Funzionamento familiare e rischio psicosociale in tardo adolescenti

The article presents a family research conducted with a twofold aim: on one hand, to verify the existence of a correlation between the presence of psycho-social risk in the adolescent and family functioning, and, on the other hand, to test techniques of data analysis that allow us to study the family as a unit. The sample is composed of 279 "intact" families with a late adolescent. The adolescents and their parents completed some self-report instruments aimed at detecting support and communication in parent-adolescent relationships, besides family climate. Parents also completed a questionnaire about the quality of their marital relationship. An index of risk was constructed with the Multiattribute Utility Technology. From the data analysis - conducted on three levels: individual, relational dyadic and relational triadic - emerged the importance of a supportive relationship and an adequate communication between parents and adolescents. This work has also revealed the importance of the father in this phase of life. Moreover, this research shows the advantages of the use of the unit of analysis and treatment of the data that duly considers the family perspective.