Previous researchers have indicated that alcohol use disorder affects relationships between family members. Exposure to parental alcohol use disorder disrupts important relationship skill-building development between the children of the family, and may impact conflict resolution in later life relationships. The sibling relationship provides a learning opportunity on how to manage conflict, yet little is known about the effects of parental alcohol use disorder on the sibling-to-sibling relationship from the perspective of adult siblings. The purpose of this descriptive phenomenological enquiry was to explore the lived experiences of adult siblings who experienced parental alcohol use disorder in their family of origin. In-depth, face-to-face interviews were conducted with a purposeful sample of 8 sibling pairs who grew up in the same isolated, remote, and densely populated community, each of whom experienced parental alcohol use disorder. Initial participants were recruited during open 12 Step meetings with subsequent siblings recruited using a snowballing technique. Sixteen audio taped interviews were manually transcribed and then coded for themes using a typology classification system based on key terms, word repetitions, and metaphors. The alcoholic family system was found to be traumatic and abusive, resulting in maladaptive coping behaviors, especially in the area of conflict. Findings also highlighted the strength of the sibling bond in the face of adversity and the opportunity for resilience under challenging circumstances. This study contributes to social change by informing the design of targeted interventions for siblings, specifically, by suggesting a change from the current focus on the identified client to a more holistic approach to treatment.

Sexual risk behaviors among U.S. adolescents is a major public health concern. Adolescents are contracting sexually transmitted diseases at alarming rates. The purpose of this research was to identify factors related to parent-child interactions that influence adolescent sexual behaviors. A combination of attachment theory and family systems theory was used to help explain how adolescent sexual choices (age of sexual debut, use of birth control, use of condoms, multiple sex partners in a 12-month period) are affected by the perceived quality of parent-child interactions (maternal/parental closeness, monitoring, communication, and involvement). Archival data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics National Longitudinal Survey of Child and Young Adult cohort 1979 (NLSY79) was used for this research. A sample of 11,504 adolescents aged 12 to 19 years, and their biological mothers who participated in the longitudinal survey, was drawn. Nonparametric analyses revealed significant differences in adolescent perceptions of maternal and paternal closeness and maternal perceptions of maternal and paternal closeness. Logistic regression analyses revealed that adolescents' perceptions of parental engagement (maternal and paternal closeness, monitoring, communication, and involvement) significantly affected their sexual choices (age of sexual debut, use of birth control, condoms, and multiple partners). The results of this study can be used to initiate positive social change by informing parents, program developers, and researchers. Developing strategies to guide parents and adolescents to develop positive perceptions of the interactions, closing the gap between adolescent and parental perceptions of interactions, will help reduce adolescent risky sexual behaviors, thereby benefiting the individuals, families, and the community.

This study examined the perceptions of Council for Accreditation of Counseling & Related Educational Programs (CACREP) master's-level school counseling program coordinators and faculty members about the importance and relevance of family systems theory and techniques coursework in their program curriculum. Family-systems theory coursework is lacking in two-thirds of those accredited programs, although mandated by their major accrediting body, CACREP. CACREP issued curriculum standards and guidelines to ensure proper training of school-counseling students and the American School Counselor Association--the foundation that expands the image and influence of professional school counselors through advocacy, leadership, collaboration, and systemic change--has issued guidelines for the training and practice of school counselors in family systems. The ASCA goal is to ensure school-counseling professionals are adequately and appropriately trained to work with children and adolescents in the school setting. Participants were 45 chairs, coordinators, or faculty members of master's-level school counseling programs from across the United States who consented to participate. Five factors influenced perceptions of the relevancy of family-systems theory for school-counseling-program respondents: the status of a family-systems course in the school-counseling program (stand-alone or not stand-alone), respondent's role as a coordinator or faculty member, single or double accreditation, formal training in family-systems theory, and attitude about family-systems theory as an enhancement to professional development. Results from other analyses included internal influences, external influences, past and future influences, demographic distinctions, limitations, suggestions for future research, and implications for the field.

<p><font face="Times New Roman"> <p align="left">The aims of this study were therefore to describe the personal experiences of a methamphetamine addict as well as the effects of this addiction on the family&rsquo / s communication and problem-solving abilities.</p> </font></p>

In this dissertation, I seek to better understand the sensemaking process among surviving family members after a tragic loss of a teenage or young adult child. Using social constructionism (Gergen, 1991) as a theoretical framework, I focused on how meanings of loss are constructed through the use of language and other symbols. I specifically looked at the role of family stories and rituals in making sense of the sudden loss as well as how a survivor's role as a sibling or parent may impact the grieving process. The participants in my research were all members of families in which a child had died unexpectedly in adolescence or young adulthood. I combined multiple in-depth interviews with parents and siblings in each family with episodes of participant-observation. Then I used inductive thematic analysis to examine the patterns of ritualizing in each family, and a process of narrative analysis focusing on the accounts of three siblings and two parents in order to explore how survivors structure their experience in stories. I found that rituals and artifacts play a significant role in assisting family members in coping with bereavement. Even though previous family rituals and traditions are disrupted by the death, families find ways of creating and enacting new rituals. The invention and adoption of new rituals seems to serve an important role in "successful" grieving as a way of sustaining bonds with lost loved ones. I also found that survivors, in sharing with me the stories of sudden loss, worked to construct storylines that tie events together by showing how they are meaningfully, and sometimes causally, connected. In addition, the stories showed how survivors "find benefit" by reframing painful events as positive and growthful. Throughout my analysis of rituals and stories, I looked for similarities or differences between the siblings' and parents' experiences. One insight to emerge from the study was that bereavement is a very individual event, and the resulting differences in expressions and degrees of grief among different family members can put a strain on the family system. Another key theme that emerged was the protective stance taken by surviving siblings towards their parents after the death of a brother or sister, which sometimes involved minimizing the display of their own emotions. In this sense, the siblings seem to have experienced what the literature has called "prohibited mourning," By contrast. parental grief seems to be more socially acknowledged. This study holds potential benefits for those scholars interested in bereavement as a meaning-making process as well as the effects on the family system. Therapists who treat families might find the insights these participants contribute to be helpful in creating ways to communicate with their clients.

Research in the area of self-injurious behaviors and the family context is still emerging. The majority of research available is quantitative in nature. The limited qualitative research available in this area has been conducted outside of the United States. A collective case study was conducted with four parents with an adolescent that had been admitted to an inpatient psychiatric residential facility with a presenting problem of self-injurious behavior. The purpose of this study was to gain an in-depth, qualitative understanding of the parent perspective and comprehension of adolescent self-injurious behavior including the parents' ideas on how the parent-child relationship or other family relationships may have influenced the self-injury. With-in case and cross-case analyses were utilized from the collected data including field notes, interview scripts, member checking sessions, and medical record reviews. Themes identified using an inductive content analysis were discussed based on each primary interview question. Clinical implications included the importance of providing parental education, encouraging parent participation in therapy, treating self-injurious behavior from a trauma-informed perspective, and others were considered. Limitations of the present study, directions for the use of the present research, as well as implications for future research were reported.

No description available.

<p><font face="Times New Roman"> <p align="left">The aims of this study were therefore to describe the personal experiences of a methamphetamine addict as well as the effects of this addiction on the family&rsquo / s communication and problem-solving abilities.</p> </font></p>

This study described the play experiences of daughters who were caregivers to their mothers with multiple sclerosis (MS). The experiences of four Canadian-Caucasian women aged 19-26 were captured using phenomenological methods of individual and focus group interviews, field notes, and artefacts. Three themes with supporting sub-themes emerged: (a) being a good daughter, (b) blurred relationship boundaries, and (c) encumbered play. Caregiving for their mothers was part of being a good daughter. Excessive caring duties changed their roles from being daughters to caregivers and contributed to feelings of maturity over peers. Their mother-daughter relationship boundaries were blurred and the participants wished to spend more time as daughters. Play, although sometimes limited, was highly valued and provided an escape from caregiving. Using family systems theory to interpret the findings, it was concluded that support for families living with MS would release children from caregiving duties so rounded childhood play could be experienced.

abstract: Family plays an important yet understudied role in the development of psychopathology during childhood, particularly for children at developmental risk. Indeed, much of the research on families has actually concentrated more on risk processes in individual family members or within-family subsystems. In general, important and complex associations have been found among family-related constructs such as marital conflict, parent-child relationships, parental depression, and parenting stress, which have in turn been found to contribute to the emergence of children's behavioral problems. Research has begun to emerge that certain family system constructs, such as cohesion, organization, and control may influence children's development, but this research has been limited by a focus on parent-reports of family functioning, rather than utilizing observational methods. With notable exceptions, there is almost no observational research examining families of children at developmental risk. This study examined the longitudinal relations among family risk and family system constructs, as well as how family systems constructs mediated the relations between family risk and child outcome. Further, the study examined how developmental risk moderated these relations. The sample followed 242 families of children with and without developmental risk across the transition-to-school period. Family risk factors were assessed at 5 years, using parental reports of symptomatology, parenting stress, and marital adjustment, and observational assessments of the parent-child relationship. Family system constructs (cohesion, warmth, conflict, organization, control) were measured at age 6 using structured observations of the entire family playing a board game. Child behavior problems and social competence were assessed at age 7. Results indicated that families of children with developmental delays did not differ from families of typically developing children on the majority of family system attributes. Cohesion and organization mediated the relations between specific family risk factors and social competence for all families. For families of typically developing children only, higher levels of control were associated with more behavior problems and less social competence. These findings underscore the importance of family-level assessment in understanding the development of psychopathology. Important family effects on children's social competence were found, although the pathways among family risk and family systems attributes are complex. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Psychology 2012