Family Homelessness: State or Trait?

Compares conceptualizations of homelessness as a temporary state through which people pass or a permanent trait that emanates from individual characteristics. Evidence from a longitudinal study of 564 homeless families in New York City and additional secondary sources supports the view that for families, homelessness is a temporary state that is resolved by the provision of subsidized housing. Even for single individuals with severe mental disturbances, housing is a key factor in ending homelessness, although here there is more evidence that social services also contribute. Policy implications are that governments should take a more active role in reducing homelessness by providing access to subsidized housing.     

Family Therapy with English Caribbean Immigrant Families in the United States: Issues of Emigration, Immigration, Culture, and Race

Many English Caribbean families in the United States are referred for therapy because of difficulties related to their adaptation to a new country/culture. This paper focuses on the intra-familial, and the family-larger system transitional/adjustment difficulties experienced by these families and presents issues specific to therapy with them. Effective therapy with English Caribbean families and their subsystems requires that therapists communicate to these families an understanding of their concerns, be knowledgeable about heterogeneity in cultural values and traditions, and create a therapeutic atmosphere in which families can feel valued and respected. Recommendations for therapists are presented and discussed.     

Stress and coping in mothers caring for a child with severe learning difficulties: A test of Lazarus' transactional model of coping

The literature on psychological stress among women consistently points to the adverse effects of child rearing on mothers, particularly those caring for children with physical or mental handicaps. Early studies of the effects on family functioning of caring for a child with severe learning difficulties adopted a pathological approach in which it was assumed that psychological distress was inevitable among family members, particularly mothers. Recent research has emphasised that many families cope with and adapt to the stress they experience, and seeks to discover how they do so. The paper reports on a study of 166 mothers caring for a child with severe learning difficulties. The aim of the study was to investigate both the factors associated with maternal stress and those which might mediate or buffer the effects of stress. The study used the Folkman and Lazarus' (1979) transactional model of stress. Stress is the condition that results when person/environment transactions lead the individual to perceive a discrepancy between the demands of a situation and his/her resources or ability to cope with those demands. The nature and type of coping generated by a person will be determined by the coping resources in the person's environment. The model identifies five categories of coping resource: utilitarian resources, health/morale, social networks, general and specific beliefs, and problem solving skills. In our study, the five coping resources were represented by the mother's social class and appraisal of her financial worries, physical health, social support, acceptance of and adjustment to the child, and assessment of coping skills. Stress was measured by the Malaise Inventory (Rutter, 1970). Four of the five coping resources were found to be significant contributors in a hierarchical regression analysis of stress scores, contributing additional variance beyond that of behavioural and other child characteristics. Altogether, 55% of the variance in stress scores was explained.     

THE EFFECTS OF OBSERVER PRESENCE ON THE ACTIVITY LEVEL OF FAMILIES1

In the present study, the possibility that the act of observing behavior may result in changes in those behaviors was investigated. An investigation of reactivity is important to the validity of research findings because the result obtained when observers are present may not generalize to situations when observers are absent. The effects of observer presence were assessed with five families, each consisting of a mother and two children, in a laboratory setting designed to resemble a typical family living room, containing a table, couch, chairs, toys, books, and a bathroom and kitchen area. The families were each exposed to a sequence of four 30-minute conditions during which an observer was alternatively physically present or absent from the room. From behind an unobtrusive one-way mirror, family members' locations were recorded every 15 seconds on gridded floor-plan diagrams drawn to the scale of the room. After all data were collected, lines were drawn for each family member connecting the numbers sequentially and a map-reading device was then used to measure the distance covered during each minute of observation. The presence of observers markedly reduced the activity level of all families, with the average reduction approximating 50%. However, more extended observations in natural family settings may reveal that families habituate to observer presence in a relatively short period of time. If so, the solution to the reactivity problem would involve extending the observation sessions. However, if families do not habituate, new forms of data collection might be required to guarantee the validity and generalizability of data collected by obtrusive observers.     

Visioning Family-Centered Care in Genetics: What Parents and Providers Have to Say

The purpose of this multisite exploratory research study involving focus groups of consumers and service providers was to generate stakeholder input for a statewide strategic plan for genetic services in the southwestern region of the United States. This article describes the qualitative methods by which the data were collected and summarizes major themes in participants’ perceptions about genetic services. It also describes processes related to obtaining genetic services and characteristics of an ideal service delivery system for children affected by genetic disorders and the families that care for them. Implications for practice and policy are also reviewed.     

The Context of Caretaking in Rural Areas: Family Factors Influencing the Level of Functioning of Seriously Mentally Ill Patients Living at Home

After the deinstitutionalization of psychiatric hospitals, many families became primary caregivers for seriously mentally ill individuals. Mental health services became further reduced with the advent of managed care and reductions in health and mental health care. The dearth of community-care options often results in psychiatric patients being quickly stabilized in hospital units and discharged to live with their families. The lack of community resources is particularly acute in rural areas. Given these realities the current study sought to determine if family caretaking variables are related to patient outcomes. Family factors including the perception of burden, expressed emotion (EE), and primary caregivers’ social support were tested in a model of caretaking that examines the relationship between these factors and patients’ symptom expression and social and occupational functioning. The sample includes 49 predominantly African American families living in a rural area and with a chronically ill family member who had been previously diagnosed with a psychotic disorder. Primary caregivers and patients were interviewed using adapted measures of burden, EE, and social support. Patients were administered a revised version of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. Results suggest less perceived burden, increased caregiver support and, to a lesser extent, EE explain approximately one-fifth of the variance in patient functioning. These results support previous research demonstrating the importance of family factors for seriously mentally ill patient outcomes. Results are discussed in terms of implications for assisting families in the current era of diminished resources.     

Chinese childbearing decision-making in mainland China in the post-one-child-policy era

In 2016, China enacted its two-child policy, further lifted to a three-child policy in 2021, in response to low birth rates and imbalanced sex ratios resulting from the almost 40-year one-child policy. Despite this, China's birthrate is at a historic low as fewer parents are having children. Now more than ever, inductive explorations are needed to understand what motivates Chinese parents to have first and second children in the post-one-child policy era, particularly explorations that situate individual decision-making within the larger social context. Individual and relational choices occur in larger sociopolitical contexts. Understanding these “personal” actions involves considering how micro and macro processes inform each other. In this study, we elicited qualitative responses from Chinese mothers (N = 117) with two children in early childhood (firstborn ≤8 years old) from Liao Ning province. Most mothers were well educated, employed, and married to children's fathers. Using inductive thematic analysis procedures, we coded qualitative responses about the factors that motivated mothers to have first and second children. Our data revealed that (a) mothers expressed different reasons for having firstborns compared to secondborns, and (b) decision-making occurred against a backdrop of interacting micro-level and macro-level influences (e.g., cultural norms, national policy changes). In particular, mothers described the decision to have secondborns as more deliberative than with firstborns, considering long-term benefits siblinghood and shared demands of elderly caregiving. If efforts to stimulate the national birthrate are likely to succeed, policymakers should consider micro-level as well as macro-level factors that shape mothers' childbearing decision-making.     

Randomized controlled trial of a prenatal focused coparenting consultation for unmarried black fathers and mothers: One-year infant and family outcomes

In the infant mental health field, scant conceptual attention has been given to coparenting and family adaptations of non-white family systems, with no evidence-based, community-informed coparenting interventions responsive to unmarried Black mothers’ and fathers’ life circumstances. This study examined 1-year post-partum child and family outcomes of a novel, modest dosage (six sessions) prenatal focused coparenting consultation (FCC) using randomized controlled trial methodology. One-hundred-thirty-eight expectant families (one or both parents identified as Black/African American) were randomized to an intervention (N = 70) or treatment-as-usual (TAU; control) condition (N = 68). TAU families received navigational support in accessing existing community services for pregnant families. Intervention families received TAU plus 6 dyadic FCC sessions led by a Black male-female Community Mentor team. When infants were three and 12 months old, parents reported on coparenting, father engagement, interparental aggression, depressive symptoms, and infant social and emotional adjustment. Intent-to-treat analyses focusing on 12-month post-partum data indicated significant intervention effects on coparenting, interparental psychological aggression, and infants’ emotional adjustment. Improvement was also seen in depression and father engagement, with gains for both groups. Results suggest FCC delivered by same-race Community Mentors to unmarried Black coparents transitioning to parenthood supports infant and family adaptation during the first year of life.     

Not so far from home: How family characteristics predict child care quality

This study examined the relationship between family background and child care quality for 636 children enrolled in 120 day care centres in three states in the US with widely varying regulations for child care centre quality. Family characteristics accounted for a substantial portion of the variance in day care quality. Mother' attitudes towards child-rearing and parent' education were the most potent family-level predictors of quality. State child care policy variables were also strong predictors of quality. Findings also suggest that the influence of environment on children's development cannot be partitioned simply into family and out-of-home child care effects; rather, the child care environment is an extension of the family environment, with parents determining characteristics of both.