Building capacity for positive communication: A web-based mother-daughter communication resource to support work-family balance

Abstract

Research evidence has suggested that a positive mother-daughter relationship relates to both the mother’s work outcomes and the daughter’s psychosocial adjustment. Intervening to improve mother-daughter communication may thus offer means to support women’s long-term work outcomes. Phenomenographic analysis of two focus groups of mother-daughter dyads, one with mothers (n=4) and one with daughters (n=4), revealed hree key themes related to the mother-daughter relationship, including communication styles, parenting styles, and conflict resolution styles. To address these issues, the authors developed an interactive, web-based game, called Knowing you, Knowing me (KYKM). KYKM is similar to a social media site, except that an automated character guides the mother-daughter pair through an intervention. The game has implications for families working through common issues when children progress through adolescence and has the potential to evolve to address other family relationships (e.g., mother-son) and topics.