Parental and child cognitions in the context of the family

Parent and child family-related cognitions are reviewed with respect to (a) their origins, (b) their linkage to affect and behavior, (c) their transmi ssion and perpetuation, (d) their alteration on the basis of first-hand exp erience, and (e) their collaborative negotiation and renegotiation. A disti nction is offered between the functioning of implicit, relatively unaware, schematic cognitions and relatively aware, explicit, event-dependent cognit ions. Consideration is also given to the differential content (or topics) o f cognitions. As a positive outcome of recent research, many new insights h ave emerged with respect to the linkage of family members' cognitions and t heir individual and shared patterns of behavior. However, several limitatio ns remain, including too Little consideration of the shared influences of p arents' and children's cognitions and the changes in these cognitions over time. As a growth area, there is emerging interest in the application of ou r knowledge of cognitions to the clinical context in programs designed to r emediate and prevent family problems.