Abstract

The study investigated from a social-constructionist perspective the processes through which families adjust when faced with variations occurring in group interactions. Thirtyfour non-clinical triads consisting of mother, father and a 4-year old child (children's mean age: 55 months, 21 males and 13 females) have been observed in a laboratory while playing together in 4 different interactive configurations. The cluster analysis showed two different styles of family functioning when promoting change and reconstructing stability; in particular the triadic coordination emerges as an important family competence both during interactions in the different configurations and during the passage from one configuration to another (microtransitions).