Chapter 12
Multiple Choice
1. Ting Lee and his wife, Anna, want to improve their marriage. Which of the following would be
least productive?
a. Have Anna read books about marriage and tell Ting Lee what they should do
b. Find self-help books or articles and discuss them together
c. Set up “couple time” to check in with each other
d. Identify trouble spots jointly and plan how to avoid them
2. According to Kiecolt-Glaser and Newton, which of the following is not a reason why husbands
gain greater health benefits from marriage than wives?
a. Wives tend to attempt to manage their husbands’ health habits
b. Husbands are likely to make their wives their primary support system, whereas wives
have many people in their support network
c. Husbands tend to be happier in their marriages than wives
d. None of the above
3. Which statement was not a conclusion found in follow-up research in marriage enrichment
programs?
a. A strong positive change in behavior after the program but partial decline at follow-up
b. There are better outcomes for those in follow-up meetings
c. Partners who initially were negative to the program experienced little difficulty prior to
or after the experience
d. Satisfied couples spoke more clearly with each other, listened empathetically, and had
more positive than negative exchanges
4. Family therapists are adopting approaches across cultures for which of the following reasons:
a. Different cultures have different attitudes toward marriage
b. Different cultures have different attitudes toward male and female roles.
c. Family therapists have their own personal cultural values.
d. All of the above
5. The importance of family communication when coping with cancer has been supported by
which of the following research findings?
a. Children whose parents used supportive communication with them during painful
cancer treatments had less pain and distress than those whose parents used invalidating
communication with them
b. Breast cancer patients recovered more quickly when family members talked to them
and visited with them daily in the hospital
c. Cancer patients who report that they can talk openly with their family members about
their illness also report less fear about their illness than patients who cannot discuss
their disease openly
d. Parents of pediatric cancer patients experience less post-traumatic stress disorder if
they feel they can talk openly with their child about their illness
6. Vangelisti reported three of the following as communication problems in families. Which one is
not a problem or as serious as the others?
a. Failure to take the other’s perspective when listening
b. Blaming others for negative happenings in the family
c. Criticizing other family members
d. Teasing other family members
7. Which of the following is not cited as a reason why caregivers may feel stress when caring for an
ill family member?
a. Financial concerns
b. Time demands
c. Role adjustments
d. Emotional burden
8. Family members may be unlikely to disclose a diagnosis of a genetic illness if
a. They’re ashamed
b. The disease is life-threatening
c. The illness has expensive treatments
d. Their families typically avoid health talk
9. “Don’t have sex until you are married, but, if you do, use a condom,” is which type of family
health rule?
a. Abstinence
b. Conflicting
c. Specific
d. Contingency
10. Family members may influence each other’s health in the following ways:
a. Directly by encouraging health promoting behaviors
b. Directly through health rules
c. Indirectly through conflict or rigid communication cultures
d. All of the above
11. Which of the following scenarios is the best example of a prevarication style of disclosure about
a genetic illness?
a. Waiting until the “right moment” to disclose
b. Disclosing to one family member who notifies the rest of the family
c. Sending out a mass notification immediately
d. Withholding disclosure completely from other family members
12. In circumstances of genetic conditions, issues of privacy and conflict may occur in families when:
a. Families can’t afford genetic testing
b. Couples are contemplating having a child
c. One family member has genetic testing and another wants to remain unaware of
genetic risks
d. Family members feel unable to handle the implications of genetic health risks
13. Which of the following tend to be the impact of financial strain on families?
a. Social networks change as resources diminish
b. Couple disagreements and fighting increases
c. Parenting tends to decline
d. All of the above
14. Cyberbullying includes all of the following behaviors except:
a. Rejecting a friendship request on Facebook
b. Creating offensive websites
c. Posting false rumors on social networking sites
d. Repeatedly killing a player’s avatar
15. Which of the following programs focuses on the goals of children’s behavior and responsible
parenting practices?
a. PREPARE/ENRICH
b. STEP
c. PREP
d. PAIRS
16. The term “well–being” in families pertains to all of the following except:
a. Family members’ ability to communicate about physical health
b. Family members’ capacity to hold difficult conversations about challenging topics
c. Family members’ ability to refrain from conflict or confrontations in stressful situations
d. Family members’ willingness to engage in enrichment experiences to strengthen their
relationships
17. You decided to take a Family Communication course this semester, in part, to increase the
effectiveness of your communication with your family. With which approach to improving family
communication did you engage?
a. Instructional approach
b. Personal approach
c. Self-help approach
d. Therapeutic approach
Answer Key
Quiz True False
1. When change is attempted by some family members, it may be resisted by others who want the
system to remain the same no matter how painful that may be.
a. True
b. False
2. People who believe that life happens to them and that they have no ability to improve their
relationships are called reactors.
a. True
b. False
3. In a Marriage Encounter, the couple faces one another systematically with their feelings and
issues.
a. True
b. False
4. Family distress and conflict affects adults more than children in families.
a. True
b. False
5. In general, married adults are healthier than unmarried adults and have lower mortality rates.
a. True
b. False
6. Contingency rules about risky behaviors such as alcohol consumption and sexual activity tend to
be discussed more often between parents and children than about smoking and tobacco use.
a. True
b. False
7. A position of “no–tolerance” tends to be an ineffective strategy for preventing adolescent
substance abuse.
a. True
b. False
8. Family members often act as health care advocates for each other by attending each other’s
doctor’s appointments.
a. True
b. False
9. Children under the age of 11 do not consider the “how” or “why” of disease, so it is better to not
explain it to them.
a. True
b. False
10. Family “well–being” refers strictly to the psychological and mental health of family members.
a. True
b. False
11. The “proband” is the first member of the family to talk about a genetic health problem with the
rest of the family.
a. True
b. False
12. There are often very complicated privacy rules surrounding discussions of money, even within
families.
a. True
b. False
13. Cross-cultural family relationships encounter differences in attitudes towards marriage, male-
female roles, and the significance of extended families.
a. True
b. False
Answer Key
Chapter 12:
What strengths and weaknesses can you list about marriage and couple enrichment programs that might
predict the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of any of these programs?
Pick a member of your immediate family and, through a comparison of the alternatives presented in this
chapter, describe the influence strategy/strategies that you think would be most effective in persuading
that family member to seek medical assistance regarding a potential health risk (e.g. cancer screening) or
change a risky behavior (e.g. quit smoking).
Advancements in medical technology and mapping of the Human Genome Project are making the
detection and treatment of genetic illnesses increasingly effective. What effect (if any) do you think these
advancements will have on family communication about genetic risks? Be sure to explain your reasoning
and cite relevant research to support your claims.