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Biomedical subjects

J Blacher

Publications and source records attributed to J Blacher.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1995

Staff attitudes toward family involvement in residential treatment centers for children.

OBJECTIVES: The goals of this study were to determine the extent of staff members' support for family involvement in residential treatment centers for children, to examine staff members' beliefs about families and the consequences of their involvement, and to examine the relationship between staff members' support of family involvement and their characteristics, experiences, and beliefs. METHODS: A total of 267 staff members at three residential treatment centers for children with psychiatric disorders or mental retardation or both responded to a survey about their experiences with families, beliefs about families, and support for family involvement. RESULTS: Staff members were very supportive of greater family involvement, although they showed more support for families in the role of service recipients than as decision makers. However, staff members did not believe in family reunification as a goal for the majority of children served. The strongest predictors of staff support for family involvement were positive general beliefs about clients' families, the perception that family involvement was advantageous, and the endorsement of fewer reasons to discourage family involvement. CONCLUSIONS: Residential programs seeking to create a more receptive climate for families should help staff members establish positive attitudes about the families they serve and about families' potential role in successful treatment.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

African American families, religion, and disability: a conceptual framework.

In recent years, there has been considerable discussion of the impact of factors such as religion and ethnicity on the adjustment of families who have a child with disabilities. The role of religion is particularly relevant for African American families because of its historic influence on basic social and cultural values of this ethnic group. In this paper we explored issues of religion, disability, and ethnicity, with emphasis on how these factors relate to adjustment for families, particularly African American families. Findings gathered from diverse literature sources are reflected in a proposed framework to guide future research and policy development.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1994

Family involvement in residential treatment of children with retardation: is there evidence of detachment?

Family involvement could be critical for successful residential treatment. Historically, however, out of home placement for children with mental retardation meant a severing of meaningful ties with their families. Today, families have greater involvement with pre-placement services and might be more involved in residential treatment as well. Families (N = 55) were interviewed twice, approximately one and two years after placement, to assess their involvement with the child and their reactions to placement. Contrary to previous findings, family involvement was high and stable; there was no evidence of behavioral detachment. Moreover, respondents primarily reported post-placement benefits to the family. Family emotional reactions were considered within a framework of "psychological tasks of placement".

Child↗
PubMed1993

Family involvement in residential treatment of children with psychiatric disorder and mental retardation.

OBJECTIVE: The goals of the study were to determine the extent of family involvement with children in residential treatment settings, to examine whether involvement diminishes over time, and to examine the relationship between involvement and the child's diagnosis as well as the demographic characteristics of the child and the family. METHODS: Staff rated the level and frequency of family involvement with 234 children, aged five to 19 years, living in three residential treatment centers. The children were grouped according to three diagnostic categories: psychiatric disorder, mental retardation, and dual diagnosis of psychiatric disorder and mental retardation. RESULTS: Almost one-third of the children had no family contact, and about 50 percent had three or fewer contacts per year. The level of family involvement was lower with dually diagnosed children than with children who had only psychiatric disorder or mental retardation. Level of involvement was also related to the driving time between the family home and the residential facility and to socioeconomic status, variables that seemed to account for the lower level of involvement of families with dually diagnosed children. CONCLUSIONS: Greater distance between the family home and the residential treatment center and low socioeconomic status greatly limit a family's accessibility for involvement with children in out-of-home placements. These obstacles are more likely to occur in families of dually diagnosed children.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Mothers' and fathers' perceptions of stress and coping with children who have severe disabilities.

Stress in families with children who have special needs, which has been the focus of much research interest, is usually assessed solely from a maternal perspective. In this study, the short form of the Questionnaire on Resources and Stress (QRS-F, Friedrich, Greenberg, & Crnic, 1983) was completed separately by mothers and fathers of children with severe developmental disabilities. To compare responses of mothers and fathers, we employed factor analysis of parcels using the parallel analysis criterion rather than the more traditional item level analysis with minimum eigenvalue criterion. Results indicated that the QRS-F differed only slightly in both factor structure and correlates as a function of parental gender. Overall, validity of the QRS-F for use with both mothers and fathers of children with severe disabilities was supported.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1992

Toward meaningful family involvement in out-of-home placement settings.

In this paper we have attempted to heighten awareness that meaningful family involvement must be part of program planning for community residential services. The family can be a powerful resource for social support, guidance, and advocacy for individuals with mental retardation living out of the natural home. The dilemma is that investigators have found disappointingly low levels of family involvement. A prospective look at family involvement in the post P.L. 94-142 era, however, suggests that parents who are highly involved with services for their child preplacement may be primed for considerable involvement postplacement. We argued that personnel in placement settings, in part because of carprovider ambivalence toward parents, may not be ready for more family involvement. Recommendations for policy makers and service providers to enhance family involvement were made.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Parental reasons for out-of-home placement of children with severe handicaps.

Sixty-three parents of children with severe handicaps who were recently placed out of the home were interviewed regarding their reasons for placement. Parents' perceived daily stress, the child's low level of functioning, and child behavior problems as strong influences on the placement decision. Lack of appropriate supportive services were only moderately influential in the decision. Chi-square analyses revealed some relation between specific reasons for placement and the child's age when placed. Implications of these findings for service providers were discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Assessing placement tendency in families with children who have severe handicaps.

Data are reported from a brief measure to assess placement tendency of parents who have young children with severe handicaps. Parents of 84 severely retarded children were interviewed in their own homes, three times, 18 to 24 months apart. Their thoughts and actions regarding out-of-home placement for their child were assessed each time on a six-point Placement Tendency Index. Results indicate trends in placement tendency that are linear; from the point that parents begin to entertain the idea of placement it may still be one or two years until the act of placement is completed. These findings suggest that the act of placement is an ongoing process rather than a single discrete behavior. The implications of assessing placement tendency for service providers and other professionals who may assist families in decision-making are discussed.

Child↗
PubMed1989

Siblings of children with severe handicaps.

Interviews with 24 children ages 9 to 13 about life with their younger siblings who had severe handicaps revealed a consistently high level of involvement, strong feelings of responsibility, and an emphasis on positive aspects of family life. Hardships were not denied, but these children appeared to be faring better than children studied in earlier research, before schooling for children with handicaps and other supports for their families were mandated.

Child↗
PubMed1989

Factors delaying out-of-home placement of children with severe handicaps.

Sixty-three parents of children with severe handicaps who were placed out of the home were interviewed regarding why they did not place their child sooner. Results suggested that parents' reported feelings of attachment and guilt were strong delayers of placement; the availability of formal supportive services also helped to delay the placement decision. Factor analysis of the Factors Preventing Placement Scale utilized in the study indicated three main factors that delay placement. Guilt Feelings, Social Support, and Family Relationships. Implications of these findings were discussed in terms of the relative influences of parental cognitions and support services in delaying the placement decision.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Taxonomy of family life styles: III. Replication with families with severely mentally retarded children.

The home environment and behavior of 97 families with severely mentally retarded children was examined in order to determine the presence of family types. Cluster analysis was performed on 16 measures of proximal home environment. Five unique family clusters were identified: cohesive, control-oriented, responsive-to-child, moral-religious-oriented, nonachievement-oriented, and achievement-oriented. Comparison among the clusters on other family and child characteristics and behaviors revealed significant differences. The family types identified in this study were similar to previously determined family types. These findings appear to support the establishment of a standard classification of families.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Characteristics of home environment of families with mentally retarded children: comparison across levels of retardation.

To help fill the relative void of information about families of severely mentally retarded school children, we described 53 such families comparatively with 54 families of EMR and 50 of TMR children. All children resided in their natural homes; families were selected for study by identical means and interviewed at their home. Selection for comparison was made from larger samples to reduce mean age differences in the samples. Differences in age and SES among groups were controlled with analysis of covariance. The impact of the retarded child on adjustment of families with severely retarded children was greater than that of the other groups, but no differences occurred in the impact of the child on marital adjustment. Families with severely retarded children had the highest mean scores on all four scores of the Home Quality Rating Scale. They scored lower than others on the Cohesion, Independence, Moral-Religious Emphasis, and Organization subscales of the Family Environment Scale. Implications for assisting these families were discussed.

Child↗
PubMed1984

Attachment and severely handicapped children: implications for intervention.

This report provides a selected overview of the concept of attachment and its formation in handicapped children. The implications of attachment development in more severely impaired children are discussed. The presentation of preliminary data on attachment from 50 mother-child dyads suggests that this phenomenon does exist and can be assessed in very impaired children. Child attachment responses formed a continuum ranging from bland or neutral behaviors to subtle acknowledgment of mother's presence or absence (e.g., by nodding or glancing) to a more pronounced response (e.g., smiling, crying, sitting up, locomoting). Compared to nonhandicapped children of similar developmental age, the responses of the children in this study were less complex, provocative, and differentiated. The implications of these data for pediatric practice and promoting attachment in families of severely impaired children are discussed.

Child↗
PubMed1983

A review of attachment formation and disorder of handicapped children.

Research pertaining to attachment formation of handicapped children against a backdrop overview of the general attachment literature was examined. Attachment development and disorder of handicapped populations was reviewed categorically by handicap and by the procedures used to study attachment and analogous behavior with populations of handicapped children. In general, evidence to date suggests that attachment between young handicapped children and their mothers or caretakers may be delayed, dulled, or even absent. Some critical methodological issues were discussed, and implications of the study of attachment for developing theory, providing services, and understanding child abuse were delineated.

Child Abuse↗
PubMed1982

Assessing social cognition in young mentally retarded and nonretarded children.

The social-cognitive skills of 38 young retarded children ages 24 to 92 months were assessed on a set of communication tasks. Analyses examined (a) the relationship of social age and social communication, (b) whether performance levels indicate that the tasks conform to an ordinal sequence, and (c) the extent to which such a sequence would resemble that determined by performance of a nonretarded reference population. Tasks were also administered to 61 nonretarded children to replicate and extend the comparative data base of earlier findings. Each child was administered 23 nonverbal social communication tasks that assessed the skill domains of percept production (showing), percept deprivation (hiding), and percept diagnosis (gesturing). Results indicated that the social-cognitive skills of both retarded and nonretarded children were related to social age. Guttman scalogram analyses revealed that although the patterns were not identical for the two populations, communicative performance conformed to developmental patterns characterized by hierarchical sequences from simple to more complex forms. The findings are consistent with developmental theory and have diagnostic and therapeutic implications for young retarded children.

Age Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Out-of-home placement of children and adolescents with severe handicaps: behavioral intentions and behavior.

This study tracked the thoughts and actions regarding out-of-home placement in 100 families who had a child or early adolescent with severe handicaps. Parents' behavioral intentions regarding out-of-home placement were assessed using a single item measure of placement tendency (The Placement Tendency Index) four times over a total period of approximately 6 years. Statistical models used to predict time until placement indicated that the Placement Tendency Index had modest predictive capacity in the long run, but increased predictive utility over shorter periods. Closer examination of the movement of scores from one wave of data collection to the next revealed three patterns, indicating variability in the speed and direction with which parents move along the scale.

Activities of Daily Living↗