Practice and Training in Family Therapy: A Known Group Study

The present study reports on a comparative survey of the belief and action systems of graduates who had been intensively trained in one of three of the major models of family therapy: Bowenian, communications, and strategic. An analysis of the factor-analyzed assumptions (belief system) and style (action system) items showed consistently greater divergence among the three models than convergence, as well as a remarkable synchronicity between the respective literature on these three models and their implementation, as represented by family therapists intensively trained in each model. A comparison of the present study's findings with previous research strongly supports the potency of formal and intensive training for developing adherents of a particular model and suggests that the distinctiveness of each model needs to be more fully developed in preference to premature attempts to develop generic or inclusive models that may become internally inconsistent and therefore difficult to operationalize in practice.     

Confusions and Conclusions: A Response to Doane

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate critically the logic and conclusions of Doane's article ( 14 ), and in so doing, to raise serious questions regarding her evaluation of the family interaction literature. In particular, we suggest that Doane's paper is characterized by (a) a confused and inaccurate presentation of previous reviews; (b) a vague and contradictory set of terms around which she attempts to recast previous findings; (c) an arbitrary and unsystematic selection of findings used to support suggestions regarding reliable group differences; (d) uncritical and erroneous interpretations of findings that ostensibly support suggested differences between groups; and (e) a superficial acceptance of recent family interaction data concerned with the relationship between communication deviance/clarity and psychopathology. We hope our detailed critique will stimulate other observers of family interaction research to contribute more accurate and significant perspectives to the field than those presented in Doane's review.     

Intergenerational Visiting Patterns: Variation in Boundary Maintenance as an Explanation

SOCIOLOGISTS can now quite fairly be said to have recognized the importance of kinship in a modern industrial society. Beginning with Sussman's study of intergenerational helping patterns in the middle class ( 22 ), an increasing number of investigators have documented the importance of kindred to the city dweller's existence. These findings are contrary to the Simmel-Wirth picture of the urbanite as an isolated individual cut off from extended family contacts ( 19, 24 ). The trend in the literature is now so firmly against this thesis that a scholarly textbook in the area of family sociology has recently appeared in which the theoretical focus is on intergenerational ties ( 8 ). The present article is in the same vein. The first section is devoted to developing a theoretical rationale concerning factors influencing frequency of kinship contacts based on the phenomenon of boundary setting and maintenance that characterizes primary groups. The second section concerns an examination of hypotheses derived from the rationale using data from a sample of three generation lineages.     

Family Secrets and Family Functioning: The Case of Donor Assistance

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between adult offspring's perception of family functioning and of parental use of topic avoidance to maintain secrecy regarding the use of donor assistance to conceive. A cross‐sectional design was used to study a convenience sample of 69 young adult donor offspring who completed a demographic questionnaire, a topic avoidance scale relative to each of their rearing parents, and the Beavers Self Report Family Instrument. Findings indicated that participants perceived both parents as avoiding the topic of donor assistance more than other topics, mothers as avoiding all topics less than fathers, and topic avoidance was negatively associated with family functioning. Mothers' general topic avoidance was the strongest predictor of family functioning. Parents' disclosing together was predictive of higher family functioning. Implications for practice and future research are suggested.     

Coparenting and Toddler's Interactive Styles in Family Coalitions

The current study examined the coparenting and toddler's interactive styles in family coalitions. According to structural family theory, boundaries between generations are clear in alliances, but disturbed in coalitions: the parents look to the child to regulate their conflictual relationship and the child attempts to meet this need. In a normative sample studied longitudinally during the Lausanne Trilogue Play situation (LTP, N=38), 15 coalition cases were detected. Styles of coparenting and of child's interactions were determined and compared in coalition and alliance cases at 18 months. Findings confirm the structural family model by showing the specific ways in which the coparenting and the toddler's interactive styles are associated in 3 different patterns of coalitions: binding, detouring, and triangulation. They illustrate how the child's triangular capacity, or her ability to simultaneously communicate with both parents, is used to regulate the parents' relationship. They suggest that the LTP observational paradigm is a promising assessment method of early family interactions. They point to the importance of assessing early the child's contribution to family coalitions.     

Pathways Triple P‐Positive Parenting Program: Effects on Parent‐Child Relationships and Child Behavior Problems

This study examined the effects of Pathways Triple P (PTP), an early intervention program designed to promote positive parent‐child relationships. Sixty parents met the inclusion criteria of borderline to clinically significant relationship disturbance and child emotional and behavioral problems. They were randomly allocated into PTP or a wait‐list (WL) control group. PTP was delivered in a group format for 9 weeks and consisted of parent skills training and cognitive behavior therapy targeting negative attributions for child behavior. Significant intervention effects were found for improving parent‐child relationships and reducing behavior problems with gains maintained at 3‐month follow‐up. Limitations of the study and implications for future research are discussed.     

Maternal Distress and Parenting in the Context of Cumulative Disadvantage

To read this article's abstract in both Spanish and Mandarin Chinese, please visit the article's full‐text page on Wiley InterScience ( http://interscience.wiley.com/journal/famp ). This article presents an emergent conceptual model of the features and links between cumulative disadvantage, maternal distress, and parenting practices in low‐income families in which parental incarceration has occurred. The model emerged from the integration of extant conceptual and empirical research with grounded theory analysis of longitudinal ethnographic data from Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three‐City Study. Fourteen exemplar family cases were used in the analysis. Results indicated that mothers in these families experienced life in the context of cumulative disadvantage, reporting a cascade of difficulties characterized by neighborhood worries, provider concerns, bureaucratic difficulties, violent intimate relationships, and the inability to meet children's needs. Mothers, however, also had an intense desire to protect their children, and to make up for past mistakes. Although, in response to high levels of maternal distress and disadvantage, most mothers exhibited harsh discipline of their children, some mothers transformed their distress by advocating for their children under difficult circumstances. Women's use of harsh discipline and advocacy was not necessarily an “either/or” phenomenon as half of the mothers included in our analysis exhibited both harsh discipline and care/advocacy behaviors. Maternal distress characterized by substance use, while connected to harsh disciplinary behavior, did not preclude mothers engaging in positive parenting behaviors.     

A Dyadic Analysis of the Between‐ and Within‐System Alliances on Distress

To read this article's abstract in both Spanish and Mandarin Chinese, please visit the article's full‐text page on Wiley InterScience ( http://interscience.wiley.com/journal/famp ). This study examines the relationship between the therapeutic alliance and distress using the couple rather than the individual as the unit of analysis. One hundred and seventy‐three couples receiving treatment for relational distress at two university clinics participated in this study. The actor–partner interdependence model was used to analyze the relationship of each partner's between‐ and within‐system alliance scores and distress at session four. Results provide support for actor effects on relational distress for both male and female partners and for actor effects on psychological distress for female partners. Limited support was found for partner effects on distress. Furthermore, results indicate that the alliance between partners is a stronger predictor of improvement in early sessions in comparison with the alliance between the individual and the therapist.     

Beyond the “Birds and the Bees”: Gender Differences in Sex‐Related Communication Among Urban African‐American Adolescents

To read this article's abstract in both Spanish and Mandarin Chinese, please visit the article's full‐text page on Wiley InterScience ( http://interscience.wiley.com/journal/famp ). The current study examined gender differences in communication about sex‐related topics in a community sample of urban, African‐American mothers and adolescents living in impoverished neighborhoods with high HIV rates. One hundred and sixty‐two mother–adolescent dyads completed self‐report measures of sex‐related communication. Youth also reported on their sexual risk. We identified the range of sexual‐based topics that adolescents discussed with their mothers, fathers, friends, and at school. The relationship between the frequency of sexual communication and sexual risk was examined. We also investigated congruency between adolescent and mother report about whether sexual‐based discussions occurred. Consistent with prior research, girls talked to their mothers, fathers, friends, and at school about sex‐related topics more than boys. Findings indicated that mothers not only communicated more frequently about sexual issues with their daughters than sons but that parental messages for girls were more protective. Greater sexual communication with mother was significantly associated with decreased HIV risk in the past 90 days and increased protection from HIV. Inconsistencies between mother and adolescent reports about sexual communication were marginally associated with decreased protection from HIV. Findings reveal the protective effect of sexual communication and the general lack of congruence between mother and adolescent reports of sexual communication.