Family Functioning among Rural Teens and Caregivers: Interactive Influence on Teen Dating Violence

Multi-informant assessment of family functioning is considered best practice in research and clinical settings. However, in the area of teen dating violence, multi-informant assessment of family functioning has received limited attention. The current study investigated whether and to what extent caregiver and adolescent perceptions of family functioning interact in their influence on adolescent dating violence. Participants were 493 adolescents and their primary caregivers from a rural southeastern community in the United States. As hypothesized, a paired-samples t test showed that adolescents’ scores on the family functioning measure were significantly lower than their caregivers’ scores. Logistic regressions revealed that adolescents’ positive views of family functioning were significantly associated with a lower likelihood of dating violence victimization but not perpetration and that caregivers’ views on family functioning moderated the impact of adolescent-reported family functioning on both dating violence outcomes. Post hoc analyses showed that adolescents with negative perceptions of family environment were most likely to be victims and perpetrators of dating violence when their parents also reported more negative views of family environment. The article concludes with a discussion of how these findings can: (a) advance our understanding of the impact of family functioning on teen dating relationships and (b) inform practical efforts aimed at preventing dating aggression among teens.     

Adolescent Gender and Age Differences in Responsiveness to Functional Family Therapy

The current study contributes to a sparse literature on moderators of Functional Family Therapy (FFT) by examining whether responsiveness to FFT, measured by a broad range of outcomes, varies by adolescent gender, age, and their interaction. This study was informed by 687 families (n, adolescents = 581; n, caregivers = 933) and utilized a pre–post comparison design. Fixed-effects regressions with gender, age, and their interaction included as explanatory variables were conducted to calculate the average change in youth mental health, callous–unemotional traits, academic outcomes, substance use, and family functioning. Moderation analyses revealed that according to parent report, girls had significantly greater improvements in peer problems and family functioning, and boys benefited more in increased liking of school. There were differential effects by age, such that older youth had less beneficial mental health outcomes and a smaller decrease in frequency of hash use. The gender by age interaction was significant for adolescents’ report of mental health and family functioning outcomes, which suggests that girls benefit from FFT less than boys during early adolescence, but benefit more than boys in late adolescence. This finding adds to literature which has evidenced that family functioning is particularly important for girls by suggesting that FFT is important for improving older girls’ mental health and family functioning in particular. The study’s results expand the examination of outcomes of FFT to include academic outcomes, and provide insight into key factors that should be considered in addressing adolescent behavioral problems and family functioning.     

Implications of Family Cohesion and Conflict for Adolescent Mood and Well-Being: Examining Within- and Between-Family Processes on a Daily Timescale

Family-level conflict and cohesion are well-established predictors of adolescent mental health. However, traditional approaches focusing on between-family differences in cohesion and conflict may overlook daily intrafamily variability that might provide important new information. We used data from a 21-day daily diary protocol in a sample of 151 caregivers (95.3% female) and their adolescent child (61.5% female) in two-caregiver families to test whether daily changes in family functioning are associated with daily changes in adolescent well-being and whether adolescent well-being depends on average levels of family functioning. We examined family cohesion and conflict in relation to adolescent angry, depressed, and anxious mood, as well as happiness, life satisfaction, and meaning and purpose in life in multilevel models. Both cohesion and conflict exhibited meaningful daily variation. Adolescent-reported cohesion and conflict had unique within-family associations with all six adolescent outcomes. Models using parent reports of family functioning yielded fewer associations than models with adolescent reports; however, several findings remained. Cross-level interactions indicated that within-family variations in cohesion were only associated with adolescent depression in families with lower average levels of cohesion across days. In sum, this study provides compelling evidence that families exhibit meaningful variability from day to day and that daily variation has important implications for adolescent well-being.     

The Challenges of COVID-19 for Divorcing and Post-divorce Families

COVID-19 and the accompanying procedures of shelter-in-place have had a powerful effect on all families but have additional special meanings in the context of families contemplating divorce, divorcing, or carrying out postdivorce arrangements. This paper explores those special meanings for these families. It also offers suggestions for couple and family therapists involved in helping these families during the time of COVID-19.     

The Family Resilience Inventory: A Culturally Grounded Measure of Current and Family-of-Origin Protective Processes in Native American Families

The purpose of this article is to introduce the Family Resilience Inventory (FRI) and present findings on initial efforts to validate this measure. The FRI is designed to assess family resilience in one's current family and in one's family of origin, enabling the assessment of family protective factors across these generations. The development of the FRI was the result of many years of ethnographic research with Southeastern Native American tribes; yet, we believe that this scale is applicable to families of various backgrounds. Items for the FRI were derived directly from thematic analysis of qualitative data with 436 participants, resulting in two 20-item scales. Due to missing data, eight cases were removed from the 127 participants across two tribes, resulting in an analytic sample size of 119. Conceptually, the FRI is comprised of two factors or scales measuring distinct dimensions of family resilience (i.e., resilience in one's current family and resilience in one's family of origin). The results of the confirmatory factor analysis supported the hypothesized two-factor structure (X²(644) = 814.14, p = .03, X²/df = 1.10, RMSEA = .03, CFI = .97, TLI = .96). Both the subscales and the total FRI scale (α = .92) demonstrated excellent reliability. The results also provided preliminary evidence of convergent and discriminant validity. This measure fills a gap in the absence of community-based, culturally grounded, and empirical measures of family resilience. The examination of family resilience, which may occur across generations, is an exciting new contribution of the FRI.     

Strengthening Connectedness in Close Relationships: A Model for Applying Contextual Therapy

This article presents a model for conducting contextual therapy with the aim of contributing to the further development of contextual therapy. Its founder, Ivan Boszormenyi-Nagy, introduced the core of this approach, relational ethics, as a new paradigm for family therapy, which has been received well. The authors presume that the training of (upcoming) contextual therapists and conducting contextual therapy itself can benefit from more concrete guidelines and a phased structure. It can also enhance the further development, research, and accountability of this approach. Therefore, using a design-oriented method, the authors developed a model that helps to shape a contextual therapy process and the applicable contextual interventions. It is based on strengthening connectedness in close relationships, using relational ethics as its compass. The framework of the model consists of three phases: exploring connectedness in close relationships, modifying connectedness in close relationships, and reinforcing connectedness in close relationships, whereby the goals of each of these phases are defined as process elements and expanded into guidelines for 19 interventions. The ingredients for these interventions are derived from two recent studies on the practice of Nagy and on the practice of current contextual therapists. The model is explained and substantiated based on contextual theory and therapy. Final remarks are presented in the conclusion.     

Therapeutic Utility of Discussing Therapist/Client Intersectionality in Treatment: When and How?

The impact of the therapeutic alliance on positive clinical outcomes has been established in the literature; however, literature is lacking on how the intersection of therapist and client identities influences this process. We propose that the relational intersectionality resulting from similarities or differences in therapist and client identities has the potential to impact the bonds, tasks, and goals of treatment (key components of the therapeutic alliance; Bordin, 1979) depending on how it is addressed or avoided in therapy. In this paper, we present a model containing pragmatic steps therapists can follow to navigate these conversations with clients in a way that is therapeutically beneficial and culturally sensitive and attuned. Additionally, we provide suggestions for using the proposed model to train new student therapists (or expose experienced therapists) to ideas of intersectionality and social justice by reflecting on the intersection of their own identities, acknowledging dynamics of power and oppression, and understanding how this could shape their relationship with clients.     

Risk and Protective Factors Associated with Childhood Obesity in a Sample of Low-Income,Single Female,Parent/Guardian Households: Implications for Family Therapists

The United States is in the midst of a childhood obesity epidemic that disproportionately impacts underserved and diverse populations. In this study, in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with 16 low-income, single, female, parent/guardians of an overweight or obese 3- to 8-year-old from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds. Following the tenets of the thematic analysis approach, interviews focused on identifying risk and protective factors influencing parental and child health behaviors associated with child weight status. Results from the interviews are organized according to the Socioecological Framework to help identify risk and protective factors at various system levels. Findings from this investigation have relevance for family therapists as they can inform clinical and advocacy-focused interventions with disadvantaged families affected by childhood obesity.     

Therapist Interventions Associated with Productive Emotional Processing in the Context of Attachment-Based Family Therapy for Depressed and Suicidal Adolescents

Productive emotional processing is considered a key change mechanism in attachment-based family therapy (ABFT). This study examined the impact of attachment-based family therapy therapist interventions aimed to promote productive emotional processing of primary adaptive emotions in a sample of 30 depressed and suicidal adolescents who had participated in a larger randomized clinical trial. Results of sequential analyses revealed that relational reframes and therapists’ focus on primary adaptive emotions were associated with the subsequent initiation of adolescents’ productive emotional processing of primary adaptive emotions. In contrast, interpretations, reassurances, and therapists’ focus on adolescents’ rejecting anger toward their parents were all followed by the discontinuation of adolescents’ emotional processing that had already begun. Finally, therapists’ general encouragement of affect and focus on adolescents’ unmet attachment/identity needs were associated with both the initiation of adolescents’ productive emotional processing, and with the discontinuation of such processing once it had already begun. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.