Developing an indicator of family function and a practicable outcome measure for systemic family and couple therapy: the SCORE

There is a need for a measure of outcome in systemic family and couples therapy (SFCT) that reflects current theory and practice. To meet the needs of SFCT practice the measure needs to use self‐report by family members, take a short time to complete and be easy to understand. The development of such a measure, called the SCORE, is reported in this article. Substantial piloting, consultation and review in terms of clinical judgement led to the construction of the SCORE 40 which has forty items about how the family functions, rated by family members over 11 years of age on a Likert scale, in addition to independent ratings of the family and its difficulties. The SCORE 40 is shown to be a viable instrument but is too substantial for everyday clinical use. In a research project to reduce and refine the measure and determine its psychometric properties the SCORE 40 was administered to 510 members of 228 families at the start of their first appointment for family therapy at clinics throughout the UK. The scale has good psychometric properties and could operate with either three or four dimensions. The analyses of these data, combined with data from a convenience sample of 126 non‐clinical families, allowed a reduction to fifteen items while retaining most of the information provided by the SCORE 40. This version is offered with three dimensions of: (1) Strengths and adaptability; (2) Overwhelmed by difficulties; and (3) Disrupted communication. It is hoped that the ready availability of the SCORE 15 will encourage routine evaluation of outcomes in clinics as well as the SCORE being used flexibly for both therapy and research.     

Family-Friendly Policies,Supervisor Support,Work–Family Conflict,Family–Work Conflict,and Satisfaction: A Test of a Conceptual Model

The present study tests a model of antecedents (i.e., the use of family-friendly policies, supervisor support, number of hours worked, having childcare responsibility) and consequences (i.e., job and family satisfaction) of work–family conflict and family–work conflict. As hypothesized, we found that the use of family-friendly policies, hours worked per week, and supervisor support were predictive of work–family conflict. In addition, as predicted, childcare responsibility and supervisor support were found to be related to family–work conflict. Work–family conflict was found to be related to both job and family satisfaction. Our research extends previous research in a number of ways. We believe that a particular strength of our study is it incorporated data gathered at different points in time and from more than one source.     

Juggling Parent Care and Employment Responsibilities: The Dilemmas of Adult Daughter Caregivers in the Workforce

We review findings from our programmatic research on adult daughters who are simultaneously involved in the roles of employee and care provider to an impaired parent. Two opposing theoretical perspectives on the health effects of occupying these two roles are described, and empirical findings that bear on each perspective are presented. Our review reveals that, consistent with the competing demands perspective, parent care and employment often conflict with one another. Consistent with the energy expansion perspective, however, there is evidence that holding these two roles can be beneficial for the health of adult daughters.     

Ethics of Globalization and the AIDS Crisis from a Jewish Perspective

This essay explores what Jewish ethics has to say about globalization in relation to the AIDS crisis. Special attention is paid to the consequences in affirming current intellectual trends to transcend traditional limits in both society and thought for rethinking traditional Jewish values. The discussion proceeds from two presuppositions. The first is that there is an intimate connection between ethics, science, and politics. The second is that the history of Jewish ethics involves three distinct forms that are generally correlated but rarely identical in content and moral judgment. These three forms are law, wisdom or virtue, and covenant. The discussion considers related issues of accidental connections in time between the bubonic plague and Zionism and between AIDS and homosexuality in relation to moral–theological issues related to divine providence and distributive justice.     

Differences in Dropout Rates Among Individual, Couple, and Family Therapy Clients

The premature dropout of clients from therapy is an inefficient expenditure of mental health resources. This study examined differences in dropout rates among individual, couple, and family therapy clients. Data came from archived records at a marriage and family therapy clinic at a university in the United States. Results indicated that there were no significant differences in dropout rates, despite the use of multiple measures of dropout. Thus, from a mental health services perspective, administrators and clinicians can expect that dropout rates will remain fairly consistent across treatment modalities.     

Play and Art in Existential Trauma Therapy with Children and Their Parents

In existential family trauma therapy play and art can be utilized during the treatment process to help children and their parents hold, tell, master, and honor their trauma experiences and trauma pain. Clinical material is offered to illustrate this existential treatment process.     

Child Characteristics as Moderators of the Association Between Family Stress and Children's Internalizing, Externalizing, and Peer Rejection

We examined child characteristics of coping strategies, age, and gender as moderators of the association between family stressors and internalizing, externalizing, and peer rejection in a sample of 228 3rd–5th grade children. Consistent with previous research, children in the current study who experienced a higher number of family stressors were significantly less well-accepted by classmates. This association was not moderated by children's coping strategies or child age. Child gender did moderate the association between family stressors and internalizing behavior. Specifically, as the number of stressors increased, internalizing behavior decreased among girls, but not boys. The results are discussed in terms of the role of child variables in explaining the variability in children's responses to family stress.     

Family influences on dysfunctional thinking in anxious children

Anxious children are found to interpret ambiguous stories in a negative way. The current study attempted to examine the possible influence of parental fear and parental interpretation bias on the maintenance of such an interpretation bias. Children varying in level of anxiety (n=25) and their parents, filled in a questionnaire to measure their own fears, and gave their interpretations concerning nine ambiguous stories, relevant for childhood ‘interactional’ anxieties: social anxiety, separation anxiety, and generalized anxiety. Then, parents were asked to talk with their children about three of the stories. After the family discussion the children had to give their final interpretations. Results indicated that parents' self‐reported fear level and interpretation bias were associated with children's interpretation bias before the family discussion. However, no evidence was found for the idea that parents maintain or enhance the interpretation bias of their children. That is, irrespective of parental fear and parental interpretation bias, children interpreted the ambiguous stories as less negative after discussing them with their parents. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.