Family schemata in families of symptomatic and normal children

Psychological distance within families was investigated by a family doll placement technique. Parents of emotionally disturbed boys tended to use a higher frequency of psychologically distant doll placement than did parents of normal boys. Parents of boys with learning problems used psychologically close doll placements more frequently than did parents of normal boys. Parents grouped the family into a single unit more frequently than their children when the child had learning problems. Siblings of children with learning problems were found to be symptom-free in comparison with siblings of disturbed children.