Researchers and policymakers have become interested in the use of relationship education programs as a means to remedy the effects of family instability. Research suggests that relationship education produces positive outcomes with some groups. However, whether populations who are socially and economically more at-risk of relationship problems and relationship dissolution are gaining from relationship education remains an open question. Ecocultural Theory is used to conceptualize the research question and to illustrate the importance of studying diverse populations. The purpose of this study is to assess relationship education outcomes for select at-risk groups. The sample for this study (n=1,907) comes from participants of a relationship education program in a Southern state in the United States. Ordinary Least Squares regression was used to analyze interactions between race, gender, and income in predicting change in individual empowerment, relationship quality, and relationship commitment following participation in a relationship education program. Results did not indicate any significant difference between subgroups of race, gender, and income. Clinical implications for relationship educators working with diverse and at-risk populations and future directions for research are discussed.

A fundamental purpose of this study was to provide marriage preparation providers with counselors perceptions of potential marital problem areas. A structured questionnaire was sent to LDS counselors, defined as members of the Association of Mormon Counselors and Psychotherapists (AMCAP). These LDS counselors rated 29 problem areas that LDS couples, (members members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), might encounter in a first marriage or remarriage. Results (N=231) were analyzed in an attempt to determine the most frequent, most damaging and most difficult problems to deal with in LDS first marriages and remarriages.Findings suggest that "communication", "sex", "unrealistic expectations of marriage or spouse", "money management" and "power struggles" were all identified as most frequent and most damaging problems/complaints first time LDS marriages might encounter. Problems with "previous marriage", "serious individual problems", "children", "power struggles", "unrealistic expectations of marriage or spouse", "communication" and "money management/finances" were identified as most frequent and damaging to LDS remarital couples.For both LDS first marriages and remarriages, problems with "power struggles" were identified as frequent and damaging, however, this topic is not commonly addressed in marriage preparation programs. These findings suggest that issues of power should be included as an area of focus in marriage preparation programs.

Married couples aged 55-98 were surveyed regarding their perceptions of family-of-origin distress, their affective communication and problem solving communication skills, and their emotional intimacy. Two 2-way ANOVAs were performed with husbands' (model 1) and wives' (model 2) emotional intimacy scores as dependent measures and family-of-origin distress scores as the independent measures. Then both models were re-analyzed with affective communication and problem solving communication entered as co-variates. Results suggested that for both husbands and wives, emotional intimacy was affected by family-of-origin distress. Additionally, intimacy was affected by the distress in their spouses' family-of-origin in both models. Post-hoc analyses suggested that as long as at least one member of the couple reports low family-of-origin distress, intimacy does not suffer for either spouse. Taking communication variables into account rendered the effects of family-of-origin distress non-significant in both models. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for psychoanalytic, systemic, and developmental theory.

This study examined the influence of parental divorce on the attitudes of young adult members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) toward marriage and family life. A sample of 180 students from three universities completed self-report questionnaires measuring various attitudes toward aspects of marriage and family life. The results indicated that parental divorce alone was not a significant predictor (p.≤.05) of young adults' attitudes toward marriage and family life. The one difference found was that young adults' coming from divorced families-of-origin were less attracted to the idea of commitment and sacrifice involved in a marriage than those coming from intact families-of-origin. Limitations, implications for future research and clinical implications were also discussed.

Prior research has established that a portion of depressive symptoms in adolescents is predicted by parenting behaviors. The purpose of this study was to identify the moderating role of hope on the relationship between two parenting variables (warmth and psychological control) and adolescent depressive symptoms. Participants included 459 adolescents ages 13 to 14 years and their families from waves 3 and 4 of the Flourishing Families Project. Path analysis was utilized to answer the proposed hypotheses and research questions. Multiple group analysis was utilized to determine if results were different for boys and girls. Significant results indicated that in low-hope girls, depressive symptoms increased as maternal warmth increased but decreased as paternal warmth increased. Mother’s psychological control had a minimal effect on child’s depressive symptoms in high-hope children. Father’s psychological control predicted an increase in depressive symptoms in high-hope children. Findings suggest that father’s warmth is particularly important for low-hope girls, maternal warmth may have inadvertent negative effects among low-hope girls, and paternal psychological control is of notable concern for high-hope children. These parenting behaviors as well as hope and depressive symptoms should be assessed for and addressed in clinical practice with parents and adolescent children.

Previous research has demonstrated that cooperation and support between parents, called the parental alliance, is an important predictor of parent and child well-being. Consequently, it is important to understand what factors promote the formation of a strong parental alliance. Because of research on the impact of attachment security on individuals' abilities to depend and rely on others and to appropriately manage conflict, partner attachment is a potential predictor of the parental alliance, with insecure attachment negatively weakening the parental alliance. This study analyzed data from 321 couples to examine the relationship between partner attachment and the parental alliance. Using the Actor Partner Interdependence Model, results indicated that attachment was significantly associated with parental alliance scores for both husbands and wives; specifically, higher anxious attachment for wives and for husbands significantly predicted decreased parental cooperation and increased triangulation and conflict. Likewise, avoidant attachment for wives and for husbands was significantly predictive of decreased cooperation and increased triangulation and conflict. These findings point to the utility of marital therapy focusing on increasing attachment as a way to strengthen parental attachment.

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In the last decade, many first-episode psychosis programs have been developed in the United States and elsewhere. First-episode psychosis typically affects adolescents and young adults. These programs, therefore, emphasize early intervention to alter long-term consequences and address specific needs of the affected population. Open Dialogue, which has shown promise in Finnish studies, is one such program that is gaining popularity outside of Finland. The program emphasizes active involvement of family and collaborative decision making. The three studies in this dissertation elucidate how Open Dialogue can contribute to current treatment options and describe considerations in adaptation and implementation of Open Dialogue in the United States. The Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services (PARiHS) framework describing the role of evidence, context, and facilitation in successful implementation provides the theoretical basis for these studies. Study One is a systematic scoping review of the literature describing first-episode psychosis programs. Study Two is a qualitative study of stakeholder experiences in a pilot study of the Open Dialogue model in the United States. It examines perceived usefulness, contextual support, and factors facilitating participation. Study Three examines organizational characteristics that supported implementation at the agency where the program was piloted in the United States. The scoping review of first-episode psychosis programs indicates a need for further research regarding their long-term benefits, optimal duration and intensity, and critical components. Family intervention appears to be beneficial, suggesting that the Open Dialogue approach to family support might be a valuable addition warranting further investigation. Stakeholders involved in the Open Dialogue pilot identified several unique and beneficial features of the approach, focusing particularly on the value of family involvement, transparency, respectfulness, and collaborative nature of the approach. The compatibility of the Open Dialogue model with agency values, strong leadership support and vision, alongside organizational capacity to deliver the services emerge as critical factors in successful implementation of the model in the pilot study. As per the PARiHS framework, contextual factors, particularly funding of this model of services in the United States healthcare environment are key determinants to address for the future implementation of Open Dialogue in the United States. / 2019-12-31T00:00:00Z

The purpose of this study was to investigate preschool and child care directors' perceptions about the potential for introducing family therapy-related services into a child care or preschool environment, and in particular, to explore their opinions about the extent to which children are affected by parental stress, to assess directors' awareness of the field of marriage and family therapy, to determine the extent of their current collaboration with family therapists or other mental health providers, and to gather their thoughts concerning the possibility of successfully bridging the professions of child care and family therapy in the future. Seventy-two of the 197 directors surveyed responded to the mailed questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used for the quantitative data, while the qualitative data was evaluated using the method of content analysis. Quantitative results revealed: 1) Most of the participants believed that children are at least somewhat affected by their parents' stress, 2) Over half of the participants were familiar with marriage and family therapists as trained professionals who focus on systemic treatment of the family as a whole unit, 3) Less than half of the participants currently offer on-site mental health services, 4) While it seems that participants routinely refer parents to and consult with mental health providers, they are least likely to consult with or refer to marriage and family therapists, and 5) Almost all of the participants identified at least one obstacle to providing family therapy-related services in their child care centers or preschools. Limitations and implications for clinicians and future research are also discussed. / Master of Science

Paternal depression is an understudied topic and research connecting it to maternal gatekeeping is still in its infancy. Research has found that the marriage relationship can be associated with both depression and maternal gatekeeping. This study focuses on how these three areas are related. A subsample of the CREATE project was used including 216 couples, or 432 married parents. Two separate SEM mediational models were tested to examine father depression as a predictor of maternal gatekeeping, with marital instability as the mediator in one model and partner connectedness as the mediator in the other model. Both parent reports were used for maternal gatekeeping, marital instability, and partner connectedness. According to results, no direct association between father depression and maternal gatekeeping was found. Marital instability did not act as an effective mediator between father depression and maternal gatekeeping. However, mother reports of partner connectedness did have significant indirect effects on father depression and maternal gatekeeping. Implications suggest that therapists and researchers should examine father depression from a more wholistic family perspective. Future research should include longitudinal analyses to better understand the nature of the relationship between father depression and maternal gatekeeping.