The term family context refers to the family as context as well as existing within context. Indeed, both of these meanings appear in family research because family constitutes the central context of life-span human development and also serves as the link to the context of society and culture within which the family exists. Both perspectives of family context have been used in theories informing research on the family. Theory and research on the family cuts across disciplinary lines, extending from psychology to economics. The ever-increasing numbers of family studies attest to the importance of this topic with many journals specifically focusing on the family, in addition to innumerable books and e-books. There is also a growing interest in understanding the family from a global perspective ...