The Conjoint Family Diagnostic Interview and the Family Index of Tension

The present paper is written in response to the, as yet, unmet need for a broadly applicable, clinical rubric for assessing the psychiatric patient's situation in his family. It describes a conjoint family diagnostic interview procedure (CFDI) which enables a clinical interviewer, within a single ninety-minute, problem-focused, conjoint interview, to describe or rate the verbal and nonverbal behavior of a Ten family unit along dimensions relevant to clinical decision-making for the psychiatric patient. A rating instrument, the Family Index of Tension (FIT) will also be described. It provides a convenient format for quantifying the information obtained at the CFDI, facilitating comparisons within and across family systems. Though initially developed and protested on 350 families of hospitalized psychiatric patients, the procedure described appears applicable to all clinical situations in which families, regardless of their composition and background, are seen together with an “identified patient” for purposes of evaluation and treatment planning.     

Tempests, Teapots (and Research Design): Rejoinder to Stanton and Todd

Four major issues raised in Stanton and Todd's critique are discussed. These comprise: (a) the inclusion criteria of the review; (b) statistical procedures and research design; (c) the alleged bias of the review; and (d) design problems in Stanton and Todd's own study.