Listening to children: Evaluation of a positive parenting programme through art-based research

This paper presents data from a unique programme evaluation of the parenting programme titled ‘Learning together, growing as a family’ applied in 14 cities in Spain and targeting families at risk of neglectful behaviour. The programme evaluation is based on the voices of children using the qualitative methodology of art-based research. Eighty-six children 6–12 years of age were interviewed in groups. The outcomes of the evaluation reveal that children perceive improvements in the parental competencies of their parents and in themselves and that these changes serve as a catalyst for positive family change.     

What about the family in family therapy research?*

Family therapists are frequently criticised for not publishing any substantiation of the effectiveness of their therapeutic interventions. This paper discusses why clinicians do not evaluate their work through examining current recommendations for family therapy evaluation, and the effects of these recommendations on the family under study. We provide some criteria specific to the family which will assist clinicians in selecting measurement instruments to evaluate family therapy. These relate to ethics, parsimony and design features of the study. The complexity of family therapy evaluation must be addressed if more clinicians are to do evaluation.     

青年婚姻满意度影响因素研究

中国式的婚姻观重视家庭与亲属关系,个体对婚姻的满意程度往往脱离不了家庭系统而独立存在。对当代青年婚姻满意度的影响因素调查显示,无论个体对婚姻满意程度高低.同配偶同住以及发生矛盾冲突时,配偶所采取的态度是影响婚姻主观评价的重要因素之一.而同时配偶之外的家人互动和社区互动关系也对婚姻满意度具有重要的影响作用,并且在纳入家庭因素后,模型的解释力更强。这说明"婚姻满意度"作为一种主观判断,不仅要靠其与配偶之间的关系衡量,还需要将它放在整个社会文化结构下才能真正了解婚姻的社会定位。     

LATINO FAMILIES IN THERAPY: ENGAGEMENT AND EVALUATION*

General guidelines are offered for the successful engagement of Latino families in family therapy. It is suggested that a therapist's involvement of Latinos in therapy requires both skills in family therapy and sensitivity to cultural issues. Factors found to be useful in the family assessment are presented. Furthermore, issues in the engagement and evaluation phases of family therapy with Latino families are discussed, and illustrative clinical material is presented.     

THE EVALUATION PHASE OF SYSTEMIC FAMILY THERAPY*

The initial, evaluation phase of family therapy is of decisive importance within the systemic perspective. Contacting a therapist is always a complex action for a family. The therapist's evaluation must include the possibility that continued contact may influence the family negatively and limit their potential for change. If there appears to be a logical context in which continued therapy can be justified, it will be necessary to use the first three or four sessions to collect essential data and to organize them meaningfully. It is essential to clarify the circular interaction that is maintaining the symptom, as well as the presence of specific family structures and traditions, and the kind of relationships the family attempts to establish with the therapist. On the basis of this information, the therapist can build models of the family's functioning. These models, according to general system theory, make possible logical intervention in complicated, living systems, without distorting them by artificially splitting them into their component parts. Two models that are important to our treatment perspective—the phenomenological and the mythical—are presented.     

Therapeutic change in Colombian families dealing with violence: therapists, clients, and referring systems in conversation

There is a gap in the Marriage and Family Therapy literature regarding clients', therapists', and family judges' theories of change in relational therapy for family violence. We conducted in-depth interviews with eleven court-referred families, their therapists, and two family judges in Bogota, Colombia. Interviews focused on their expectations of therapy outcomes, their understanding of change, and their evaluation of individual and relational therapy outcomes. We followed a grounded theory approach to data analysis. Analyses showed that therapists, family judges, and clients hold different expectations and theories regarding therapeutic change. Findings are discussed based on existing research on clients' and therapists' ideas about change. Implications for future research and practice are presented.     

Family Functioning as a Measure of Success in Intensive Family Preservation Services

ABSTRACT

An experimental research design was employed in evaluating intensive family preservation services to reunify families after out-of-home placement. There was a significant difference between the treatment group and control group in terms of family reunification, but there were mixed findings with regard to the difference between the two groups on measures of family functioning. Although more treatment parents than control parents felt their families were functioning better, there was no difference between scores for the two groups of parents on normed instruments designed to measure family functioning. The author describes the measures of family functioning employed in the evaluation and discusses the confusing findings along with implications for program evaluation.     

Predictors of retention in an alcohol, tobacco, and other drug prevention study

This article explored retention patterns, as well as factors that predicted these patterns, in the evaluation of a relationship-based substance abuse prevention intervention study that targeted inner-city African American youth. A total of 851 contacts were made to retain 82% (n = 104) of the baseline sample (N = 127) in the evaluation. Results from multinomial regression analyses indicated that participants who were retained in the evaluation were more likely to perceive alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use as less risky and were more likely to report higher levels of family supervision than were evaluation attrits. Those who were easy to retain reported lower family conflict and fewer family relocations during the past year than those who were difficult to retain. Implications of these findings for developing retention strategies, as well as future research, are discussed.     

Workforce training in family therapy and systemic practices: An evaluation framework and case study

Internationally, while the interdisciplinary field of family therapy and systemic practices is well established and evidence for therapeutic impact is advanced, evaluation of training and measurement of its impact lags behind. This paper addresses this gap, utilising a single case study at the Bouverie Centre, the largest family therapy and workforce development service in Australia. We describe (a) the scope of workforce training and implementation at the Centre, (b) the development of our training research and evaluation framework, and (c) standardised data collection methodology, including a pre-post training reflective survey. Collectively, this work comprises our current evaluation framework through which we will subsequently examine training impact. Future research and practice recommendations are offered to address challenges to workforce training evaluation and progress efficacy of family therapy training.     

A theoretically derived model of premarital intervention: The building of a family system

Premarital intervention programs are on the rise in the United States despite the absence of persuasive empirical data that substantiate their effectiveness. In addition to this lack of strong empirical support, many premarital counseling programs fail to articulate any coherent theory of family process or family intervention which serve as conceptual guideposts for formulating program goals and devising program activities. In this article, the authors describe an experimental program that is conceptually grounded in theories of family process and family intervention. The theoretical rationale for each element included in the program is discussed and numerous examples of the program's content and exercises are offered. Finally, the authors discuss a number of issues central to the evaluation of premarital counseling programs.     

Integrating Family Therapy Training in a Clinical Psychology Course

Teaching family therapy to clinical psychology trainees is not common practice in Australian clinical psychology training programs. There is sparse discussion in the literature. Family therapy is an evidence based intervention that complements a diversity of established theories and psychotherapies and would complement the intervention skills of trainee clinical psychologists. The aim of this paper is to illustrate how family therapy training may be integrated into a postgraduate clinical psychology course. The literature on core family therapy knowledge, skills and training methods will form the backdrop to a review of specific family therapy training courses for clinical psychology trainees. This will then be mapped against a consideration of accreditation requirements of clinical psychology courses in Australia and suggestions made for integrating family therapy into their training curriculum. Anecdotal feedback from students provides an initial step toward evaluation.     

PARTICIPATORY EVALUATION RESEARCH: AN INTRODUCTION FOR FAMILY THERAPISTS

Participatory evaluation research empowers the consumers of services to become leaders in evaluation and change. Participatory research methods have been used widely in developing countries and are consistent with family therapy's recent emphasis on non-hierarchical, empowering, collaborative therapies. In this paper, the authors present several examples of participatory evaluation methods and discuss their applicability to the work of family therapists.     

Effectiveness of the Coral Tree Family Service family inpatient unit: a longitudinal study exploring change in family functioning

Child mental health disorders represent a major burden to public health in Australia due to high prevalence rates, the widespread impact across domains, and the potential for difficulties to persist into adolescence and adulthood. Extensive evidence exists for the use of parent management training and cognitive behavioural therapy to treat difficulties experienced by children; however, a proportion of children do not benefit as expected from these treatments. The use of complementary therapeutic approaches and variations to the mode and intensity of existing intervention is warranted; family inpatient units represent a unique example of this. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a well-established Australian inpatient unit that admits the whole family, for children aged 12 years and younger referred with mental health, behavioural, or emotional difficulties. This study's longitudinal within-subject study design utilised routinely collected outcome data from the systemic clinical outcome and routine evaluation, 15 item (SCORE-15)—a valid and reliable measure of family functioning—from a sample of 980 participants attending the Family Residential Program. This study reported significant improvement in family functioning across all outcome variables between baseline and post-intervention, with no variables returning to pre-intervention levels at follow-up. Clinically significant changes in overall family functioning showed that 37% of participant scores moved from the clinical range at baseline to the nonclinical range post-intervention. This study represents the first empirical evaluation of the Family Residential Program, and the reported results provide compelling evidence for the program to effect improvement in family functioning for families with long-standing and severe difficulties. Poor rates of questionnaire completion following intervention frequent the literature base of family inpatient units, with low post-intervention (56%) and follow-up (12%) rates evident in this study. This study uniquely contributes to the growing evidence base of family inpatient units using rigorous evaluation methods.     

THE FAMILY TASK INTERVIEW: A TOOL FOR CLINICAL RESEARCH IN FAMILY INTERACTION

The Family Task Interview (FTI) is a multiple task interview administered by tape recorder and designed to elicit clinically relevant family interaction. The FTI has been designed to improve on previous similar instruments and a series of studies to evaluate its validity, reliability, and acceptability have been carried out. Further psychometric and practical evaluation is necessary, but results so far suggest that the FTI is a well standardized and easily administered instrument which is useful for research where assessment of family interaction using direct observation is required.     

Psychological Testing in Child Custody Evaluations With Ethnically Diverse Families: Ethical Concerns and Practice Recommendations

Given increasing ethnic diversity of divorcing families, it is more important than ever for family court evaluators to understand the ethical concerns and principles underlying the use of psychological testing with ethnic family members. Major professional organizations have promulgated the guidelines of child custody evaluation with an imperative to consider cultural factors in the evaluation. However, there is a paucity of literature that addresses ethnicity and psychological testing in child custody evaluations. This article addresses three major ethical domains: (a) competence, (b) test fairness, and (c) test interpretation when psychological tests are used. Practice recommendations provide guidelines to ensure ethical standards and competence in using psychological testing with ethnically diverse families in child custody and other family court evaluations.     

Evaluation of the Stress Adjustment and Adaptation Model Among Families Reporting Economic Pressure

ABSTRACT

This research evaluates the Stress Adjustment and Adaptation Model (double ABCX model) examining the effects resiliency resources on family functioning when families experience economic pressure. Families (N = 128) with incomes at or below the poverty line from a rural area of a southern state completed measures of perceived economic pressure, family hardiness, social support, and the McMaster Family Assessment device. The family resiliency model was evaluated using regression and two path analyses. Results of the model evaluation indicate that when family resiliency resources are introduced economic pressure is not a significant stressor influencing family functioning. Family resiliency is a key to the healthy functioning of the family unit moderating distress and decreasing the negative effects associated with economic pressure. Implications for social work practice to enhance family resiliency using community and personal supports are discussed.     

An Integrative Approach to Teaching Family Resource Management

Abstract

Family resource management is one of ten substance areas that are required for certification in family life education (National Council on Family Relations, 2005). Unfortunately, few discipline-specific resources are available for faculty assigned to teach the family resource management course. A rich tradition of theory and practice in the field has stalled, with little conceptual development since the 1980s to guide faculty teaching the course. In response, we offer a new conceptual framework for teaching family resource management that extends previous models by integrating management with other functions of the family. Specific course objectives, methods of evaluation, classroom activities, recommended materials, and teaching strategies are provided.     

Cognitive-Behavioral Family Therapy with a Family in High-Conflict Divorce: A Case Study

Children who live in families with high-conflict divorce situations are increasingly coming to the attention of clinicians. This paper explains the nature of the impasse of high-conflict divorce. It presents a brief theoretical overview of cognitive-behavioral family therapy as an effective approach to treatment for high-conflict divorce families. A case study that successfully utilized a cognitive-behavioral approach to family therapy is presented. Specific techniques such as parent training, communication and empathy skills, problem-solving skills, assertiveness training, role-modeling on the part of the therapist and application of the concept of reciprocal inhibition were included in the cognitive-behavioral family treatment. An N=1 research design is graphically illustrated for evaluation purposes.     

Does community and family engagement enhance permanency for children in foster care? Findings from an evaluation of the family-to-family initiative

There is limited research assessing the effectiveness of family engagement for improving permanency for children. An important challenge is that randomized designs are not feasible for evaluating these practices because effective implementation of family engagement requires systemic change. Findings from a national evaluation are presented to illustrate how preliminary evidence can be developed from comprehensive child welfare reform initiatives. The results show when and how family and community participation may facilitate permanency for children.