Multifamily Psychoeducation Groups Research Articles

Factors influencing service utilization and mood symptom severity in children with mood disorders: Effects of multifamily psychoeducation groups (MFPGs).

This study investigated the impact of psychoeducation on service utilization and mood symptom severity in children with mood disorders. Parents' knowledge of mood disorders, beliefs about treatment, and perceptions of children's need for treatment were hypothesized to mediate the relationship between psychoeducation and service utilization and between psychoeducation and mood symptom severity. Linear mixed effects modeling and joint significance test for mediation were used in secondary data analyses of the multifamily psychoeducation group (MFPG) study, a randomized controlled trial of 165 children ages 8 to 12 years with mood disorders. A majority of those sampled were male (73%) and White, non-Hispanic (90%), and the median range of family income was $40,000-$59,000. Participation in MFPG significantly improved quality of services utilized, mediated by parents' beliefs about treatment. Participation in MFPG also significantly improved severity of child's mood symptoms, mediated by quality of services utilized. MFPG appears to be a psychoeducational intervention that helps parents to become better consumers of the mental health system who access higher quality services. Children's symptom severity decreases as a result.

Psykoedukative flerfamiliegrupper for personer med ulik psykoseproblematikk

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the efficiency of a two-year psychoeducational multifamily group (PEMFG). The patients were hospitalised, suffering from different psychoses and participated...

Virtualitŕ sana e potenzialitŕ nascoste nei percorsi del gruppo multifamiliare in Comunitŕ

- In this paper, after a brief report of the record of their psychological work with families, authors explore the differences between the psycho educational multi family group (GMF) and the psychoanalytic oriented one and reflect upon the possibility of rephrasing the intervention according to the health psychology's principles. They propose a method which represents the results of a work that began in 1994 initially at the Mental Health Centre (Mental Health Department of ASL ROMA B) and later carried on within the Therapeutic Community, where it is still going on. Working in a Therapeutic Community is very peculiar, in fact the nearness and the share of the spaces between the staff and the guests are the main reasons why the authors bring into the multi family group their daily observations. They aim at rising, sharing and empowering the healthy dimensions of their patients, strengths that their parents ignore and are not able to see because they are blinded by distress, affliction, anger and by psychopathological symptoms. The try consists in reflecting on health, on skills, abilities and not only on negativity, conflicts, primitive and violent emotions, disability, impotence and illness. In this way, the multi family community group is not only a capable container of anguish but plays the role of connecting and expanding those strengths so hidden, underestimated and neglected for a long time that can become the main resources for pathways to recovery.

A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Private-Sector Inpatient-Initiated Psychoeducation Program for Schizophrenia

A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Private-Sector Inpatient-Initiated Psychoeducation Program for Schizophrenia

Early outcomes of a pilot psychoeducation group intervention for children of a parent with a psychiatric illness.

This study reports early findings of a still-developing Youth Education and Support (YES) pilot intervention of multifamily group psychoeducation for youth with a parent with a psychiatric illness. Hypotheses predicted YES participants would increase pre-to-post: 1) Knowledge of psychiatric illness and recovery, and 2) Coping. A purposive sample of 17 youth, ages 10-16, participated in six lively, activity-focused, two-hour sessions within four groups facilitated by the PI and professionals employed within two public mental health agencies. Data revealed a significant increase in pre-to-post youth-reported knowledge (p= less than .001) and no significant change in overall coping. At post-intervention, youth reported significantly increased use of the coping skills of avoiding problems and relaxing, as indicated within these coping subscales. Study limitations merit interpretation caution. They are useful for future research, including development and testing of youth psychoeducation programs with longer interventions, more emphases on coping, parent-inclusion, and larger samples using randomized, experimental designs. Suggestions for research, practice, and policy are provided.

Psychoeducational multi‐family group treatment with adolescents at high risk for developing psychosis

In this study, we investigate the feasibility and acceptability of a 9-month psychoeducational multi-family group (PMFG) intervention for adolescents who are at ultra-high-risk (UHR) for developing psychosis. The treatment programme was adapted from those previously shown to be effective in patients with established psychotic illness, but emphasizes content relevant to adolescence and to a pre-onset phase of illness. Participants report that psychoeducational presentations are highly useful, they attend the PMFG group sessions regularly and report feeling comfortable in meetings and benefiting from them, and adolescents demonstrate improvement in symptoms and functional outcome. This study was not a randomized controlled trial and multiple interventions were introduced simultaneously; thus, changes in outcome cannot be attributed to the PMFG intervention per se. Nonetheless, these results establish the acceptability of PMFG to adolescents and families, and encourage further research into the potential positive impact of PMFG with this at-risk population.

Evidence Based Treatments for Bipolar Disorder in Children and Adolescents

Limited research has been devoted to developing and testing psychosocial treatments for bipolar disorder (BPD) in children and adolescents, a chronic and impairing mental illness that has received increased attention in recent years. Existing treatments are intended as adjuncts to medication, and share a family-based psy- choeducation approach. Components of four treatments are discussed: family-focused treatment (FFT), the RAINBOW Program, multi-family psychoeducation groups (MFPG), and individual family psychoeducation (IFP). Evidence supporting each approach is detailed. Selected components of MFPG are described. A flowchart provides suggestions for sequencing interventions to maximize effectiveness. To illustrate the use of evidence-based treatment for children with BPD, a case example is provided.

Innovations: Psychoeducation: Multifamily Group Treatment in a Program for Patients With First-Episode Psychosis: Experiences From the TIPS Project

Innovations: Psychoeducation: Multifamily Group Treatment in a Program for Patients With First-Episode Psychosis: Experiences From the TIPS Project

Innovations: Psychoeducation: Multifamily Group Treatment in a Program for Patients With First-Episode Psychosis: Experiences From the TIPS Project

Psychoeducational multifamily group treatment based on the McFarlane model was implemented for adult patients experiencing a first episode of psychosis and for the families of 301 patients. Patients were participants in a research project in Norway and Denmark. Of 301 patients 246 were invited to participate and 147 agreed. Patients' reluctance to participate increased with age. Most had to wait between six and 12 months until a sufficient number was gathered to start a group. Treatment was well received by patients and families. Care should be taken to prevent a long delay before group commencement at this stressful period in the lives of patients and families.

Medications prescribed for children with mood disorders: Effects of a family-based psychoeducation program.

Few controlled trials have examined psychotropic medications in children with mood disorders. Multiple medications are often prescribed for these children, who frequently suffer from several comorbid conditions. However, this polypharmacy has been infrequently studied and may lead to adverse drug-drug interactions. Multi-Family Psychoeducation Groups (MFPGs) are an 8-session, manual-driven treatment for children with mood disorders, designed as an adjunct to current medications and psychotherapy. In part, MFPG teaches parents and children to be better consumers of mental health care, including medications. This study examined the effect of MFPG on medications taken by 165 children, ages 8-11, with mood disorders. The authors hypothesized that MFPG would not affect the mean number of medications taken but that the variance in number of medications would decrease from pre- to posttreatment (i.e., the number of medications prescribed for any given child should become more closely distributed around the sample mean). Approximately 70% of participants were diagnosed with bipolar spectrum disorders, and 30% were diagnosed with depressive spectrum disorders. Most had both comorbid behavioral (97%) and anxiety (69%) disorders. Information regarding medications was gathered 4 times: at baseline, 6, 12, and 18 months. Approximately half (n=78) of the participants were randomized into immediate treatment, and half (n=87) were randomized into a 1-year wait-list condition. All were encouraged to continue treatment as usual throughout the study. As hypothesized, no significant pre- to posttreatment differences were found between groups for the mean number of current medications, but variance declined significantly from pre- to posttreatment. Implications and future research goals are discussed.

School-Based Groups for Parents of Children with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders: Pilot Results

Research on services for families of children with emotional and behavioral disorders has identified family psychoeducation as a promising modality for service delivery. The current paper reports the results of pilot testing two multi-family psychoeducation groups in a school setting. Parents of 15 children receiving school services for emotional and behavioral disorders participated in two psychoeducation groups. Families completed surveys pre- and post-intervention on family-level and child-level outcomes. Among outcome variables, attention-related problems demonstrated significant improvement and a substantial effect size. Other outcomes were positive, with effect sizes generally in the moderate range. Despite the small sample size and limited measurements, these results offer further support for the promise of psychoeducation for parents of children with emotional and behavioral disorders.

Psychoeducational treatment for school-aged children with bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder (BPD) has received increasing attention from public and professional sources. Although pharmacologic treatments are considered the sine qua non in the treatment of youth with BPD, psychosocial interventions are critical to assist the child and family cope with symptoms that carry with them significant morbidity and mortality. Treatments developed to date are few in number; all are psychoeducationally based, using cognitive-behavioral and family systems interventions within a biopsychosocial framework. This paper reviews possible mediators of outcome, including caregiver concordance, children's social skills, hopelessness, and family stress. The author has developed two family-based psychoeducational interventions for the treatment of youth with BPD: multifamily psychoeducation groups (MFPG) and individual family psychoeducation (IFP). These treatments are both described and the results from a previously published randomized clinical trial (RCT) of MFPG are summarized. Then, new findings from an RCT of IFP are presented, along with preliminary pilot data from an expanded version of IFP. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research.

Schizophrenia Should be Renamed to Help Educate Patients and the Public

A new name for schizophrenia, reflecting a biopsychosocial conceptualization, may have utility in educating patients and the public. If readily translatable, it would be of great value in transcultural psychiatry. It may be clinically beneficial to psychoeducation in evidence-based treatment modalities such as medication management, multifamily group psycho-education and cognitive therapy. Neuro-Emotional Integration Disorder (NEID) is proposed as the biopsychosocial candidate term to replace schizophrenia. The following subtypes are proposed: defensive type replacing paranoid, motoric type replacing catatonic, Brief Neuro-Emotional-Integration Breakdown (B-NEIB) replacing brief psychotic episode, NEID-Time Limited replacing schizophreniform disorder. Schizoaffective disorder might be termed NEID-Bipolar type. Anti-psychotic medication would be termed NEI-Enhancing medication. By emphasizing the neuropsychiatric basis of this 'highly treatable brain disorder' through its labeling, stigma may ultimately be reduced. Even if the term NEID is not ultimately adopted, the principles outlined here should be helpful in choosing a replacement term for 'schizophrenia'.

MULTI‐FAMILY PSYCHOEDUCATION GROUPS IN THE TREATMENT OF CHILDREN WITH MOOD DISORDERS

This study examined the impact of adjunctive multi-family psychoeducation groups (MFPG) on mood-disordered children aged 8 to 11 and their families. Participants were 35 children and 47 parents from families randomly assigned to either immediate MFPG plus treatment as usual (n = 18) or a 6-month wait-list condition plus treatment as usual (n = 17). At the 6 month follow up, immediate treatment families reported: Increased parental knowledge about childhood mood symptoms; increased positive family interactions as reported by the parent; increased perceptions of parental support as reported by children; and increased utilization of appropriate services by families. Expected impact on decreasing negative family interactions was not found. Results are largely consistent with hypothesized findings and support the need to further investigate the adjunctive role of psychoeducation in the treatment of childhood mood disorders.

Multifamily psychoeducation groups (MFPG) for families of children with bipolar disorder

Multi-family psychoeducation groups (MFPG) have been developed and tested for adults, but not for children with bipolar disorder (BPD). We present data from a pilot study of our manual-driven MFPG treatment for families of children with mood disorders and address two questions: Do families of children with BPD and families of children with major depressive disorder/dysthymic disorder (MDD/DD): 1) differ at treatment entry?; 2) benefit equally from intervention? A total of 35 children (n=16, BPD; n=19, MDD/DD) aged 8-11 years and their parents were randomized into immediate MFPG plus treatment as usual (TAU) or wait-list + TAU and assessed periodically. At baseline, there was a trend toward parents in BPD families being more knowledgeable about mood symptoms than parents in MDD/DD families (p < 0.04). Additionally at baseline, children with BPD evidenced greater mood severity historically and a trend toward more hospitalizations, day treatment, outpatient treatment, medication trials, and placement in special education classrooms than children with MDD/DD. Immediately following and 4 months post-treatment, both BPD and MDD/DD families described having gained knowledge, skills, support, and positive attitudes during treatment. MDD/DD families increased their knowledge of symptoms to the same level as BPD families. While BPD families enter treatment with more impaired children and more extensive treatment histories, both BPD and MDD/DD families benefit from intervention. The clinical issues concerning combining families of children with bipolar and depressive spectrum illnesses in groups are discussed. Clinical impressions suggest that such combinations are clinically feasible and potentially beneficial.

Family Psychoeducation: Giving Caregivers What They Want and Need

Childhood onset mood disorders can lead to stress and parenting burden as well as problems within family, peer, and school settings. We highlight the research related to caretaker burden among parents of children with mood disorders, then describe a multifamily psychoeducation group (MFPG) intervention designed to alleviate some of the problems that contribute to caretaker burden. Parental reports of intervention impact are described and differences between immediate and intermediate outcomes are discussed.

Multi-Family Psychoeducation Groups For Childhood Mood Disorders: A Program Description And Preliminary Efficacy Data

Existing literature suggests family-based psychoeducation effectively reduces relapse rates, thereby lowering costs and improving quality of life for adults with schizophrenia and major mood disorders. However, similar programs for families with impaired children are lacking. This paper reports on efforts to develop, implement, and test the efficacy of a six-session, manual-driven multi-family psy-choeducation group therapy program for families of children or adolescents with a mood disorder. In this paper we provide a clinical description of the program along with pilot data, which suggest consumer satisfaction as well as improvement in family climate following participation in this multifamily psychoeducation program.