This volume provides brief, elegant summaries of 20 theories that have been applied in recent empirical research on family communication. Each chapter, written by scholars who have developed or applied the theory in their research, contains information about the origins, empirical applications, and strengths of the theory. The book presents the theories in two major sections on the basis of the discipline in which the theory emerged, beginning with theories developed within communication studies and then turning to theories drawn from psychology, sociology, and feminist scholarship.