Implications For Family Interventions Research Articles

Crisis Child Care: Implications for Family Interventions

BACKGROUND: Crisis child care programs provide caregiving respite on an emergency basis and counseling and referral services to stressed parents who are at risk for maltreating their children. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to describe the sociodemographic and stress characteristics of rural parents who accessed crisis child care services and to determine if the utilization of these services would reduce the reported incidence of child maltreatment. STUDY DESIGN: Parents completed a basic sociodemographic questionnaire and the Parenting Stress Inventory (PSI). Child maltreatment reporting statistics were used to determine if there was a significant decrease in the reported incidence of child maltreatment. RESULTS: The demographic data painted a portrait of economic disadvantage. The data indicated that parents perceived external stressors, those outside of the parent-child relationship, as the major contributor to their current life crisis. Comparison of child maltreatment rates between rural communities that did and did not receive crisis child care preventive interventions indicated that the programs were effective in preventing child maltreatment. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study provide support for the ecological model of child maltreatment which posits that availability of social support for families who experience high stress or crisis can decrease the incidence of child maltreatment.

“Why My Child?”: Parental Attributions for Children's Special Needs1

Although research exists on how attributions for traumatic life events are related to adjustment, little has focused on parents’ attributions for their children's special needs. Parents were interviewed twice over 1 year about their attributions for their children's special needs. We used parents’ open‐ended responses during the initial interview to construct a ratings survey for the second interview. Parents of children with Down's syndrome made attributions to genetic fluke, age, and fate/God's will; parents of autistic children made attributions to heredity and environment; parents of developmentally delayed children made attributions to medical problems and stress during pregnancy. Self‐blame attributions and attributions to the environment were related to worse adjustment, whereas attributions to fate/God's will were related to better adjustment. Implications for family interventions and physicians are discussed.

Family Stress and Adjustment as Perceived by Parents of Children with Autism or Down Syndrome: Implications for Intervention

ABSTRACT This study examined stress and adjustment in parents of three groups of families: those with an autistic child, those with a Down syndrome child, and those with only developmentally normal children. A total of 54 families participated, with 18 representing each group. Parents of autistic children generally reported more family stress and adjustment problems than parents of children with Down Syndrome who, in turn, reported more stress and adjustment problems than parents of developmentally normal children. Although parents of disabled children reported more stress associated with caring for their child, they generally showed resilience in adjusting to the presence of a severely disabled family member. Implications for family intervention are discussed.

Chronic pain and depression: is social support relevant?

This study examined the relationship between social support and depression for 70 patients with chronic back pain. We also explored whether the family environments of these patients related to depression and whether the patients' depression predicted outcome subsequent to involvement in a functional restoration program. The patients completed a battery of psychological questionnaires to assess depression, social support, and family environment. Outcome of a rehabilitation program was measured in terms of physical gains, vocational gains, and progress made toward program goals. Analysis indicated that the 25 depressed and 23 nondepressed patients differed as to perceived social support and quality of family environment; however, no association was found between depression and rehabilitation outcome. Implications for family interventions are discussed.

Problems of Dual‐Career Black Couples: Identification and Implications for Family Interventions

Problems of Dual‐Career Black Couples: Identification and Implications for Family Interventions

Fair vs. Equal Role Relations in Dual-Career and Dual-Earner Families: Implications for Family Interventions

Seventy dual-career and 42 dual-earner couples participated in a study designed to assess the influence of perception of equity, role relations and family type on marital and individual adjustment. Equity was found to be a significant factor affecting adjustment for both husbands and wives, while role relations was a significant factor only for wives. Dual-career and dualearner families did not differ in likelihood to report equity or degree of overload. Husbands and wives did not differ in likelihood to report equity, but wives reported a significantly greater degree of overload. Results are discussed in terms of clinical intervention with these families.