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An experimental intervention with families of substance abusers: one-year follow-up of the focus on families project.

AIMS: Children whose parents abuse drugs are exposed to numerous factors that increase the likelihood of future drug abuse. Despite this heightened risk, few experimental tests of prevention programs with this population have been reported. This article examines whether intensive family-focused interventions with methadone treated parents can reduce parents' drug use and prevent children's initiation of drug use. DESIGN: Parents were assigned randomly into intervention and control conditions and assessed at baseline, post-test, and 6 and 12 months following the intervention. Children were assessed at baseline, and 6- and 12-month follow-up points. SETTING: Two methadone clinics in Seattle, Washington. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred and forty-four methadone-treated parents, and their children (n = 178) ranging in age from 3 to 14 years old. INTERVENTION: The experimental intervention supplemented methadone treatment with 33 sessions of family training combined with 9 months of home-based case management. Families in the control condition received no supplemental services. MEASUREMENT: Parent measures included: relapse and problem-solving skills, self-report measures of family management practices, deviant peer networks, domestic conflict and drug use. Child measures included self-report measures of rules, family attachment, parental involvement, school attachment and misbehavior, negative peers, substance use and delinquency. FINDINGS: One year after the family skills training, results indicate significant positive changes among parents, especially in the areas of parent skills, parent drug use, deviant peers and family management. Few changes were noted in children's behavior or attitudes. CONCLUSIONS: Programs such as this may be an important adjunct to treatment programs, helping to strengthen family bonding and to reduce parents' drug use.

Adolescent↗

The family interview: exploring experiences of family health and well-being.

Health and well-being are basic concepts to nursing science and also important to practical nursing care: to provide effective nursing we need to have a good understanding of both health and well-being. Experienced health has been studied quite extensively at the individual level, but the family's point of view has been very much neglected. This study collected data on families' views on health and well-being in interviews with nine families. The interviews were held in a group situation, with all family members present, and they were structured around the three core themes identified by Astedt-Kurki in her doctoral dissertation: 'doing, knowing, feeling'. The emotional bonds that tie together family members may be a factor in the family's tendency to produce rich and detailed knowledge about their well-being in interview situations. On the other hand it is also possible that the family will try to convey as positive an image of itself as possible. For reasons of reliability the nine families taking part in this study were interviewed twice.

Adult↗

Family-based association tests for different family structures using pooled DNA.

DNA pooling is a cost-effective strategy for genomewise association studies to identify disease genes. In the context of family-based association studies, Risch & Teng (1998) mainly considered families of identical structures to detect associations between genetic markers and disease, and suggested possible approaches to incorporating different family types without a thorough study of their properties. However, families collected in real genetic studies often have different structures and, more importantly, the informativeness of each family structure depends on the disease model which is generally unknown. So there is a need to develop and investigate statistical methods to combine information from diverse family types. In this article, we propose a general strategy to incorporate different family types by assigning each family an "optimal" weight in association tests. In addition, we consider measurement errors in our analysis. When we evaluate our approach under different disease models and measurement errors, we find that our weighting scheme may lead to a substantial reduction in sample size required over the approach suggested by Risch & Teng (1998), and measurement errors may have significant impact on the required sample size when the error rates are not negligible.

Computer Simulation↗

Family attitudes and patient social adjustment in a longitudinal study of outpatient schizophrenics receiving low-dose neuroleptics: the family's view.

Adverse effects of neuroleptic medication have led to the attempt to develop alternative strategies for the treatment of schizophrenia, but it is generally conceded that these strategies may have their own negative outcomes in the form of symptom exacerbation, reduced social performance and worsened family interactions. This paper examines the effect of one such strategy, low doses of medication, on the social adjustment of and family response to chronic schizophrenic outpatients. Patients who were randomly assigned to either a low-dose or standard-dose condition were rated by their families on various aspects of social adjustment. Despite a considerably higher relapse rate in the low-dose condition, families reported patients in the low-dose condition to be no poorer in their social adjustment than standard-dose patients. In addition, families of low-dose patients were more satisfied with their patients' overall level of adjustment and were no more rejecting at endpoint than families of standard-dose patients. Low-dose patients were viewed even more favorably when patients who relapsed were excluded from the analysis. Negative family attitudes, particularly rejection, measured at study entry, were found to predict time to relapse in the low-dose group. Implications for treatment and family intervention are discussed.

Adolescent↗

Can familial aggregation of disease be explained by familial aggregation of environmental risk factors?

Although familial aggregation has been shown for many if not all diseases, it is often difficult to determine whether such aggregation is due to shared genes or shared environmental factors. The authors examine the effect of familial aggregation of environmental risk factors on familial aggregation of disease when there is no genetic susceptibility. An environmental risk factor with a relative risk (R) for disease and population exposure frequency (f) is assumed to be clustered among siblings with varying degrees of sibling correlation in exposure (c). The impact of varying R, f, and c is examined on two common measures of familial aggregation: the relative risk of disease for siblings of cases compared with siblings of controls, and the sibling recurrence risk. It can be shown that both measures increase with increasing R and c, but decrease at high levels of f. However, even in the face of complete correlation in exposure among siblings (c = 1), environmental risk factors that have values of R less than 10 lead to modest sibling relative risks (ranging from 1 to 2) and low recurrence risks. Similar findings are obtained when familial aggregation of two additive environmental factors is considered. Because many diseases show higher sibling relative risks and recurrence risks, this analysis suggests that simple familial clustering of environmental factors is unlikely to account entirely for familial aggregation of disease, and that genetic factors ought to play an important role in causing familial aggregation.

Environmental Exposure↗

Genealogy of families of SINEs in cetaceans and artiodactyls: the presence of a huge superfamily of tRNA(Glu)-derived families of SINEs.

Several novel (sub)families of SINEs were isolated from the genomes of cetaceans and artiodactyls, and their sequences were determined. From comparisons of diagnostic nucleotides among the short interspersed repetitive elements (SINEs) in these (sub)families, we were able to draw the following conclusions. (1) After the divergence of the suborder Tylopoda (camels), the CHRS family of SINEs was newly created from tRNA(Glu) in a common ancestor of the lineages of the Suina (pigs and peccaries), Ruminantia (cows and deer), and Cetacea (whales and dolphins). (2) After divergence of the Suina lineage, the CHR-1 SINE and the CHR-2 SINE were generated successively in a common ancestor of ruminants, hippopotamuses, and cetaceans. (3) In the Ruminantia lineage, the Bov-tA SINE was generated by recombination between the CHR-2 SINE and Bov-A. (4) In the Suina lineage, the CHRS-S SINE was generated from the CHRS SINE. (5) In this latter lineage, the PRE-1 family of SINEs was created by insertion of part of the gene for tRNA(Arg) into the 5' region of the CHRS-S family. The distribution of a particular family of SINEs among species of artiodactyls and cetaceans confirmed the most recent conclusion for paraphyly of the order Artiodactyla. The present study also revealed that a newly created tRNA(Glu)-derived family of SINEs was subjected both to recombination with different units and to duplication of an internal sequence within a SINE unit to generate, during evolution, a huge superfamily of tRNA(Glu)-related families of SINEs that are now found in the genomes of artiodactyls and cetaceans.

Animals↗

Reciprocity, emotional well-being, and family functioning as determinants of family satisfaction in caregivers of elderly parents.

The purpose of this study was to test a theoretical model developed to explain family satisfaction among 171 caregivers of elderly parents. Using LISREL to estimate path coefficients, the findings support family satisfaction as directly and indirectly influenced by reciprocity, emotional well-being and family functioning. Explanatory variables accounted for 70% of the variance in predicting family satisfaction. Intrinsic rewards derived from giving care, positive affect, and family functioning contributed to higher levels of family satisfaction, while dysphoria contributed significantly to lower levels. Family satisfaction was also indirectly influenced by positive and negative exchanges received by the parent. Increasing caregivers awareness of the reciprocal nature of their relationships with all family members may be an effective strategy in helping them appreciate their contribution to the well-being of their parents and achieve satisfaction in the caregiving role.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

A novel SCN2A mutation in family with benign familial infantile seizures.

Benign familial infantile seizures (BFIS) is a clinical entity characterized by focal seizures with or without secondary generalization, occurring mostly in clusters, and usually first seen between 4 and 8 months of life. Psychomotor development is normal, and seizures usually resolve within the first year of life. BFIS is a genetically heterogenous condition with loci mapped to chromosomes 19 and 16. Mutations in the voltage-gated sodium channel alpha2 subunit (SCN2A) gene on chromosome 2 were recently identified in families affected by neonatal and infantile seizures (benign familial neonatal-infantile seizures, BFNIS) with typical onset before 4 months of life. The identification of SCN2A mutations in families with only infantile seizures indicated that BFNIS and BFIS show overlapping clinical features. We report a pedigree showing three affected individuals over three generations. All subjects experienced clusters of focal seizures with or without secondary generalization and onset between 4 and 12 months of life. Response to antiepileptic drugs and the outcome were good. No subjects had other forms of epilepsy later in the life. Neonatal or febrile seizures did not occur in the family. Genetic study in this family revealed a novel heterozygous mutation c.3003 T>A in the SCN2A gene. Comparative analysis of different sodium channel alpha subunits indicates that the mutated residue is highly conserved throughout the evolution, suggesting an important functional role for this domain. Additional families with the infantile form of benign familial seizures should be investigated to corroborate that BFIS and BFNIS may share the same genetic abnormality.

Age of Onset↗

Dilution of family process in social services: implications for treatment of neglectful families.

Families identified as neglectful pose a special challenge to family therapists and other practitioners, not only because they are usually involuntary clients but also because of the relative weakness of their internal process, which often becomes "diluted" into the system of providers. Current social services practices that exacerbate the dilution of family process are hard to eradicate because they are rooted in a culture that promotes the transfer of functions from families to social agencies; families, immersed in the same culture, often collude with the agencies in their own dilution. The treatment of neglect in families calls for the nurturance of the family's process and the disruption of the complementary pattern between family and regulatory agencies.

Adult↗

The impact of psychiatric diagnosis and family system relationship on problems identified by families coping with a mentally ill member.

The purpose of this study was to explore how psychiatric diagnosis and family relationships relate to problems identified by participants in three one-day public family psychoeducation workshops for families with a member with a serious mental illness. Workshop participants generated lists of problems they had faced, which were coded into eleven categories. Logistic regression models predicting listing of categories were developed based on ill member (diagnosis, sex, treatment compliance) and family member (sex, age, relationship to the ill member) characteristics. For models predicting content category from ill member characteristics, only denial/noncompliance and interpersonal/social categories were significantly predictive as dependent variables. For models predicting content categories from family member characteristics, only the resources/benefits model was predictive. The significant findings, in conjunction with the important negative results, suggest implications for further development of family intervention models. Building on previous research, groups composed of families coping with more than a single diagnosis and including a variety of family member relationships have the potential to reach consensus on curriculum topics.

Adult↗

Parents' and children's perceptions of family processes in inner-city families with delinquent youths: a qualitative investigation.

This study explored youths' and parents' perceptions of family interaction processes as well as the broader social and cultural factors that influence family functioning in a multiethnic sample of inner-city families with delinquent youth. In-depth interviews were conducted with 61 male youths and 33 parents predominantly from minority families. Guided by an ecological framework, qualitative data analyses were employed to explore individual and contextual factors that were perceived either to foster or to impede individual and family functioning. Findings supported previous empirical research highlighting the importance of family interaction processes in the lives of delinquent youths. Analysis of parent and youth data revealed important relationships among the individual, family, and community domains. The emphases placed on these interrelationships, however, varied in distinct and notable ways for parents and youths. The implications of these divergent patterns for family-level interventions are addressed.

Adolescent↗

Developing culturally effective family-based research programs: implications for family therapists.

Recently, some family scholars have developed greater sensitivity to the relative neglect of families of color in clinical and empirical research. Consequently, a proliferation of research elucidating many nuances of ethnic families has come to the forefront, containing a wealth of knowledge with useful implications for family therapists and other mental health providers. The findings of these studies hold enormously important implications for how family therapists can better engage and accommodate families of color in therapy. In this article we discuss some of the etiological and methodological issues associated with planning, conducting, and disseminating family-based prevention and intervention research programs with ethnic minority families.

Cultural Characteristics↗

Familiality of postpartum depression in unipolar disorder: results of a family study.

OBJECTIVE: The authors previously reported strong evidence for familial aggregation of postpartum (puerperal) psychotic episodes in women with bipolar disorder. The authors here examine whether vulnerability to postpartum triggering of depressive episodes aggregates in families and assess how this aggregation varies with the definition of postpartum onset. METHOD: Postpartum depression occurrence was studied in the female members of 120 sibling pairs recruited at a site within an international multicenter study of sibling pairs with recurrent unipolar depression. Employing a range of definitions of postpartum onset, the authors examined concordance for postpartum episode status between sisters. RESULTS: Episodes of depression with onset within 4 weeks of delivery clustered in families, but there was no significant evidence of familial clustering of broadly defined postpartum depression (onset within 6 months). Among women with a family history of narrowly defined postpartum episodes, 42% experienced depression following their first delivery, whereas only 15% of women with no such family history experienced depression following first delivery. The evidence for familiality maximized with a postpartum onset definition of 6-8 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: These results implicate familial factors in susceptibility to the triggering of narrowly defined postpartum depressive episodes in women with recurrent major depression. They suggest that a postnatal onset definition of within 6-8 weeks of delivery may be optimal in studies of the triggering of depressive illness by childbirth.

Adult↗

Family and staff attitudes toward family involvement in the treatment of hospitalized chronic patients.

Attitudes of staff members and families toward family involvement in treatment of hospitalized chronic mental patients were explored using a 17-item questionnaire. Family members of 23 patients at a rural health center completed the questionnaire, which focused on attitudes toward and knowledge of important variables in the treatment of their relative. Five clinical staff members responded to four of the items, and statistical correlations between family and staff responses were computed for those items. The results indicated that two-thirds of the family members showed knowledge, concern, and willingness to be involved in patient treatment, but a lack of agreement between staff members and between staff and families on crucial treatment variables was considered to jeopardize family involvement. The author recommends that internal staff disagreements first be identified and resolved and that measures then be taken to encourage staff to involve the family in the patient's treatment.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

Clinical application of the 15-minute family interview: addressing the needs of postpartum families.

The purpose of this article is to describe the application of the 15-minute family interview to family-centered nursing practice on a postpartum unit. Guided by the five key components of the 15-minute family interview (manners, therapeutic conversation, genogram or ecomap, therapeutic questions, and commendations), clinical excerpts of interviews with families illustrate application to practice. The 15-minute family interview is not a strategic, decontextual nursing tool; rather, it is a flexible interview guide that is embedded in family nursing practice, in the relationship between the nurse and family and in the nurse's philosophical assumptions and obligations to do well by families.

Family Nursing↗

Sun protection as a family health project in families with adolescents.

This study examined sun protection in families with adolescents from an action-theoretical perspective. Interview data were collected from 20 families about their attitudes and behaviors around sunbathing and sun protection. The data support the understanding of project as joint goal-directed action over time as the basis on which these behaviors are organized in families. Families used the language of goal-directed action to discuss family sun protection. Differences between families with focused and diffuse sun-protection projects are identified. Sun protection in families as one part of an array of family goal-directed actions and projects has implications for health promotion.

Adolescent↗

The child and family eight years after undesired conception. The child and family after undesired conception.

This survey is a follow-up study, up to the age of 8 years of children reported to have been born from pregnancies not desired by the mother, in Northern Finland in 1966. The data were collected by means of a postal questionnaire sent separately to families and school teachers. Each child was signed a control, born from a desired pregnancy and similar at the time of birth as regards mother's marital status, parity, and place of residence and also the social class of the father. No difference between the groups was found in the emotional development of the children. School performance was poorer among the unwanted children, but the difference was statistically significant only in respect of the need for additional instruction in writing. Evidence was also found that the parents in the control families worried more about the health of their children than did those of the unwanted children. Even when the social standing of the families was matched as regards time of birth, the families with unwanted children showed more downward and less upward social mobility during the intervening 8 years than did the control families, and there were also indications of differences in lifestyle preference between the families. The conclusion was therefore drawn that undesired conception selects a subgroup of less capable families from each social class, and that the differences found in the children can also be explained by differences in social and economic standing between these two groups of families.

Attitude↗

Effects of behavioural family management on family communication and patient outcomes in schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: Family interventions for schizophrenia have proved to be highly effective in preventing relapse, but it is not clear how they work or how they should be structured. AIMS: To examine the effects of a behavioural family intervention and a family support programme on communication, problem solving and outcome in order to determine the impact of structured communication training. METHOD: Patients and family members participating in the Treatment Strategies in Schizophrenia study were videotaped engaging in 10-minute problem-solving conversations at baseline and after the conclusion of the family intervention. Tapes were subsequently evaluated for changes in communication patterns. RESULTS: The intensive behavioural intervention did not produce differential improvement in communication, and change in communication was unrelated to patient outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: The data suggest that intensive behavioural family interventions may not be cost efficient, and that change in family communication patterns may only be important for a subset of families.

Adult↗