| Abstract: | The ways in which adolescents conceptualise families is not well understood. In this study perceptions of families by 232 adolescents were examined using vignettes describing groupings of people (e.g. married couple with children, two women and a child). Eighty per cent or more endorsed married and cohabiting families, lone‐parent households, and extended family members as families. Few differences were found according to their own family structure. Asian (Chinese) adolescents were less likely overall to endorse groupings as families. Love and affection were given as primary criteria for being a family. Overall, young people endorsed a diversity of family forms. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
