The Relationship Between Students' Family Communication, Transition Efficacy, and Communication Skill

Abstract

Family communication patterns theory (FCP) was first introduced by McLeod and Chaffee (1972), was later adapted in 1990 by Ritchie and Fitzpatrick, and was formally articulated by Koerner and Fitzpatrick in 2002. The theory is primarily used by communication studies scholars interested in how a family’s communication environment predicts a variety of outcomes. FCP suggests that families communicate in fairly predictable ways that get reinforced through the process of social learning (see Kunkel, Hummert, & Dennis, 2008).