Journal of marital and family therapy最新文献

Anxiety disorders are common among children and adolescents. Effective treatments exist, but meta-analyses indicate that 40% of children continue to have significant symptoms posttreatment. Alternative therapeutic interventions are needed. Emotion-focused parental interventions have been found to be effective in targeting children's internalizing difficulties, but no research has examined remission. In this pilot trial, we examined whether Emotion Focused Skills Training (EFST) was associated with remission of diagnosis in children with anxiety. Nine 8–14-year-olds diagnosed with anxiety were recruited at a mental health clinic in Norway. Both parents of each child attended a 2-day EFST program followed by five 1-hour weekly sessions. Pre- and posttreatment diagnosis and severity were evaluated using a multiinformant approach using the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale and the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule. After treatment, 33% no longer met criteria for any anxiety diagnosis, 66% obtained remission from their primary anxiety diagnosis, and 89% from at least one.

Many aspects of systemic family therapist (SFT) training and competence play a vital role in effective treatment and professional satisfaction. One area that has been significantly overlooked by many SFTs is the role of psychotropic medication (PM) in conjunction with talk therapy for optimal mental health outcomes. This study explores the current status of PM in SFT training and clinical practice. Our findings highlight the continued struggle of SFTs in their comfort level with addressing the PM needs of their clients. We identified a perceived inadequacy of SFT training and supervision regarding PM use. SFTs around the world need to find educational opportunities to improve their competence in working with their clients and their prescribed medications. Additional studies need to be conducted on strategies and mechanisms to improve client care. If SFTs are ignorant of PM, their treatment of clients—who often use PM—will be compromised.

The goal of this study was to evaluate a sample of family members, among whom individuals were undergoing inpatient treatment for substance use disorder and identify predictors of engagement in a family support program. A total of 159 family nuclei were analyzed; 36 (22.6%) completed the program and 123 (77.4%) did not complete the program. Compared to nonparticipants, participants were majorly female (91.9%), younger (43.3 years old, SD = 16.5), unemployed, homemakers, and not financially independent (56.7%). The results showed the predominant participation of wives (29.7%) and offspring (mostly daughters, 27.0%). Participants also reported a higher rate of depressive symptoms (p = 0.003) and worse quality of life, primarily environmental. The frequency of domestic violence was higher among participants than among nonparticipants (27.9% vs. 9.0%, p = 0.005). Engagement in family support programs is the first challenge to overcome. The nonparticipants' profile shows the need to adopt engagement strategies that encompass males and facilitate the participation of breadwinning family members.

Relationships in which one partner is transgender are often more complex compared to other LGBQ+ couples, due to the ways in which gender transition prompts changes for each partner and their relationship. Despite the impact of transition on both partners, the relationships of transgender people have been underresearched. This study was guided by symbolic interactionism to explore how transgender and cisgender women in romantic relationships experienced their relationship during their transition process. Constructivist grounded theory was used to analyze interviews with 20 transgender and cisgender participants using group-level analysis. Both groups described their journeys in terms of emotional tensions that ebbed and flowed across time. Participants reflected on how they experienced tensions internally and within their relationships as they worked through change and created meaning from their experiences. Recommendations for research and clinical work are provided, in light of these findings.

Emerging research suggests that those coparenting with an incarcerated person experience multiple challenges. Examining incarcerated coparenting among minority fathers is especially salient as their incarceration rates are substantially higher than White males. This study utilized data from the Multi-Site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting and Partnering Study to examine changes in coparenting relationships when the male partner was incarcerated. Theoretically guided by structural family therapy, latent growth models were used to evaluate trajectories of fathers' coparenting reliability and coparenting cohesion across 34 months. Results indicated average declines within incarcerated men's reported coparenting responsibility and coparenting cohesion with their partner. Incarcerated men with higher relationship quality at T1 was significantly associated with higher initial levels of coparenting cohesion and coparenting responsibility—but not with the trajectories of coparenting change. Incarcerated fathers identifying as Hispanic and Other declined at a significantly steeper rate in coparenting responsibility than Black and White incarcerated fathers. Clinical implications and future research directions are provided.

This qualitative narrative study aimed to examine how a family of origin influenced the professional self of Colombian students pursuing a profession in family therapy. Few research studies have investigated the development of self among native Spanish speakers from Colombia. Undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in clinical psychology and family therapy internships (N = 16) from the Colombian cities of Medellín, Pereira, and Santa Marta participated in this study. Data collection using personal diaries, family albums, autobiographies, and in-depth interviews served as sources for narrative analysis. Two themes and four subthemes representing positive and negative aspects of influences of families of origin helped organize the findings. Student experiences illustrate abilities, skills, and potentialities in the narratives. Implications for clinical training and future research recommendations highlight a path forward.

This study contributes to an emerging area of research on online learning within marriage and family therapy training programs while responding to the need for research on the effectiveness of multicultural training marriage and family therapists receive. Using 32 students in a marriage and family therapy program and a pretest–posttest design, this study focused on student outcomes across a classroom-based multicultural training course and an online section of the same course. Support was found for the effectiveness of each instructional modality in delivering multicultural training. Findings also indicated that student gains did not significantly differ across students in the two course sections. This is the first study to provide evidence that online learning does not compromise the effectiveness of multicultural training for marriage and family therapists and adds evidence to the claim that the multicultural training marriage and family therapists receive is effective in achieving its aims.

Increased attention to the prevalence and impact of traumatic experiences have been highlighted within the mental health field since Felitti et al.'s study of adverse childhood experiences. Black communities experience traumatic events at a higher rate than other racial groups. The phenomena of historical trauma, race-based trauma, and intergenerational trauma have been speculated to be reasons for this discrepancy. In this article, the authors explore factors that compound the traumatic experiences of Black communities, review socioculturally attuned family therapy and trauma-informed care, and propose an approach to addressing intergenerational trauma in Black families that integrates socioculturally attuned family therapy and trauma-informed care.

This study provides a 12-month follow-up evaluation of caregivers after participating in a 2-day Emotion-focused family therapy (EFFT) intensive, a brief intervention for caregivers of youth struggling with mental health difficulties. Caregivers (N = 498) of children (N = 337) completed measures of caregiver self-efficacy and child mental health difficulties 1 week before the intervention, immediately after the intervention, and at 4, 8, and 12-month follow-ups. Piecewise latent trajectory models revealed that parental self-efficacy showed a large immediate increase following the intervention, β = 1.61 (1.32, 2.14), and although this effect was attenuated by 4 months, β = −0.77 (−1.31, −0.52), it did not change further by 12 months. Reductions in child mental health difficulties were observed by 4 months, β = −0.54 (−0.77, −0.37), and remained stable through the 12-month follow-up. Caregivers reporting more increases in self-efficacy also reported greater reductions in their children's symptoms at 4 and 12 months.