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In Reply to: Re: more points posted by someone on August 17, 2004 at 23:29:37:
You are correct to point out that a high tolerance for change within the Family does not equal a high capacity to cope with the lifestyle transition involved with leaving the Family and adapting to life in the System. Tolerance for the uncertainty associated with the frequent change that goes on in the Family is not the same as the adaptability and resourcefulness necessary to make a successful changeover to life in the System.
Based on the limited evidence I was examining and my limited familiarity with the PF16 instrument used in this study, I may have been wrong to conclude that people in the sample have a reasonably high psychological capacity to transition and adapt to life outside the Family simply because they demonstrated a high capacity to accept or adapt to frequent changes within the Family. I might be correct in my conclusion if the change construct included adaptability and resourcefulness as well as tolerance for and acceptance of change. I don't know know all the measures that make up the change construct on this personality scale, but I would assume adapability and resourcefulness were included. However, I could also have a faulty assumption about what was measured.
One thing this study showed, imo, is that the personalities of the people in the sample were well adapted to the Family lifestyle and social expectations. While they were significantly different than their System counterparts on a number of individual factors, the proportion of kids in the Family sample who were psychologically "troubled" was no greater than that of the general population. This doesn't mean growing up in the Family is good for one's mental health; it only says the Family sample didn't include any more or fewer people with disturbed personalities than we find in the general population.
However, I should add that the known incidence of personality disturbance in the general population of adolescents and young adults is extremely low, and there is a quite a lot of controversy as to whether it is even valid to measure personality dimensions until people enter their mid 20s. According to developmental theory, personality tests are a very dicey way to evaluate mental health status in adolescents.
