family pattern
a characteristic quality of the relationship between the members of a particular family (e.g., between parents and children). Family patterns vary widely in emotional tone and in the attitudes of the members toward each other. Some families are warm, others cool; some are extremely close and symbiotic, in others the members keep each other at a distance; some are open to friends and relatives, others are not; in some, one or more children are accepted and loved, in others one or more children are distanced or otherwise rejected. Such patterns or elements of such patterns may range from nonconscious to fully realized. See also pathogenic family pattern.