DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS ON PARENTS TO BE: MOTHERING AND FATHERING

Table 8 2. DUVALL EIGHT-STAGE FAMILY LIFE CYCLE AND DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS Stage Developmental Task I Married couple (without children) Establishing mutually satisfying relationships and establishing relationships with members of each others families II Childbearing family (oldest child Adjusting to parenthood and creating a between birth and 30 months) home for the family III Families with preschool children Nurturing children and learning skills for (oldest child 2 to 6 years old) effective socialization of children IV Families with school-age children Educating and socializing the children and (oldest child 6 to 13 years old) establishing social relationships with other families V Families with teenagers (oldest child Helping children to balance freedom and 13 to 20 years old) responsibility VI Families launching young adults (first Releasing children and developing spousal child gone to last childs leaving interests; continuing to provide support to home) children) VII Middle-aged parents (empty nest to Solidifying the marital relationship and Retirement) maintaining contacts with other generations VII Aging family members (retirement to Adjusting to multiple losses: spouse, job, death of both spouses friends Infancy and Early Childhood Family Developmental Task Assist the child in: 1. Learning to walk 2. Learning to take solid foods 3. Learning to talk 4. Learning to control the elimination of body wastes 5. Learning sex differences and sexual modesty 6. Achieving psychologic stability 7. Forming simple concepts of social and physical reality 8. Learning to relate emotionally to parents, siblings, and other people. 9. Learning to distinguish right from wrong and developing a conscience. Middle Childhood Family Developmental Task Assist the child in: 1. Learning physical skills necessary for ordinary games 2. Building wholesome attitudes toward oneself as a growing organism 3. Learning to get along with age-mates 4. Learning appropriate masculine or feminine social role 5. Developing fundamental skills in reading, writing, and calculating 6. Developing concepts necessary for everyday living 7. Developing conscience, morality, and a scale of values 8. Achieving personal independence 9. Developing attitudes toward social groups and institutions

Adolescence Family Developmental Task Assist adolescents in: 1. Developing coping behaviors 2. Developing strategies for resolving conflicts 3. Achieving new and more mature relations with age-mates of both sexes 4. Achieving a masculine or feminine social role 5. Accepting ones physique and using the body effectively 6. Achieving individual independence from parents and other adults 7. Selecting and preparing for an occupation 8. Preparing for marriage and family life 9. Developing intellectual skills and concepts necessary for civic competence 10. Desiring and achieving socially responsible behavior 11. Acquiring a set of values and an ethical system as a guide to behavior Early adulthood Family Developmental Task 1. Accept adults chosen life-style and assist with necessary adjustments relating to health 2. Recognize the persons commitment and the function of competence in life. 3. Selecting a mate 4. Learning to live with a partner 5. Starting a family 6. Rearing children 7. Managing a home 8. Getting started in an occupation Middle Age Family Developmental Task 1. Achieving adult civic and social responsibility 2. Establishing and maintain an economic standard for living 3. Assisting teenage children to become responsible and happy adults 4. Developing adult leisure-time activities 5. Relating oneself to ones spouse as a person 6. Accepting and adjusting to the physiologic changes of middle age 7. Adjusting to aging parents Later maturity Family Developmental Task 1. Adjusting to decreasing physical strength and health 2. Adjusting to retirement and reduced income 3. Adjusting to death of a spouse 4. Establishing an explicit affiliation with ones age group 5. Meeting social and civil obligations 6. Establishing satisfactory physical living arrangements