title: Circumplex model of marital and family system: I. Cohesion and adaptability dimensions, family types, and clinical applications.
abstract: The conceptual clustering of numerous concepts from family therapy and other social science fields reveals two significant dimensions of family behavior, cohesion and adaptability. These two dimensions are placed into a circumplex model that is used to identify 16 types of marital and family systems. The model proposes that a balanced level of both cohesion and adaptability is the most functional to marital and family development. It postulates the need for a balance on the cohesion dimension between too much closeness (which leads to enmeshed systems) and too little closeness (which leads to disengaged systems). There also needs to be a balance on the adaptability dimension between too much change (which leads to chaotic systems) and too little change (which leads to rigid systems). The model was developed as a tool for clinical diagnosis and for specifying treatment goals with couples and families.
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004644:Emotions; D005190:Family; D005196:Family Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000534:rehabilitation; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009769:Object Attachment; D011340:Problem Solving; D011581:Psychological Tests; D012917:Social Adjustment