5.2 Routines, Predictability, and Families
Monica Olvera and Isabelle Havet
Routines, broadly defined, are repeated goal-focused behaviors (Segal, 2004). Your routines may include a mixture of scheduled activities, such as shared mealtimes or a game of pickup basketball on the weekends. The purpose of these routines, other than to get something to eat or enjoy some exercise, is to create predictability and bring together people with different schedules so they can interact and accomplish a task (DeVault, 1994).
Routines and predictability can have positive effects on children, adolescents, and adults. Family routines are the predictable, repeated, consistent patterns that characterize everyday home life. As one of the fundamental structures of family life, these routines help to promote the health of the family members (Boyce et al., 1983). Family routines bring us closer together, help us get work done, bring stability to our lives, and manage day-to-day challenges (Harrist et al., 2019).
In Focus: Reading as a Family
This is Wolfie, a hand puppet that was gifted to my two-year-old son, Oscar when he was a baby (figure 5.1). Each night, Wolfie (attached to Dad) reads to Oscar. It’s a fun way to teach Oscar to read (while keeping him interested enough not to run away). But it’s also become an object around which we gather, learn, and play. Oscar thinks it’s so fun when Wolfie reads with him, and he likes Mom and Dad to join in the fun, too!
Children
It may seem obvious to you that routines bring people together and create stability. You may have felt this firsthand growing up with routines that brought comfort and security, like reading bedtime stories with a favorite stuffed animal.
One way to understand the nature of contemporary families beyond your personal experience is to analyze patterns of social behavior. Recent research shows how routines affect outcomes for children:
- Routines in the home, such as bedtime routines and homework sessions, can have positive effects on children’s mental health, physical health, academic achievement, and delinquent behavior (Manczak, Williams, & Chen, 2017; Brody & Flor, 1997; Hare et al., 2008).
- Family routines can give children a sense of stability and security, in turn potentially decreasing anxiety (Dacey, Mack, & Fiore, 2016).
- Positive child adjustment across the transition to kindergarten can be facilitated by family routines (Ferretti & Bub, 2017).
- Home routines can be especially helpful for children from low-socioeconomic-status households in countering some of the elevated risk for experiencing chaotic and unpredictable family environments (Evans et al., 2005).
Adolescents
The benefits and positive developmental effects of routines for children are similar to those experienced during adolescence. Studies show how routines affect outcomes for adolescents:
- Adolescents who regularly share mealtimes with their parents are less susceptible to experiencing depression, get better grades, are les