study 1 recruited 424 participants. Requirement of participants was above 35 years old with at least one of their parents is alive. Under 35 year-old participants were included if one of their parents above 65 years old. One hundred and forty of them completed the father version questionnaire only, 154 completed the mother version questionnaire only, and 130 completed both version questionnaires. Study 2 was an intervention program of ICTSE, incorporated with a 4-week expressive writing paradigm, which consists of recalling memories of similar life-events with parents and emotional experiences in their relationship. Participants needed to express their feeling in multiple points of view across time (meanwhile, now) and perspectives (self, parents, relationship). Forty-two adult children who were above 35 years old enrolled in the intervention program, 26 of them completed the whole program as the experimental group, and 16 of them were the control group. The results of Study 1 showed the scale of ""Integrating Cross-Time-and-Space Experience"" had good reliability and validity. The adult children’s capacity of ICTSE positively predicted appreciation, forbearance, and relational deepening to their aging parents. Study 2 showed that the writing intervention of ICTSE promoted participants to review and reframe memories with their parents. The change score of adult children’s ICTSE between pretest and posttest positively predicted the change score of appreciation, forbearance, and relational deepening to their aging parents. It shows that ICTSE capacity can be promoted in our writing program by recalling emotional memories and practicing in perspective-changing. With new understanding in relationship events, adult children can discover some unaware feelings or give a functional interpretation to past experiences and would have a more positive attitude toward their future relationship with their aging parents. These integrations of the earlylife memory in the parent-child interaction closely related to their relationship makes adult children more willing to forbear their parents in conflict. The effects of ICTSE on appreciation, forbearance, and relational deepening to their aging parents were consistent within two studies, indicating that the construct of ICTSE had both theoretical and practical value.