1. Which of the following best describes family dynamics?
a. stable to rigid family interactions
b. limited access to new information or people outside of the family
c. movement, change, and growth
d. chaotic family relationships
Ans: C
Learning Objective: 1.1: Define family dynamics and describe the implications of dynamics.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Family Dynamics: Meaning
Difficulty Level: Easy
2. Psychodynamics involve ______ and family dynamics show ______.
a. seeking meaning and reasons for things that happen; how things happen
b. a focus on behaviors; emotional motivations
c. a systems perspective; motivations of individual family members
d. current changes; intrapsychic reasons for behavior
Ans: A
Learning Objective: 1.1: Define family dynamics and describe the implications of dynamics.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Family Dynamics: Meaning
Difficulty Level: Medium
3. Which of the following represents a family of choice?
a. A couple who got married to demonstrate their love for each other.
b. A queer woman who is estranged from her family and considers her friends family.
c. A single woman who adopts a child.
d. A foster family.
Ans: B
Learning Objective: 1.6: Consider the diverse expressions of families in terms of form and function.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Family Responsibilities
Difficulty Level: Easy
4. If one family member has anger issues, how will this affect the family?
a. It will impact the elders in the family.
b. It will have limited effects in a family with rigid boundaries.
c. It will impact the most vulnerable family members.
d. It will impact all family members.
Ans: D
Learning Objective: 1.2: Illustrate the interrelationship between human lifespan development and family dynamics.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Lifespan development and family dynamics
Difficulty Level: Medium
5. What does it mean to say that dynamic family interrelationships have a ripple effect?
a. All members will eventually leave the family through death or marriage.
b. Members are not bothered by the attitudes of the family members.
c. When one member is affected, all the others are also impacted in some way.
d. A family member’s behavior only has short-range effects.
Ans: C
Learning Objective: 1.2: Illustrate the interrelationship between human lifespan development and family dynamics.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Lifespan Development and Family Dynamics
Difficulty Level: Medium
6. Meichenbaum’s model of ______ assists family members manage feelings through emotional regulation.
a. psychodynamic therapy
b. cognitive behavioral therapy
c. family systems therapy
d. anger management
Ans: B
Learning Objective: 1.2: Illustrate the interrelationship between human lifespan development and family dynamics.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Lifespan Development and Family Dynamics
Difficulty Level: Medium
7. Which of the following is true about the study of family dynamics?
a. It ideally can provide information for public policy decisions.
b. It only helps parents raising children.
c. It is limited to those who are family therapists.
d. It is currently focused on ancestry and identity.
Ans: A
Learning Objective: 1.3: Justify the relevance of studying family dynamics. Explain the scope of the family sciences in various professional contexts.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Why Study Family Dynamics?
Difficulty Level: Medium
8. What is one way that public policies contributes to the well-being of the family?
a. providing community private schools
b. ensuring free public schooling for all
c. supporting the traditional family values that embrace fathers as providers
d. supporting parental leave
Ans: B
Learning Objective: 1.4: Analyze the different ways of defining family.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Defining Families
Difficulty Level: Medium
9. What is an objective way of defining a family?
a. persons to whom one feels connected and close
b. ex-spouses collaborating on parental decisions
c. genetic, legal, and marital connections
d. unrelated people who live in the same house together
Ans: C
Learning Objective: 1.4: Analyze the different ways of defining family.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Defining Families
Difficulty Level: Easy
10. What is the goal of the U.S. Census as it relates to families or family groups?
a. to develop a strict definition of family to ensure adequate resources and representation
b. to determine population demographics of only those who are U.S. born legal citizens
c. to identify family households in each state
d. to identify population and demographics at a given time every ten years as a way to affect how family is defined
Ans: D
Learning Objective: 1.5: Compare and contrast the definitions of family and family households by the United States Census with how the family is generally defined in the family sciences.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Census Definitions
Difficulty Level: Easy
11. What are the 2020 Census definitions of people living in various types of households?
a. family, family group, and family household
b. co-habiting couple, immediate family, and family group
c. single parent household, married couple, single individual
d. grandparent head of household, same sex couple, and family household
Ans: A
Learning Objective: 1.5: Compare and contrast the definitions of family and family households by the United States Census with how the family is generally defined in the family sciences.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Census Definitions
Difficulty Level: Easy
12. What is an example of a subjective dimension of a family connection?
a. twin siblings who make sure they speak to each other daily
b. biological grandparents who baby sit their grandchildren
c. married couple who live with their two biological children and one adopted child
d. older unmarried couple who share household expenses and emotionally support each other
Ans: D
Learning Objective: 1.4: Analyze the different ways of defining family.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Defining Families
Difficulty Level: Easy
13. In terms of U.S. Census data collection ______ and ______ had profound and lasting effects on family make-up.
a. the Great Depression; World War II
b. the Industrial Revolution; World War I
c. farming; small towns
d. life expectancy; increased diversity
Ans: B
Learning Objective: 1.5: Compare and contrast the definitions of family and family households by the United States Census with how the family is generally defined in the family sciences.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Census Definitions
Difficulty Level: Easy
14. What two societal and family changes have had significant and long-term impact on the diverse perspectives about family, according to the text?
a. single parent families and blended families
b. couples having fewer children and unmarried couples
c. changes in gender role expectations and same-sex marriage
d. student and family college debt and cost of living in urban areas
Ans: C
Learning Objective: 1.6: Consider the diverse expressions of families in terms of form and function.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Diverse Families
Difficulty Level: Medium
15. Pew Research Center (2015) identified ______ and ______ as frequent trends in family types.
a. single parents; cohabiting couples
b. same sex parents; grandparents raising their grandchildren
c. single individuals living alone; adult children living with their parents
d. blended families; group families
Ans: A
Learning Objective: 1.6: Consider the diverse expressions of families in terms of form and function.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Diverse Families
Difficulty Level: Easy
16. Within the present decade, Pew Research Center found that ______% of children live with a single parent mom.
a. 50
b. 5
c. 15
d. 20
Ans: D
Learning Objective: 1.6: Consider the diverse expressions of families in terms of form and function.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Diverse Families
Difficulty Level: Medium
17. Which of the following is a current demographic trend in the U.S. and worldwide?
a. Retiring baby boomers are the largest segment of the adult population in the U.S.
b. The number of immigrants in the U.S. is the highest in more than 100 years.
c. Parents are younger when they have their first child.
d. Only one out of ten adults without children predict that they will not have children.
Ans: B
Learning Objective: 1.6: Consider the diverse expressions of families in terms of form and function.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Diverse Families
Difficulty Level: Medium
18. In a healthy family system, when a member faces challenges, what do other members do?
a. find ways to provide support and understanding
b. allow that member to seek out his or her own solutions
c. focus on their own problems
d. deny that there are problems
Ans: A
Learning Objective: 1.8: Explain how and why a family functions as a system.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Family as a System
Difficulty Level: Medium
19. What did the theories of Sigmund Freud, Carl Rogers, and Murray Bowen demonstrate?
a. Theories are rather static if they are well structured.
b. A single theory can encompass many explanations.
c. Theories evolve with new information and changing cultural dynamics.
d. Theories emerge without previous findings from previous research.
Ans: C
Learning Objective: 1.10: Summarize how theories, psychoanalysis, and psychodynamics relate in a familial context.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Spotlight on Theories
Difficulty Level: Medium
20. The ______ was ratified by the United Nations in 1959 to demonstrate that children should not be violated and victimized by adults.
a. Childhelp: Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse
b. Declaration of the Rights of the Child
c. Adverse Childhood Experience Study
d. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
Ans: B
Learning Objective: 1.9: Describe the functions of the family.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Functions of the Family
Difficulty Level: Easy
True/False
1. The family unit follows its own lifespan.
Ans: T
Learning Objective: 1.7: Explain how and why a family functions as a system.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: The Family as a System
Difficulty Level: Medium
2. Using U.S. Census definitions, the perspectives before 1930 may be more consistent with our current definitions of what constitutes a household.
Ans: T
Learning Objective: 1.4: Analyze the different ways of defining family.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Census Definitions
Difficulty Level: Medium
3. Families reflect their own culture as well as the greater culture of their society.
Ans: T
Learning Objective: 1.7: Describe the characteristics of a well-functioning family.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Characteristics of Families
Difficulty Level: Medium
4. Toxic family interactions that occur in one generation, such as child abuse, are not systemically likely to continue in the next generation.
Ans: F
Learning Objective: 1.8: Explain how and why a family functions as a system.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: The Family as a System
Difficulty Level: Easy
Short Answer
1. Of the reasons that the text author identifies to study family dynamics, discuss the one that is most important to you professionally and personally.
Ans: Answers may vary.
Learning Objective: 1.3: Justify the relevance of studying family dynamics. Explain the scope of the family sciences in various professional contexts.
Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: Why Study Family Dynamics?
Difficulty Level: Hard
