Showing papers in "American Journal of Family Therapy in 1992"
TL;DR: In this article, a self-report measure that assesses family differentiation is developed, which consists of 11 items and employs a "circular questioning" format to assess an individual's perception of how the various members of the family interact with one another.
Abstract: This report outlines efforts to develop a self-report measure that assesses family differentiation. Differentiation is conceptualized as a family-level variable involving interactions that enable individuals to maintain both a sense of ongoing emotional connectedness (support, involvement, personal relationship) and a sense of separateness (autonomy, uniqueness, freedom of personal expression) within the context of their family-of-origin. The scale consists of 11 items and employs a “circular questioning” format to assess an individual's perception of how the various members of the family interact with one another. Scale uses and information on the scale's reliability and validity are presented.
126 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined whether adult male and female children of alcoholic and non-alcoholic parents (n = 30/group) differentially exhibit generational boundary distortions, and found that the female adult children of alcoholics showed significant signs of having assumed excessive caretaking responsibilities in their families of origin.
Abstract: The present study examined whether adult male and female children of alcoholic and nonalcoholic parents (N=30/group) differentially exhibit generational boundary distortions. On an objective parentification measure, the female adult children of alcoholics showed significant signs of having assumed excessive caretaking responsibilities in their families-of-origin. A subsample was also administered a projective measure of boundary distortions (child-as-parent and child-as-mate). Significantly more male and female adult children of alcoholics exhibited distortions than the comparison group. Differential results for male and female adult children of alcoholics on the objective and projective indices of boundary distortions are discussed.
74 citations
TL;DR: This paper illustrates medical family therapy with couples experiencing infertility and facing the challenges of infertility treatment with strategies that enhance the patient's sense of agency and the family’s sense of communion during what tends to be a lengthy medical crisis.
Abstract: “Medical family therapy” is an approach to psychotherapy with patients and families experiencing a medical illness or disability such as infertility. It assumes that no biomedical event occurs without psychosocial repercussions, and that no psychosocial event occurs without some biological marker. Medical family therapy interweaves the biomedical and the psychosocial by utilizing a biopsychosocial/systems theory, with collaboration between medical providers and family therapists as a centerpiece of the approach. This paper illustrates medical family therapy with couples experiencing infertility and facing the challenges of infertility treatment. Strategies are described that enhance the patient's sense of agency and the family's sense of communion during what tends to be a lengthy medical crisis.
62 citations
TL;DR: In this article, nine unrealistic beliefs about selecting a mate are described and contrasted to more functional, alternative beliefs as a premarital counseling technique to help single individuals in the mate selection process.
Abstract: Nine unrealistic beliefs about selecting a mate are described and contrasted to more functional, alternative beliefs as a premarital counseling technique to help single individuals in the mate selection process. Other useful cognitive therapy techniques and bibliotherapy resources for use in premarital counseling for unrealistic beliefs are also described.
44 citations
TL;DR: A review of the literature summarizes publications from 1985 to 1991 that viewed the chemically dependent family from a structural perspective, focusing on boundaries, roles, rules, and communication patterns as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: This review of the literature summarizes publications from 1985 to 1991 that viewed the chemically dependent family from a structural perspective, focusing on boundaries, roles, rules, and communication patterns. The review will provide an overview of structural issues with implications for therapy and suggestions for further research. Seven journals were reviewed and are as follows: Family Process, Journal of Marriage and the Family, Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, American Journal of Family Therapy, Journal of Studies on Alcohol, Journal of Chemical Dependency Treatment and the Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly. Additionally, publications or papers identified by a computer search of Psychological Abstracts were included, identified using the key words “family relations” and “alcoholism.” The intent of this review is to discuss family dynamics from a structural and systemic perspective only. Therefore, psychodynamic literature on family relations is not included.
27 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the effects of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) on the marital relationship of husband and wife in both the follicular and luteal menstrual cycle phases for couples with women experiencing PMS as compared to a control group of similar, non-PMS couples were tested.
Abstract: The effects of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) on the marital relationship of husband and wife in both the follicular and luteal menstrual cycle phases for couples with women experiencing PMS as compared to a control group of similar, non-PMS couples were tested. The specific purpose of the study was to determine if couples differed in their level of marital distress from the woman's follicular to luteal cycle phases. Results indicated that the marital relationship of PMS couples was similar to non-PMS couples in the follicular cycle phase. However, the marital relationship of PMS couples deteriorated in the luteal cycle phase. Males' and females' reports of marital functioning were similar. Many female participants tested as experiencing a high rate of ongoing psychosocial distress.
26 citations
TL;DR: This article examined perceptions of family functioning, marital satisfaction, and parent-child bonding in 65 families (child, mother, father) with one or more depressed parents and 26 families with no depressed parent.
Abstract: This investigation examined perceptions of family functioning, marital satisfaction, and parent-child bonding in 65 families (child, mother, father) with one or more depressed parents and 26 families with no depressed parent. Intrainformant agreement between offspring and their parents across family functioning measures was examined for the two proband groups. Results revealed more dysfunction in family adaptability, cohesiveness, and parent-child bonding and lower levels of marital satisfaction in the depressed as compared to the nondepressed proband group. Analyses of intrainformant data revealed no significant differences in levels of agreement between informants from the two proband groups for any of the raters. There was, however, significant agreement between informants in both proband groups. Thus, differential reports of family functioning are attributable to variations in perception of functioning, rather than to different levels of internal consistency in reporting across raters in depr...
20 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors tested two hypotheses derived from the feminist critique of family therapy in a sample of AAMFT members and found that mothers would be asked to bear more of the burden of change in treatment plans written by subjects.
Abstract: This study tested two hypotheses derived from the feminist critique of family therapy in a sample of AAMFT members. The stimulus was a brief vignette of an initial therapy session with a family presenting a teen-aged child as the identified patient. It was hypothesized that family therapists would rate the mothers in the vignette as more dysfunctional than fathers. It was also hypothesized that mothers would be asked to bear more of the burden of change in treatment plans written by subjects. Neither hypothesis was supported. However, respondents did rate the concerned parent, regardless of sex, as more dysfunctional. Since this is a role often occupied by women, this finding may indicate some gender bias.
19 citations
TL;DR: The authors examines the role of interpersonal factors in the maintenance of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and suggests a need for clinicans to conceptualize PTSD within a family system context.
Abstract: This articel examines the role of interpersonal factors in the maintenance of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and suggests a need for clinicans to conceptualize PTSD within a family systems context. A case study illustrates the use of Family Adaptation Theory as a model for assessment and intervention.
15 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored the impact of elderly depression and impairment, mental caregiving, caregiver/elderly person relationship closeness, spouse burden, and caregiver burden on caregiver marital happiness and adjustment in 90 multigenerational families.
Abstract: Researchers have hypothesized that providing care to an elderly relative can negatively affect marital relationships of caregivers. However, no research has directly examined this issue. This study explored the impact of elderly depression and impairment, mental caregiving, caregiver/elderly person relationship closeness, spouse burden, and caregiver burden on caregiver marital happiness (and adjustment) in 90 multigenerational families. No significant relationship was found between these variables and caregiver marital adjustment. A causal model involving the six independent variables and caregiver marital happiness was developed and tested. Elderly depression and caregiver burden directly affected level of caregiver marital happiness. The other four independent variables affected caregiver marital happiness indirectly through caregiver burden. Implications for marriage and family therapists are discussed.
14 citations
TL;DR: In contrast to most clinical discussions, this study indicates that marital adjustment is not necessarily diminished in couples in which a spouse suffers from chronic pain syndrome.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the marital adjustment of couples in which one spouse was suffering from chronic pain syndrome. Specifically, the relationship of the patients' perceived level of chronic pain intensity, level of patients' somatizing, level of spouses' somatizing, and marital adjustment in patients with a medical diagnosis of chronic pain syndrome was investigated. The literature indicated that marital adjustment would be affected by the degree of caretaking and somatization within the relationship. Using a regression analysis, the results of this study indicated that the patients' level of somatizing and the spouses' level of somatizing, neither individually nor additively, accounted for the variance in spouse or patient marital adjustment. In contrast to most clinical discussions, this study indicates that marital adjustment is not necessarily diminished in couples in which a spouse suffers from chronic pain syndrome.
TL;DR: In this article, data-based tests that measure children's "unconscious" (whole-organism, gut-level) perceptions of each parent can circumvent many of these obstacles.
Abstract: Interviews and observations, whether conducted in professional offices or participant homes, have limitations in generating data useful in custody evaluations. Data-based tests that measure children's “unconscious” (whole-organism, gut-level) perceptions of each parent can circumvent many of these obstacles.
Abstract: The ways in which children perceive and respond to parental divorce vary by age, gender, level of parental conflict, caretaking arrangements, individual personality and resilience, availability of support networks, and, of special concern here, their level of cognitive development. Piagetian theory necessarily serves as the underpinning of the discussion, which is amplified by research. The importance of professionals being aware of the impact of cognitive maturity on children's perceptions and consequent responses is stressed in the conclusion.
TL;DR: The authors distinguishes between family psychology as a still nonexistent academic discipline and family therapy as a profession and as a method of intervention, emphasizing that family psychology is interested in the whole functionality-dysfunctionality continuum, while family therapy is mainly concerned with dysfunctionalities.
Abstract: This paper distinguishes between family psychology as a still nonexistent academic discipline and family therapy as a profession and as a method of intervention. Family psychology is interested in the whole functionality-dysfunctionality continuum, while family therapy is mainly concerned with dysfunctionalities. While family psychology focuses reductionistically on the relationship of the individual within the family, family therapy focuses holistically on the family as a whole unit or system. While family psychology stresses objective evaluation and primary and secondary preventive approaches, family therapy stresses the subjective understanding of the family and sees therapy as one type of tertiary prevention.
TL;DR: A variety of difficult issues facing chronic headache sufferers are presented, including the rationale for utilizing each therapeutic modality and the role and strategies that the therapist undertakes in each program.
Abstract: This paper describes the author's efforts at involving chronic headache sufferers in brief consultations with individual, family, and group therapy programs in an inpatient medical treatment facility. A variety of difficult issues facing chronic headache sufferers are presented, including the rationale for utilizing each therapeutic modality and the role and strategies that the therapist undertakes in each program. The author provides some case vignettes and discusses the importance of communication between the therapist, the primary physician, and the medical staff members.
TL;DR: A multisystemic theoretical approach to adolescent pregnancy, showing the role of the family therapist, is presented in this article, which incorporates school, peer, family, and community systems.
Abstract: Adolescent pregnancy has reached epidemic proportions in our society. Approximately one million pregnancies are expected among 15–19-year-olds each year. One of the most serious deficiencies in the research on adolescent pregnancy is the lack of a coherent, comprehensive theoretical base. The result has been a wide assortment of findings based on little empirical data. Most behavior change attempts have focused on developmental psychodynamics of individuals, concentrating on characteristics that place them at risk of pregnancy. The role of other systems (i.e., family, peer, community) is rarely addressed. This paper discusses the notion that behavior change in the adolescent cannot be explained by intrapersonal approaches alone, but that an examination of the interpersonal and social processes is also needed. A multisystemic theoretical approach to adolescent pregnancy, showing the role of the family therapist, is then presented. This approach incorporates school, peer, family, and community systems.
TL;DR: A preliminary report on their two-year project dedicated to the creation and development of a rehabilitation-family therapy collaborative model of assessment and treatment for patients and their families is presented.
Abstract: Although researchers and practitioners have demonstrated the utility and success of combining rehabilitation medicine and family therapy, for the most part, these projects have been isolated, one-shot demonstration projects, or well-meaning calls for future considerations. As of yet, family therapy has not been combined or integrated with rehabilitation medicine for a long-term, cost-effective, and well-integrated approach to treating patients and their families. The authors of this paper present a preliminary report on their two-year project dedicated to the creation and development of a rehabilitation-family therapy collaborative model of assessment and treatment for patients and their families. Particulars of the project's evolution are discussed and the practice model is demonstrated through the presentation of two case studies.
TL;DR: Analysis of the health risk status of 117 women and 39 men who completed the Healthier People Health Risk Appraisal Inventory, received a physical examination, and completed questionnaires on family functioning and the work environment revealed a discriminant analysis comparing resilient with vulnerable subjects.
Abstract: Intuitive reasoning linking family functioning and the work environment to the health status of employees, remains in need of confirmatory evidence. This study focuses on the health risk status of 117 women and 39 men who completed the Healthier People Health Risk Appraisal Inventory, received a physical examination, and completed questionnaires on family functioning and the work environment. A discriminant analysis comparing resilient (low health risk) with vulnerable (high health risk) subjects revealed for female employees, six family and eight work factors in predicting health risk with 86.3% accuracy; for male employees six family and four work factors predicted health risk with 87.2% accuracy. Implications for theory, intervention, and research are discussed.
TL;DR: The authors presented an analysis of Euripides' Iphigenia in Aulis from an integrative perspective that examines both the systemic relationships within the royal family and the individual psychodynamics of each member.
Abstract: This paper presents an analysis of Euripides' Iphigenia in Aulis from an integrative perspective that examines both the systemic relationships within the royal family and the individual psychodynamics of each member. The play has special relevance to the father-daughter dynamic in contemporary family-owned businesses. Two case studies illustrate modern day examples of the sacrifice of the daughter for the “good” of the family business. The second case study describes the healing of the daughter's wound through the use of Comprehensive Family Therapy, which involves the synergistic use of individual, marital, and family therapy principles and techniques. In the approach, the practitioner utilizes a theoretical model of optimal family process in the family-owned business, which is useful for assessment and goal-setting
TL;DR: There are two ways in which the issues pertinent to the final dissolution of a marriage can be determined: the traditional adversarial process or the divorce mediation process as discussed by the authors, and the effect of each process on the pre and post-divorce family.
Abstract: There are two ways in which the issues pertinent to the final dissolution of a marriage can be determined: the traditional adversarial process or the divorce mediation process. This paper discusses each of these processes, contrasts the effect of each process on the pre and postdivorce family, and explains why a family and marital attorney with a successful law practice steeped in the traditional adversarial process voluntarily chose to terminate that practice to dedicate herself to family mediation.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compared the amount of resistance that was engendered between interventions that use resistance and those that decrease resistance and found that interventions that were designed to use resistance as well as defusing conflict both had statistically higher resistance ratios than the rest of the interventions.
Abstract: Client resistance is one of the focal points in most approaches to marital and family therapy. Many approaches conceptualize resistance as something to be reduced for therapy to be effective; however, the structural and strategic therapies are unique because they also conceptualize change as resulting from interventions that use resistance. The present study compared the amount of resistance that was engendered between interventions that use resistance and those that decrease resistance. The interventions that were designed to use resistance as well as defusing conflict both had statistically higher resistance ratios than the rest of the interventions.
TL;DR: The authors explored the emotional and personality types of married pairs in which the wife had sustained a single mastectomy for Stage I/II breast cancer and found that the scatter of scores among personality types limits conclusions.
Abstract: This study explored the emotional and personality types of married pairs in which the wife had sustained single mastectomy for Stage I/II breast cancer. The scatter of scores among personality types limits conclusions. A weak trend is for husbands to fall into one of three personality types and for wives to fall into one of two types. Inspection of data for these types indicates characteristics which potentially interfere with marital interactions and, for wives, with relations with medical care givers. These characteristics include regarding illness as a personal weakness, a lack of personal dependability, the need to control others, and a tendency to avoid confronting problems. Results are discussed as they may reflect the effects of illness on personality. The need to adopt a reductionistic position in regard to further research on physical illness and marital systems is also discussed.
TL;DR: In this paper, the role of self-esteem maintenance in marital systems described as "devaluing-closed" and "accepting-open" is described, where negative distortions or misattributions of spousal behavior are considered as having value in maintaining individual selfesteem.
Abstract: The pursuit of self-esteem is considered a core motive in human life. The role of self-esteem maintenance in marital systems described as “devaluing-closed” and “accepting-open” is described. Negative distortions or misattributions of spousal behavior are considered as having value in maintaining individual self-esteem in a “devaluing-closed” marital system. Relevant empirical research and a clinical example of attempts to maintain self-esteem by attributing badness to spouse is presented. Several possible therapy interventions in “devaluing-closed” systems are also discussed.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe the passive-aggressive personality and provide an Adlerian formulation of the PAP in couples functioning, pointing out the similarities of this formulation to DSM-III-R, cognitive therapy, and transactional analysis.
Abstract: This paper describes the passive-aggressive personality and provides an Adlerian formulation of the PAP in couples functioning. It points out the similarities of this formulation to DSM-III-R, cognitive therapy, and transactional analysis. A specific treatment plan incorporating several types of intervention for helping such couples lead more effective marital lives is presented.
TL;DR: In this article, the university of rochester family therapy training program was described as a "continuing education and training" program for family therapy at the University of Rensselaer.
Abstract: (1992). Continuing education and training: The university of rochester family therapy training program. The American Journal of Family Therapy: Vol. 20, No. 4, pp. 361-365.
TL;DR: A description of an adolescent treatment home that has developed a strategic/systemic approach to residential care and the role of the family therapist in the residential treatment context is described.
Abstract: The systemic orientation to psychological treatment has been predominantly associated with the family therapy movement. Recently, however, practitioners have been experimenting with the use of strategic/systemic methods in a variety of settings. This paper provides a description of an adolescent treatment home that has developed a strategic/systemic approach to residential care. Four specific issues are presented which clearly demonstrate the challenge of providing effective residential treatment from a systemic perspective. Solutions to these identified issues are suggested and case examples are provided. The role of the family therapist in the residential treatment context is also described.
TL;DR: In this article, the system theory of ordinal position is used to examine the interactional differences between second-and fourthborn subjects during two problem-solving tasks, finding that second-borns made more responses coded as "assertions" and fourthborns had more responses classified as "questions".
Abstract: Systems theory of ordinal position is used to examine the interactional differences between second- and fourthborn subjects during two problem-solving tasks. Twenty unrelated dyads, each containing a second-and fourthborn, participated. Family size was controlled for by making certain all subjects were “middle children,” meaning that they had both older and younger siblings. Interpersonal interaction was recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using the Relational Coding System. Significant results showed that secondborns made more responses coded as “assertions” and fourthborns made more responses coded as “questions.” Support is given to the hypothesis that interactional differences exist among siblings. Implications are discussed for the use of the systems theory of ordinal position in the study of nonshared environments among siblings.
TL;DR: Findings from studies on longevity and health status; psychosomatic, medical, and surgical conditions; biological rhythms; medication side effects; and nutritional factors that may be clinically useful in the practice of marital therapy are reviewed.
Abstract: Biological correlates have been shown to affect marital functioning. Reviewed are findings from studies on longevity and health status; psychosomatic, medical, and surgical conditions; biological rhythms; medication side effects; and nutritional factors that may be clinically useful in the practice of marital therapy.