Dysfunctional Family Environment Research Articles

Family Role in the Reintegration of Juvenile Delinquents: A Post Release Analysis in Dir Valley Pakistan

This research focuses on the reintegration of released juvenile offenders within Dir Valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Situated within a unique socio-cultural and legal context, this region face distinct challenges that impact the lives of juvenile offenders. This study aims to uncover the role of family dynamics in shaping successful reintegration and inform tailored interventions. Using a qualitative phenomenological approach, the study collected data through semi structured interviews with twenty released juvenile offenders and twenty family members. Thematic analysis revealed intricate patterns in family involvement that significantly influence the reintegration process. The family emerged as both a source of support and challenge for these juveniles. Challenges included absent key family members, strained relationships, and dysfunctional family environments, which hinderd reintegration efforts. Economic challenges, emotional support, and family criminal history were also found relevant factors in reintegration. The study’s conclusions offer policy implications, including family centered policies, tailored interventions, and holistic rehabilitation.

Contextual Predictors of Sexual Abuse among Adolescent Girls, Kerala – A School Based Survey

Child sexual abuse is not only a frequent and arduous legal problem but also major public health challenges that is rampant both in the developed and developing countries. The likelihood that someone will sexually offend a child, often occurs in the context of a dysfunctional family environment, parental psychopathology, compromising parental alcohol and drug use, witnessing of domestic violence, divorce of biological parents, parental incarceration, parental suicide and low family support. The overall objective of the current study was to identify the predictors of sexual abuse among adolescent girls in Kerala. A Cross-Sectional design was amended for the study using a multistage sampling technique among 1087 adolescent girls belonging to eight and ninth standard. A predesigned, pretested questionnaire prepared by the investigator was administered during the school-based survey to estimate the prevalence and explore the predictors of sexual abuse among adolescent girls. The tool was validated by subject experts and content validity index was 0.9. The prevalence rate was 17.5% and a statistically significant association was found in all the predictor variables like family constellation, paternal psychopathology, maternal support, paternal substance abuse and parental social relation with the occurrence of sexual abuse. On further bivariate analysis with logistic regression only Maternal support (B value: 912; p value <0.002**; OR (Beta): 2.490; CI: 1.408-4.406) and Paternal substance abuse (B value 1.242; p value <0.001**; OR (Beta): 3.461; CI: 2.145-5.583) were found to be the true, strong predictors of sexual abuse among adolescent girls, Kerala. The results conclude that when a number of comorbid risk variables are assessed simultaneously, paternal substance abuse and maternal support were the contextual predictors of childhood sexual abuse.

Stress Coping in Adolescents Who Have Disharmonious Families in Sidoarjo

This qualitative phenomenological study investigates stress coping mechanisms among adolescents from disharmonious families, addressing their responses to challenging and unforeseen family situations. Through semi-structured interviews with two subjects in Sidoarjo, the study identifies distinct coping aspects: problem-focused strategies encompassing planning, competitive activity suppression, behavioral release, coping restrictions, instrumental support utilization, and emotional-focused strategies involving emotional support utilization, emotional release focus, mental liberation, positive reinterpretation and growth, self-blame, acceptance, rejection, humor, substance use, and religious turn. The research reveals that emotional intelligence, stress levels, and religious maturity serve as influential factors shaping stress coping behaviors. These findings offer valuable insights into the complex dynamics of adolescents navigating difficulties within dysfunctional family environments, emphasizing the role of psychological factors and religious engagement in their coping mechanisms. Highlights: Diverse Coping Strategies: This study unveils a range of coping strategies employed by adolescents in dysfunctional families, including problem-focused and emotional-focused approaches. Influential Factors: The research highlights the significant impact of emotional intelligence, stress levels, and religious maturity on adolescents' ability to cope with stress within disharmonious family settings. Qualitative Insight: Using a phenomenological approach, the study offers qualitative insights into the nuanced experiences and coping mechanisms of adolescents facing challenging situations in dysfunctional family environments. Keywords: Adolescent stress coping, Dysfunctional families, Emotional intelligence, Phenomenological approach, Religious maturity

Adverse childhood experiences and pre-pregnancy body mass index in the HUNT study: A population-based cohort study.

Investigate the association between adverse childhood experiences and pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) in a population-based cohort in Trøndelag county, Norway. We linked data from the third (2006-2008) or fourth (2017-2019) survey of the Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT) and the Medical Birth Registry of Norway for 6679 women. Multiple logistic regression models were used to examine the association between adverse childhood experiences and pre-pregnancy BMI. Adverse childhood experiences were self-reported in adulthood and included perceiving childhood as difficult, parental divorce, parental death, dysfunctional family environment, bad childhood memories and lack of support from a trusted adult. Pre-pregnancy BMI was derived from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway or BMI measurement from the HUNT survey conducted within 2 years prior to the woman's pregnancy. Perceiving childhood as difficult was associated with higher odds of pre-pregnancy underweight (OR 1.78, 95%CI 0.99-3.22) and obesity (OR 1.58, 95%CI 1.14-2.2). A difficult childhood was positively associated with obesity with an adjusted OR of 1.19, 95%CI 0.79-1.81 (class I obesity), 2.32, 95%CI 1.35-4.01 (class II obesity) and 4.62, 95%CI 2.0-10.65 (class III obesity). Parental divorce was positively associated obesity (OR 1.34, 95%CI 1.10-1.63). Bad childhood memories were associated with both overweight (OR 1.34, 95%CI 1.01-1.79) and obesity (OR 1.63, 95%CI 1.13-2.34). Parental death was not associated with pre-pregnancy BMI. Childhood adversities were associated with pre-pregnancy BMI. Our results suggest that the positive associations between childhood adversities and pre-pregnancy obesity increased with increasing obesity level.

The impact of dysfunctional families on the formation of personality of juvenile offenders

Juvenile delinquency is one of the most difficult problems of modern society. These persons, being socially active, perceive both positive and negative features of not only peers, but also older persons. Cases when from an early age a person is in a dysfunctional family environment, because the socio-negative factors affecting him are magnified. Every crime committed by a person under the age of 18 has many causes from a criminological point of view. However, a key role is given to the family, since the negative impact on the character and behavior is carried out from the earliest childhood. Among the negative factors that directly affect the commission of a crime by a minor, we can primarily include the general family atmosphere, if it has a destructive effect on the psyche of the child. This is manifested in the illegal behavior of adults, lack of spiritual family values, unhealthy psychological climate in the family. Family problems create a number of conditions that contribute to the formation of the personality of the juvenile offender. These include: living of a minor in unsanitary conditions; lack of sufficient living space for education and life; insufficient family income, which negatively affects the place of a minor in the society of peers; examples of negative behavior of adult family members (offenses, alcoholism, drug addiction); incorrect relationship between parents and child; the use of violence against minors as an educational measure. Therefore, timely and accurate diagnosis of micro-social causes that form the personality of a juvenile offender and the development of comprehensive preventive measures are required.

Associations between parental alcohol problems in childhood and adversities during childhood and later adulthood: a cross-sectional study of 28047 adults from the general population

BackgroundAdverse childhood experiences (ACE) are related to adverse physical and mental health outcomes. However, few larger studies based on a general population sample with age groups ranging from young adults to elderly have investigated whether parental alcohol problems increase the risk of offspring subjective reports of ACE both during childhood and current adult adversities. The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between parental alcohol problems and adversities during childhood and later in adulthood.MethodsThe 28,047 respondents were adults (> 18 years old) from the general population who participated in the Norwegian Counties Public Health Survey. The study had a cross-sectional design and included respondents’ evaluations of childhood experiences and current adult adversities. The short version of the Children of Alcoholics Screening Test (CAST-6, cut-off ≥3) measured parental alcohol problems. Multivariable logistic regression was adjusted for gender, age, and education.ResultsGrowing up with parental alcohol problems strongly increased the risk of experiencing a dysfunctional family environment during childhood (odds ratio [OR] 6.84; 95% confidence interval [CI] 6.36–7.36), perceiving childhood as difficult (OR 5.01; 95% CI 4.58–5.49), and reporting a lack of support from a trusted adult (OR 3.07; 95% CI 2.86–3.29). Parental alcohol problems were associated with a modestly increased risk of harmful alcohol use (OR 1.38; 95% CI 1.29–1.48), but the association with struggling with bad memories was strong (OR 4.56; 95% CI 4.17–4.98).ConclusionsParental alcohol problems increased the risk of offspring experiencing adversities during both childhood and adulthood. Providing supportive services to these children and their families and addressing this issue as part of treatment is important to prevent alcohol related harm.

Associations between Family-Based Stress and Dietary Inflammatory Potential among Families with Preschool-Aged Children.

Chronic stress is known to influence dietary choices, and stressed families often report poorer diet quality; however, little is known about how family-based stress is linked with dietary patterns that promote inflammation. This study investigated associations between family-based stress and the inflammatory potential of the diet among preschool-aged children and their parents. Parents (n = 212 mothers, n = 146 fathers) and children (n = 130 girls, n = 123 boys; aged 18 months to 5 years) from 241 families participating in the Guelph Family Health Study were included in the analyses. Parents reported levels of parenting distress, depressive symptoms, household chaos, and family functioning. The inflammatory potential of parents’ and children’s diets was quantified using the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII®), adjusted for total energy intake (i.e., the E-DIITM). E-DII scores were regressed onto family stress using generalized estimating equations to account for shared variance among family clusters. Compared to those in homes with low chaos, parents in chaotic homes had significantly more proinflammatory dietary profiles (β = 0.973; 95% CI: 0.321, 1.624, p = 0.003). Similarly, compared to those in well-functioning families, parents in dysfunctional families had significantly more proinflammatory dietary profiles (β = 0.967; 95% CI: 0.173, 1.761, p = 0.02). No significant associations were found between parents’ E-DII scores and parenting distress or depressive symptoms, nor were any associations found for children’s E-DII scores. Results were not found to differ between males and females. Parents in chaotic or dysfunctional family environments may be at increased risk of chronic disease due to proinflammatory dietary profiles. Children’s dietary inflammatory profiles were not directly associated with family stress; however, indirect connections through family food-related behaviours may exist. Future research should prioritize elucidating these mechanisms.

Family as a source of risk and resilience among adults with a history of childhood adversity

This paper discusses sources of risk and resilience within the family, among adults with a history of childhood adversity in India. While there is some indication that a dysfunctional family environment could pose significant risks, due to the common tendency of viewing the family as an unimpeachable system, general discussions criticizing the family environment are not very popular. This work is part of a larger investigation (N = 1040) on resilience and childhood adversity. These participants were screened for the presence of adversity in childhood and display of resilience in adulthood. 50 individuals (age 17–46) who met the criteria were interviewed and the interviews were analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) thematic analysis guidelines. While 34% of the participants stated that protective factors such as supportive parent-child interactions and cohesion within the family contributed to resilience, 38% reported that family environment was the source of childhood abuse. Distancing oneself from the family of origin was reported as a major coping strategy that facilitated growth and recovery. This research acknowledges a wide range of risk factors within the family that leads to childhood abuse. In a culture that values family relationships immensely, the prospect that this sacred institution can cause harm to an individual is commonly dismissed, to ensure that the social foundation remains intact. More social and legal awareness and a better response system needs to be created to address gaps in research and practice.

Identifying Loss of Control Eating within Childhood Obesity: The Importance of Family Environment and Child Psychological Distress.

This study aims to examine the differences in family environment, psychological distress, and disordered eating symptomatology between children classified by weight status with or without loss of control (LOC) eating and to test a model of the role of emotional regulation of LOC eating based on a dysfunctional family environment. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 239 families. The assessment measured family expressed emotion, family adaptability and cohesion, child levels of depression and anxiety, body esteem, and disordered eating attitudes. The assessment was carried out in primary care centers and primary schools. Child body mass index (BMI) was associated with higher expressed emotion, psychological distress, and disordered eating symptomatology. Children with obesity and LOC presented higher BMI, poorer body esteem, and more disordered eating attitudes than children without LOC. Children with overweight/obesity, both with or without LOC, exhibited higher psychological distress and emotional overinvolvement than normal-weight children. A partial mediation of depression or anxiety and disordered eating attitudes between expressed emotion and LOC was found. Findings support that children with overweight/obesity show more family and psychological distress. Body esteem issues and disordered eating attitudes could alert the presence of LOC in children with obesity. The function of LOC might be to cope with psychological distress that may appear in a dysfunctional family environment.

Child Hostility toward a Parent with a History of Depression and Family Functioning.

Family dysfunction has been associated with both child externalizing problems, including hostility, and parent depression or depressive symptoms. Research investigating child hostility directed toward a parent with a history of depression is absent, yet it may be associated with especially high levels of family dysfunction. The current study aimed to assess (1) the relation between observed child hostility, measured by the Iowa Family Interaction Rating Scale, toward such a parent and child-reported family dysfunction, using the Family Assessment Device, and (2) whether current parent depressive symptoms, measured by the Beck Depression Inventory-II, moderated this association. We hypothesized that child hostility would negatively relate to family functioning, even after controlling for parent depressive symptoms, and that parent depressive symptoms would moderate this association in that high levels of such symptoms would strengthen the negative relation between child hostility and family functioning. To address these hypotheses, hierarchical regression and moderation analyses were conducted in SPSS. Results indicated that higher levels of child hostility related to a more dysfunctional family environment. Furthermore, although speculative as the interaction of child hostility toward a parent and parent depressive symptoms only approached conventional levels of significance, low levels of both constructs may protect against family dysfunction. Findings from this study may inform new methods of family intervention and prevention, as well as ways of identifying families most at risk for dysfunction.

Early-Life Interpersonal and Affective Risk Factors for Pathological Gaming.

Internet gaming is among the most popular entertainment options, worldwide; however, a considerable proportion of gamers show symptoms of pathological gaming. Internet gaming disorder (IGD) has been proposed to describe a behavioral addiction, which shares many similarities, both physical and psychological, with substance use disorder. Environmental factors, such as interpersonal and relationship dynamics during childhood and adolescence, have been suggested to modulate the onset and trajectories of IGD. However, studies exploring the contributions of dysfunctional family environments to the development of IGD remain limited. This minireview aims to offer an overview of the current knowledge regarding the impacts of early-life interpersonal and relationship dynamics on the development of IGD and to provide a snapshot of the current state of the literature in this field. Specifically, it underlines the modulatory role of early-life relational factors such as a) family function, b) parent-child relationships, c) childhood maltreatment, and d) bullying and cyberbullying on the development of IGD. Consistent with this evidence, therapeutic interventions that aim to “restructure” the emotional ties and familiar dynamics that are known to be associated with dysfunctional behaviors and feelings, and likely promote pathological gaming, are recognized as the most successful clinical therapeutic approaches for IGD.

Perception of Expressed Emotion Among Persons with Mental Illness

Expressed emotions refer to the affective attitudes and behaviors of relatives toward a family member. It has both positive and negative elements. It can be seen as an indicator of ‘emotional temperature’ in the home. The current study aims to explore persons with mental illness (PwMI) perception of expressed emotions in their relative and understand the family environment and factors related to it. An exploratory qualitative research study was conducted using focus group discussion among 18 PwMI who receive psychiatric rehabilitation services in a tertiary level psychiatric hospital in southern part of India. The collected qualitative data used thematic analysis with Atlas.ti software. Five major themes were identified from the study results. They are: Concept of illness, Negative elements of EE, and Positive elements of EE, Factors influencing the nature of EE and Future apprehensions. The present study explored patient’s perception of expressed emotions. Patients hailing from non-therapeutic family emotional climate may benefit from approaches aimed at reducing their vulnerability to a dysfunctional family environment.

A dysfunctional family environment and a high body fat percentage negatively affect telomere length in Mexican boys aged 8-10years.

The aim of this study was to determine whether a direct relationship existed between absolute telomere length (aTL), obesity and familial functionality in a group of Mexican children. We recruited 134 children (52% boys) aged 8-10years during regular primary care check-ups in 2016 and evaluated physical activity (PA), feeding practices, anthropometrics, body fat percentage (BF%) and family dysfunction. Optimised quantitative PCR determined aTL from genomic deoxyribonucleic acid isolated from saliva samples. Boys with a healthy BF% showed a higher aTL than their high BF% counterparts (P<.01). aTL was higher in children who performed PA than their sedentary counterparts (P<.05). Alarmingly, 90% of the children belonged to dysfunctional families and a dysfunctional family was correlated with a higher BF% (r=-.57). Negative correlations between the BF% and aTL (r=-.1765) and the BF% and time dedicated to PA (r=-.031) were observed in boys. On the contrary, we found a positive correlation between the aTL and weekly PA (r=.1938). These correlations were not observed in girls. Telomere shortening was associated with a high BF% in boys, but not girls. Dysfunctional families were also a key factor. School PA programmes should be mandatory.

Associations Between Child Maltreatment, Dysfunctional Family Environment, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Children’s Bullying Perpetration in a National Representative Sample in Taiwan

This study aims to examine the associations between child maltreatment (physical and psychological neglect and abuse), dysfunctional family environment (inter-parental violence, parental substance abuse), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and children’s bullying perpetration, and the potential mediating effect of PTSD in the associations. We collected data using a self-report questionnaire with a nation-wide, proportionately stratified random sample of 6233 fourth-grade students in Taiwan. We performed hierarchical regression analysis and mediation analysis to test the research hypotheses. The results indicate that parental substance abuse, physical and psychological neglect, physical and psychological abuse, witness of inter-parental violence, and PTSD are positively associated with child bullying (p < .001), after controlling for gender. These variables, referred to as adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), explain 23% of the variance, and the results are statistically significant. PTSD fully mediated the relationship between psychological neglect and child bullying and partially mediated the associations between other ACE variables and child bullying. Children with higher levels of bullying perpetration reported more family violence and neglect at home and parental substance abuse problems. These ACEs also indirectly affect child bullying through PTSD. Among school-age children in Taiwan, children who had these adverse experiences were more likely to have PTSD symptoms, which in turn can lead to externalizing problems that increase the risk of exhibiting bullying perpetration toward others. In addition to behavioral modeling and corrections as strategies to combat bullying in schools, prevention and intervention efforts should address and screen for ACEs and tackle psychological problems.

Anxiety in the presence of food in schoolchildren of Baja California Sur

Introduction: many obese children will be obese adults unless they adopt and maintain healthy eating and physical activity patterns. Anxiety has been described in overweight and obese children with dysfunctional family environments, with impact on their quality of life; risk for some eating disorder was also found. Objective: to identify anxiety in the presence of food in schoolchildren in Baja California Sur. Material and methods: a cross-sectional study in 406 schoolchildren, from 8 to 13 years of age, was performed: nutritional status calculation, measurements of attitudes towards food (cut-off point > 20), socioeconomic level, type of family, and intake of junk food were collected. Descriptive statistics and association measures were performed using Student's t-test and the chi-squared test. Parents provided their informed consent, and children provided their assent. Results: a total of 406 schoolchildren were evaluated, with ages of 10.4 ± 1.2. Of these, 53 % had healthy weight, 44 % had overweight or obesity, and 3 % were underweight. Functional families predominated at 67 %. A middle socioeconomic level was found in 64 %. In all, 94 % consumed junk food. There is an association between anxiety in the presence of food and socioeconomic status, and anxiety in the presence of food and nutritional status (p = 0.01). In overweight and obese schoolchildren no association was found between study variables. There is anxiety in the presence of food in 40 % of the sample due to external factors, in 5 % because of tiredness or boredom, in 11 % because of negative feelings. Conclusion: there is an association between anxiety, socioeconomic status, and nutritional status. Anxiety in the presence of food occurred in 54.7 % of cases.

Istota i prerogatywy sądowego postepowania wykonawczego w sprawach rodzinnych i opiekuńczych

The purpose of the family and guardianship legal accion is focused on reintegrating the dysfunctional family environment. This dysfunction is interpreted as a failure in forming a family which responds adequately to the challenges and tasks as stipulated by the Family and Guardianship Code. Generally speaking, every executory legal action in such matters as the parental rights, the civil incapacitation or the forced alcohol addiction treatment is aimed in providing aid to the subjects of the proceeedings and the relief for their families. The Family and Guardianship Court decisions have as their objective the elimination of the dysfunctions that might have appeared in the life of an individual and his or her family.

The Lived Experiences of Adult Crystal Methamphetamine Users: A Qualitative Study

Crystal methamphetamine, also known as “ice” or “crystal meth,” is a potent psychostimulant drug that can cause irreversible physical and psychological damage to users (Halkitis, 2009). This qualitative research investigated the lived experiences of users, the background of their addiction, and the effects of using this drug. Six men between 31 and 39 years of age participated in the research. Three main themes emerged from the data: context, aftermath, and recovery. Respondents identified an inability to cope with dysfunctional family environments and negative social influences as the main causes of their crystal methamphetamine addiction, which resulted in significant adverse effects on their physical and mental health, relationships, occupation, and behaviour. They expressed a need for integrated and family focussed services, as well as a decriminalised approach towards crystal methamphetamine usage to help individuals and their families in the recovery journey.

Educational Resilience Among Asian Children in Challenging Family Environment

Given that most of the resilient literature tends to focus on Western contexts, and the western-based research may have limited applications for policy and preventions in Asia, this issue attempts to examine educational resilience in Asian or Eastern societies to complement the wealth of research in the western-based research. In Asia, a large number of children live in challenging family environments such as poverty, increasing labor migration, increased divorced and associated factors. Investigating the pathways to educational resilience, particularly focusing on the protective factors that can buffer the negative effects of low socio-economic status or dysfunctional family environments or migrant family environments on Asian children’s educational outcomes has significant implications. In this research, we found that, in Asia, education is a key vehicle for individual’s social mobility, and factors from the school, home, and community may increase students’ chances of success by buffering the effect of some of the stressors from family on academic and personal success. This issue adds an empirical support from the East to Ungar’s (2012) social ecology framing of resilience. This paper also provides evidence that suggests efforts by educators to promote resilience should be tailored to the unique risks to which a sub-population of children and youth is exposed.

FACTORS AFFECTING EDUCATIONAL AND VOCATIONAL PLANS OF FOSTER CARE CHARGES

The objective of a foster care is to ensure that a child who is deprived of the adequate care from the biological family lives in the adequate environment. People who deal with Foster care responsibilities are bound to ensure a proper care to a child as well as prepare this child to future life, including vocational one. Thus, essential are educational and vocational plans of charges since they affect the process of gaining the autonomy by a youngster. The three actions: firstly, analysing the literature, secondly, doing researches in bialski poviat, thirdly, conducting a narrative questionnaire with an educator who simultaneously holds the responsibility for teaching charges autonomy, these three are supposed to identify factors that affect educational and vocational plans that foster care charges have. Factors that play significant role are as follows: a kind of foster care (family-run children houses versus educational care centres), the influence exerted by a subject and people who are supposed to support the process of gaining autonomy (foster care provider, tutor, pedagogue, educator responsible for teaching autonomy), personal characteristics (for example low self-esteem, lack of willingness and motivation to learn, lack of skills) and environmental factors (impact of dysfunctional family environment, peer environment, local environment).

Gene-Environment Interactions In Risk For Disease

BackgroundGene-environment interactions are thought to play a key role in the risk and onset of several psychiatric disorders including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression. Studies have shown association between these disorders and previous exposure to certain stimuli, such as prenatal infection, substance use, childhood trauma, and a dysfunctional family environment. MethodsWe will evaluate the latest findings on the combined effects of susceptibility genes and environmental stress on development of mental illness, with a particular focus on vulnerable youth and impact of stressors early in life. ResultsWe will also discuss how monitoring and controlling stress may help to prevent exacerbation of symptoms and possibly disease onset. ConclusionsFinally, the clinical implications and future outlook of the field will be discussed in light of current limitations.