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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

[Family relationships and family therapy of eating disorders].

A multitude of empirical studies clearly demonstrates that the origin and course of eating disorders is closely linked to family factors. The influence is exerted in a direct way by conveying attitudes towards food, eating, weight, shape and appearance within the family and in a more indirect way by the family relationships. Families of bulimics differ from those of anorexics by a higher degree of conflict, impulsivity, expressiveness and by lower affective resonance and cohesion. Family therapy has proven to be effective in the treatment of eating disorders. A sketch of a family therapy describes the conflict oriented approach which includes behavioral elements in oder to stabilize the eating behavior and the weight.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Preschoolers' characterizations of multiple family relationships during family doll play.

Investigated 4-year-olds' depictions of family relationships during a semistructured doll play task. Examined developmental and family correlates of these depictions, and their relative stability over a 1-month period. Forty-nine children related stories about happy, sad, mad, and worried families using dolls reflecting their own family configuration. For each story, coders recorded (a) proportion of total story time devoted to each family dyad and (b) number of conflictive, aggressive, and affectionate acts per dyad. Children divided their focus during stories evenly between father-child, mother-child, and father-mother relationships with child-sibling interactions occurring regularly among participants with siblings. Depictions of affection and aggression among family figures were relatively commonplace, related to mothers' reports of family climate, and stable across a 1-month period. Results substantiated preschoolers' awareness and discrimination of intrafamily relationship dynamics and provided some guidelines and cautions to practitioners who employ doll family assessments in their clinical work.

Aggression↗
PubMed1993

Mealtime interactions and family relationships of families with children who have cancer in long-term remission and controls.

This study investigated reports of parents (mothers and fathers) of 25 children with cancer in long-term remission and matched neighborhood control families on issues related to the quality of mealtime interactions, and the relationship between parental reports of overall family functioning and the quality of mealtime interactions. Results showed positive correspondence for both groups between fathers' and mothers' reports of favorable family environments (greater cohesion and expressiveness, less conflict) and positive mealtime interactions. No significant differences were found between parents of children with cancer and control parents with regard to mealtime conflicts, current concerns about their child's eating, or satisfaction with the child's food intake. The data demonstrate a moderate relationship between overall family functioning and the quality of mealtime interactions, but suggest a minimal relationship between children with cancer in long-term remission who are at low nutritional risk and the quality of mealtime interactions.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Strengthening nurse-family relationships in critical care.

Establishing relationships with families in critical care is an essential part of high quality care. Critical care nurse-family relationships are important to the patient and family and also benefit the nurse. Thus, nurse-family relationships should be started when families first enter the critical care environment. Cooperative and collaborative relationships require negotiation and must consider the needs of the family as well as the nurse. Barriers need to be overcome before critical care nurse-family relationships can develop. Possible barriers include limited time, perceptions that families are stressors, dysfunctional response styles, and premature judgments. Essential qualities of successful relationships include: trust, respect, empathy, warmth, sensitivity, and touching, when appropriate. Each of these qualities is dependent on the verbal and nonverbal skills of the critical care nurse. As with anything worthwhile, relationship skills take practice to develop, involving a commitment to the importance of nurse-family relationships in critical care.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1992

Contemporaneous and longitudinal associations of sibling conflict with family relationship assessments and family discussions about sibling problems.

The first purpose of this study was to examine contemporaneous and longitudinal associations of maternal and paternal measures of family functioning with observational and self-report assessments of sibling conflict. The second purpose was to determine whether the ways in which families attempt to solve siblings' problems are associated with contemporaneous and longitudinal assessment of sibling conflict. The results indicate that paternal equality of treatment and family harmony during family discussions about sibling problems, as well as parents' perceptions of family cohesiveness, are associated with lower sibling conflict levels.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Couples with an elderly parent with Alzheimer's disease: perceptions of familial relationships.

This study examined family relationships in families with and without an elderly parent with Alzheimer's disease. Spouses (29 pairs with an Alzheimer's diseased parent; 29 pairs with a healthy elderly parent) completed questionnaires regarding their perceived relationships with each other, their parent, and one of their own children (aged 8-18). In addition, they completed surveys that inquired about feelings of burden regarding the target parent. Couples perceived a poorer relationship with parents with Alzheimer's disease when contrasted to couples who had a healthy elderly parent. In addition, wives with an Alzheimer's parent also tended to have a more negative relationship with their husbands than wives who had a healthy parent. Perceptions of burden were associated with poorer spousal relationships for wives but not husbands.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2007

A prospective study of the impact of genetic susceptibility testing for BRCA1/2 or HNPCC on family relationships.

This study assessed the impact of genetic testing for cancer susceptibility on family relationships and determinants of adverse consequences for family relationships. Applicants for genetic testing of a known familial pathogenic mutation in BRCA1/2 or a HNPCC related gene (N=271) rated the prevalence and nature of changes in family relationships, familial difficulties and conflicts due to genetic testing 6 months after receiving the test result. The level of family functioning, differentiation from parents, support and familial communication style regarding hereditary cancer were assessed before receiving the test result. Genetic testing affected some family relationships in a positive way (37%), i.e. by feeling closer, improved communication and support, more appreciation of the relative and relief of negative test result. A minority reported unwanted changes in relationships (19%), problematic situations (13%) or conflicts (4%). Adverse effects comprised feelings of guilt towards children and carrier siblings, imposed secrecy and communication problems. Predictors of adverse consequences on family relationships were reluctance to communicate about hereditary cancer with relatives and disengaged-rigid or enmeshed-chaotic family functioning. Open communication between relatives should be stimulated because a lack of open communication may be an important determinant of familial adverse effects.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Family relationships in two types of terminal care.

This study investigated parent's perception of family relationships in 87 parents from 48 families during the terminal illness and first year following a child's death from cancer. Using the Family Relationships Index, parents' perception of family relationships were compared: (a) to normative data and (b) between home and hospital terminal care. Data collection occurred before death during the terminal phase, and two weeks, four months, and one year post death. The results of data analyses by confidence intervals and t-tests generally indicated that (a) parents' perceived family relationships to differ from "normal" families and (b) hospital based terminal care families presented evidence of better family relationships than home care based terminal care families.

Attitude to Death↗
PubMed1998

Family relationships, parenting practices, the availability of male family members, and the behavior of inner-city boys in single-mother and two-parent families.

The primary goal of this study was to clarify if and how differences in the functioning of single-mother and two-parent families relate to the occurrence of behavioral problems among inner-city boys (ages 10-15). Data were collected on family relationships, parenting practices, the positive influence of male family members, and the severity of externalizing behavior problems. Results indicated that (1) multiple family risk factors contribute to the occurrence of behavior problems; (2) most family risk factors were generalizable to both single-mother and two-parent families; (3) although boys in single-mother families were at greater risk for developing behavior problems than boys in two-parent families, the risks associated with single motherhood were offset by a structured family environment, an effective disciplinary strategy that allowed for some degree of adolescent autonomy, and the positive involvement of a male family member; and (4) not all differences in the functioning of single-mother and two-parent families were associated with problem behavior, underscoring the importance of distinguishing between adaptive and maladaptive aspects of single-mother family functioning.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Employing the God-family relationship in therapy with religious families.

In many religious families, God functions as a crucial family member, stabilizing interpersonal relationships and engaging in daily family transactions. In the psychological role of a transitional object, God can be usefully employed by the family therapist in therapeutic interventions, when the therapist keeps the focus upon the interpersonal relationship with God rather than the specific content of religious beliefs. This approach can access a vital resource in the family, particularly when conditions for therapy are otherwise difficult, such as an isolated, enmeshed dyad presenting alone for therapy. Four case examples illustrate how one may use this approach in family therapy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Establishing the nurse-family relationship in the intensive care unit.

The nurse-family relationship in the intensive care unit (ICU) may replace the traditional nurse-patient relationship due to the patient's compromised state. As a result, the nurse-family relationship becomes extremely important. Nurses and families may develop a relationship in which they work together to benefit the patient, or an inadequate relationship may develop. In this study, strategies used by nurses and families to either develop or inhibit the development of the nurse-family relationship were identified. Using unstructured interviews with ICU nurses and family members of ICU patients, categories of strategies were identified and behaviors described. Nurses and families perceived that they each displayed only positive behaviors yet identified inhibiting behaviors of the other. Once the behaviors were shown to nurses as secondary informants, they were able to identify with their negative behaviors. An understanding of these strategies will help nurses to reevaluate their practice and enhance their understanding of the behaviors of family members.

Humans↗
PubMed1990

The use of genetic markers for personal identification and the analysis of family relationships.

In 1984 a family of hypervariable sequences was discovered in human DNA which when used as DNA probes provided a sufficiently informative sampling of an individual's DNA as to uniquely identify each person (except for genetically identical twins). Termed a DNA 'fingerprint', the DNA pattern revealed by the probes said nothing about characteristics of age, sex, height, or colour but immediately met a long-unanswered need for certain definition in the establishment of identity and family relationships. DNA tests are now a key tool in forensic investigations and are rapidly gaining acceptance in courts around the world. DNA tests are also replacing conventional serology for the resolution of paternity disputes. The definition provided by the DNA tests was possibly most urgently sought by immigration families in the UK who were separated by an inability to prove their family ties. The interest from the public has been overwhelming and Cellmark Diagnostics have already completed tests on over 15,000 individuals in the UK since opening in June 1987. Media coverage has been extensive, and continues to view DNA tests as beneficial; this, coupled with its commercial potential, suggests that DNA technology is here to stay.

Consanguinity↗
PubMed2004

Links between family relationships and best friendships in the United States and Japan.

This study was designed to examine associations between family relationship quality and friendship quality in the United States and Japan using surveys of representative samples of individuals ranging in age from 13 to 93 in the United States (n = 1498) and Japan (n = 1641). Associations between family relationships and friendships were stronger and more pervasive in Japan than in the United States. In the United States, there was some evidence that having higher quality family relationships was associated with having higher quality friendships; in Japan, there was similar evidence for consistency in quality across relationships, as well as evidence that qualities lacking in one relationship were sometimes present in another. Gender and age did not moderate the associations between family relationship and friendship quality in either country. These findings extend into adulthood work that has previously focused on family relationships and friendships of children and suggest cultural differences in patterns of association between family relationships and friendships.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Family relationships and the development of social competence in adolescence.

Resilient adolescents are notable for their social competence, which enables them to form and maintain close relationships. The evidence is that adolescents' social competence is derived from their experience of close relationships within their family. On the basis of structured interviews, adolescents' working models of attachments can be categorized into secure, dismissive, or pre-occupied. These attachment styles are associated with very divergent beliefs about the self and others, with differing patterns of emotion regulation and with differing risk profiles for maladjustment. Parenting styles and family relationships appear to have considerable influence on attachment behaviour. Further evidence for the importance of the family comes from research on ego development. Family level behavioural patterns have been discerned from family research interviews which are associated with stagnation or advancement in ego development during adolescence. Though the results suggest causal connections, the direction of effects is far from clear. Longitudinal research underpins the importance of childhood temperament as a contributing factor to the quality of the family environment that the child and then adolescent experiences.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Family relationships in survivors of childhood cancer: resource or restraint?

Family relationships may be an important mediator between childhood cancer and psychosocial adjustment in adult life. This paper focuses on the developmental task of the transition from adolescence to adulthood, with regard to the cancer survivor's family relationships. Theories, concepts and findings relevant to this specific focus are considered in relation to whether these relationships may prove a resource or a restraint in this process. Potential aspects of family relationships that may be of interest to research are discussed, and clinical implications drawn.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1996

Parent-child relationships, family problems-solving behavior, and sibling relationship quality: the moderating role of sibling temperaments.

In this study we sought to determine whether sibling temperaments moderated the associations of parent-child relationship quality and family problem-solving behavior with sibling relationship quality. Observational assessments of mother-child and father-child relationship quality, family problem-solving behavior, and sibling relationship quality were obtained from the families of 49 pairs of brothers and 46 pairs of sisters. Mean ages were 10-2 for older siblings and 7-6 for younger siblings. Parent-reported child temperament assessments were also obtained. The links among mother-older child relationship quality, father-older child relationship quality, and sibling relationship quality were moderated by the older sibling's temperament. The younger and older siblings' temperaments moderated the associations between the quality of the father-younger sibling and sibling relationships. The association between family problem-solving behavior and sibling relationship quality was not moderated by sibling temperaments.

Child↗
PubMed1981

Current concepts about schizophrenics and family relationships.

This review notes that two new series of studies of the family relationships of schizophrenics are now emerging. One approach, giving special emphasis to the concept of communication deviance, examines family relationships in prospective longitudinal studies of children and adolescents who are at increased risk for later psychopathology, including schizophrenia. A second approach studies expressed emotion of key relatives as a predictor of subsequent course of illness in persons who already have been diagnosed as schizophrenic. A considerable diversity of methods for studying family relationships are now available, some with patient absent and some with the family members observed indirect interaction with one another. Implications for pathogenesis and treatment are discussed, as well as methodological and substantive problems requiring further investigation.

Communication↗
PubMed1998

Trainees' conjugal family experience, current intergenerational family relationships, and the therapeutic alliance.

This study examines the relationship between trainees' conjugal family experience, current intergenerational family relationships, and the client's perception of the therapeutic alliance. Participants were 74 first practicum family therapy trainees, representing two family therapy programs, and 90 clients. Results indicated a moderately significant relationship between conjugal family experience and trainees' reported intergenerational intimacy with parents. Additionally, clients whose therapists had conjugal family experience reported a slightly more favorable therapeutic alliance than clients whose therapists did not have conjugal family experience. Additionally, trainees with conjugal family experience reported more current intimacy and individuation than nonconjugal trainees and felt less intimidated by their parents.

Adult↗