scholarly journals The Family System of Sexuality Communication: Extended Family Perceptions of Adolescent–Family Talk about Sex, with Sibling and Non-Sibling Comparison

Sexes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Jennifer M. Grossman ◽  
Nora Pearce ◽  
Amanda M. Richer
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Health ◽  
Family Communication ◽  
Family System ◽  
Extended Family ◽  
Family Members ◽  
The United States ◽  
Dyadic Relationships ◽  
Sexuality Communication ◽  
Family Perceptions ◽  
Family Based

Talk with parents and extended family about sex and relationships can support adolescents’ sexual health. However, few studies explore how parent and extended family communication with adolescents intersect. This study used thematic analysis to assess family roles in talk with teens about sex and relationships among a sample of 39 adult extended family members (such as aunts and uncles, and older siblings and cousins) in the United States. Analyses identified four themes in sexuality communication that address: why adolescents talk to extended family about sex and relationships, family engagement in these conversations, consistency of family messages, and family communication about adolescents. Findings identify variation in how family members interact with adolescents and one another regarding talk about sex and relationships. For example, some participants described family coordination of sexual messages to the teen, while others reported no family communication about this topic. Results also showed similarities and differences in how sibling and non-sibling extended family describe these processes. These findings identify the need to examine family talk about sex and relationships in the context of a larger family system, rather than only within dyadic relationships, and suggests possibilities for family-based interventions to support adolescents’ sexual health.

scholarly journals A Larger Ecology of Family Sexuality Communication: Extended Family Perspectives on Relationships, Sexual Orientation, and Positive Aspects of Sex

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 1057 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer M. Grossman ◽  
Anmol Nagar ◽  
Linda Charmaraman ◽  
Amanda M. Richer
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
Sexual Health ◽  
Sex Education ◽  
Family Relationships ◽  
Extended Family ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Content Areas ◽  
Sexuality Communication ◽  
Family Perspectives ◽  
Education Interventions

Extended family can be a resource for conversations about sex, but extended family perspectives have been largely left out of existing research. The present study investigates how extended family, such as aunts and uncles, siblings and cousins, perceive communication with teens in their families about sex. A thematic analysis was conducted with data from interviews in the U.S. with 39 extended family members, primarily siblings, who reported talk with teens in their families about sex. The analyses identified one theme focused on perspectives surrounding what is most important for teens to know about sex and relationships and seven themes focused on the content of conversations with teens about sex. The most prevalent content areas were: Healthy and Unhealthy Relationships (87%), Sexual Orientation (82%), Sexual Behavior (82%), and Protection (74%). The findings highlight extended family members’ unique roles in supporting the sexual health of teens in their families, which include providing information and support about issues other family members may not address, such as sexual orientation and the positive aspects of sex. The findings suggest the need to include extended family in sex education interventions to reflect the broader ecology of teens’ family relationships and access an underutilized resource for teens’ sexual health.

Embedding DBT Skills Training Within a Transactional-Ecological Framework to Reduce Suicidality in a Navajo Adolescent Female

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brieanne K. Kohrt ◽  
Tory M. Lincoln ◽  
Artemio D. Brambila
Keyword(s):  
Protective Factors ◽  
Dialectical Behavior Therapy ◽  
Family System ◽  
Extended Family ◽  
Psychiatric Inpatient ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mindfulness Practice ◽  
Psychiatric Evaluation ◽  
Ecological Framework

American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth have higher rates of suicidality than any other ethnic or cultural group in the United States. Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is an evidence-based treatment that has been found to reduce suicidality in adolescents, but there is little literature speaking to its efficacy with the AI/AN population. The transactional-ecological model of suicidality helps identify protective factors that can be bolstered at the individual, familial, community, and spiritual levels to reduce suicidality and suicidal contagion in AI/AN youth. The current study examines a case where DBT was culturally adapted and embedded within a transactional-ecological framework to treat a 14-year-old Navajo female with Major Depressive Disorder with psychotic features who presented to a psychiatric inpatient facility following a suicide attempt. The patient’s wish to die was motivated by her belief that her death could lead to positive changes in an extended family system plagued by historical trauma, alcoholism, suicide, and domestic violence. Ongoing assessment was conducted using the Suicide Status Form (SSF), Suicide Probability Scale (SPS), Reasons for Living Scale for Adolescents (RFL-A), and the DBT diary card. Navajo healing traditions were used in conjunction with DBT skills training and enhancement of ecological protective factors. Initial reduction in depression and suicidality was complicated by an increase in homicidal ideation. A comprehensive psychiatric evaluation was completed, and treatment was modified through medication changes, increased mindfulness practice, bolstering support systems, and engagement in a Navajo healing ceremony. Implications for clinicians treating suicidality in Navajo youth are discussed.

This Seed Will Bear No Fruit

2019 ◽  
pp. 262-283
Author(s):  
Friday A. Eboiyehi
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Family System ◽  
Extended Family ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Western World ◽  
Continuous Increase ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Developed Countries ◽  
Old People's Homes

The continuous increase in the number of older people and the gradual erosion of the extended family system which used to cater to them are alarming. While older people in much of the developed countries have embraced old people's homes as an alternative, the same cannot be said of older people in Nigeria who still believed that it is the duty of the family to accommodate them. The chapter examined the perception of older people about living in old people's home in some selected local government areas in Osun State, Nigeria. The study showed that their perception about living in old people's home was poor as many of them still held on to the belief that it was the responsibility of their family members to house them as it was done in the olden days. Although a few of the interviewees (particularly those who are exposed to what is obtained in the Western world and those with some level of education) had accepted the idea, many preferred to live with their family rather than being dumped in “an isolated environment,” where they would not have access to their family members. Pragmatic policy options aimed at addressing this emerging social problem were highlighted.

Military Families and Communication

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven R. Wilson ◽  
Leanne K. Knobloch
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Family Communication ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Military Families ◽  
Extended Family ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Service Member ◽  
Service Members ◽  
Communication Processes ◽  
The U.S

Since the terrorist attacks on U.S. soil on September 11, 2001, communication scholars have turned their attention to understanding family communication processes across the deployment cycle. Military families are composed of service members as well as their spouses/partners, children, and extended family members. In 2012, U. S. Department of Defense statistics indicate that 53% of U.S. military personnel are married and 44% have children. Although scholars from fields such as family studies, psychology, and sociology have been studying military families since World War II, family communication scholars are relative newcomers to this topic. There are several reasons why communication scholars have spent the past decade investigating how service members, spouses, and children interact with each other as well as their larger social networks. One reason is the length and scope of the post 9/11 conflicts, such that millions of families in the U.S. and abroad have been impacted by these wars. A second is that the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq represent the first time the U.S. has fought two wars simultaneously with an all-volunteer force. This has meant that the burden of service has fallen on a small percentage of the U.S. public, which sometimes has left military families feeling isolated from their civilian counterparts. Third, communication technologies have evolved in comparison to prior conflicts, such that service members often have had the opportunity to interact regularly with family via multiple channels (e.g., phone, video, email, and social networking sites as well as letters/packages) during recent deployments. A fourth reason is that deployments create a context in which families are faced with choices and potential dilemmas about communicating. From the time that deployment orders are received, throughout months of separation, and after the service member returns home, military families must decide what to talk about (or avoid talking about) openly. During deployment, family members must find ways of maintaining their relationships while coping with new stressors. After the service member returns home, families often must manage relational uncertainty while renegotiating routines. In cases where service members have difficulty readjusting to civilian life, family members must find ways of navigating dilemmas that can arise when they attempt to voice their concerns. Most military families display remarkable resilience in responding to these communicative transitions and tensions. By conducting research framed by a number of theories, family communication scholars have worked towards better understanding the experiences of military families and producing knowledge useful for those serving with military families. Although comparative work on military families in other countries is starting to emerge, most research on communication processes has focused on U.S. military families. Research grounded in the relational turbulence model, communication privacy management theory, multiple goals theories, relational dialectics, and intergroup communication theories has helped clarify how military families communicatively navigate the process of having a service member deployed.

Exploring the role of extended family members in relation to a chronic family stressor : explicating the association between support, standards, stress, and coping in the context of autism

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Alexie H. Hays
Keyword(s):  
Stress Level ◽  
Social Presence ◽  
Family Relationships ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Extended Family ◽  
Family Members ◽  
The United States ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Family Systems Theory ◽  
Equation Modeling

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] The recent growth in autism spectrum disorder diagnoses across the United States has alerted scholars to assess the support needs of families with a child on the autism spectrum. One potential large support resource that has been deemed both supportive and unsupportive is the extended family. Much remained to be explored regarding the degree to which communication, particularly in the face of a child's developmental disability, sustains or impedes (extended) family relationships. Therefore, from the perspective of the parent with a child with autism, the current investigation explored the communicative role, including the standards being met and the level of support, of three extended family members in relation to autism. This study drew upon Family Systems Theory with special emphasis on the extended family, literature related to support and relational standards, the Communication-Based Model of Coping (Maguire 2012; 2015), and utilized mixed methods, including content analysis and structural equation modeling. Survey results revealed that parents (n = 191) of a child with autism hold their extended family to certain standards, namely, they ideally want emotional/instrumental support, openness, acceptance, empathy, and positivity. Further, the types of support that parents find the most helpful include tangible, informational, esteem, emotional, appraisal, network, avoidant, child esteem, and social presence, unlike inconsiderate and unaccommodating support. Importantly, parents in this study reported that they do not have any of their standards met in full by their three chosen extended family members. Having all standards go unmet impacts their relational satisfaction, specifically with their first most significant extended family member. Further, having some standards go unmet by their second and third most significant extended family members negatively impacts parents' problem-solving abilities and stress level, but positively impacts their reappraisal ability. Together, these findings offer three contributions: (a) a better understanding of the degree to which parents with a child with autism perceive that their extended family members are meeting their standards, (b) a clear examination of how perceived and actual standards interplay with their relational dynamics, coping ability, and stress level, (c) and a thorough understanding of the ways in which communication from extended family ranges in supportiveness to a parent raising a child with autism.

Session 8: Family Roles, Communication, and Support

2020 ◽  
pp. 95-102
Author(s):  
Bryan D. Carter ◽  
William G. Kronenberger ◽  
Eric L. Scott ◽  
Christine E. Brady
Keyword(s):  
Family Communication ◽  
Family Systems ◽  
Family System ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Parenting Behaviors ◽  
Family Roles ◽  
Family Dynamic ◽  
Family Situation ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Impact

Session 8 is again focused primarily on family communication and dynamics for the purposes of identifying and addressing parenting behaviors and parent–teen dynamics that may unwittingly undermining teen confidence in becoming more independent in managing their illness and lifestyle. The clinician engages the family in a discussion of parental and teen roles within the family system and an examination of the impact of the teen’s illness on family members’ roles. Behavioral family systems concepts of “misguided support” and “strong beliefs” that family members hold, but that inadvertently may be serving to maintain a dependent or even overprotective/enmeshed family dynamic, are introduced and applied to the family situation, along with strategies for moving these dynamics in a more independence-engendering direction.

The Role of the Family in Genetic Testing: Theoretical Perspectives, Current Knowledge, and Future Directions

2005 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 627-639 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan K. Peterson
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Testing ◽  
Family Communication ◽  
Family Relationships ◽  
Family System ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
The Family ◽  
Family Based

This article addresses conceptual challenges and theoretical approaches for examining the role of the family in responding and adapting to genetic testing for inherited conditions. Using a family systems perspective, family-based constructs that are relevant to genetic testing may be organized into three domains: family communication, organization and structure of family relationships, and health-related cognitions and beliefs shared within families. Empirical findings are presented from key content areas in family-based genetics research, including family communication, how genetic testing affects family relationships, psychological responses to genetic testing in the family context, and family-based influences on health decisions. Future research should explore decision making about genetic testing or behavior change specifically within the context of the family system and should identify family-based determinants of genetic testing outcomes.

scholarly journals Fixing What’s Most Broken in the US Immigration System: A Profile of the Family Members of US Citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents Mired in Multiyear Backlogs

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 36-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald Kerwin ◽  
Robert Warren
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Family Relationship ◽  
Family Members ◽  
The United States ◽  
Executive Summary ◽  
The Public ◽  
Permanent Resident ◽  
The Us ◽  
Family Based ◽  
Us Immigration

Executive Summary The US Department of State (DOS) reports that as of November 2018, nearly 3.7 million persons had been found by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to have a close family relationship to a US citizen or lawful permanent resident (LPR) that qualified them for a visa, but were on “the waiting list in the various numerically-limited immigrant categories” ( DOS 2018 ). These backlogs in family-based “preference” (numerically capped) categories represent one of the most egregious examples of the dysfunction of the US immigration system. They consign family members of US citizens and LPRs that potentially qualify for a visa and that avail themselves of US legal procedures to years of insecurity, frustration, and (often) separation from their families. Often criticized in the public sphere for jumping the visa queue, it would be more accurate to say that this population, in large part, comprises the queue. While they wait for their visa priority date to become current, those without immigration status are subject to removal. In addition, most cannot adjust to LPR status in the United States, but must leave the country for consular processing and, when they do, face three- or 10-year bars on readmission, depending on the duration of their unlawful presence in the United States. This population will also be negatively affected by the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) proposed rule to expand the public charge ground of inadmissibility ( Kerwin, Warren, and Nicholson 2018 ). In addition, persons languishing in backlogs enjoy few prospects in the short term for executive or legislative relief, given political gridlock over immigration reform and the Trump administration’s support for reduced family-based immigration.

scholarly journals Family Communication Patterns and Challenges of Huntington’s Disease Risk, the Decision to Pursue Presymptomatic Testing, and Test Results

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 265-274
Author(s):  
Kelsey Stuttgen ◽  
Juli Bollinger ◽  
Allison McCague ◽  
Rachel Dvoskin ◽  
Debra Mathews
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Distress ◽  
Family Communication ◽  
Genetic Risk ◽  
Extended Family ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Significant Others ◽  
Communication Patterns ◽  
Family Communication Patterns ◽  
Test Results ◽  
The Relationship

Background: Communicating genetic information within families can provide individuals with the emotional support, alert family members to their own potential risk, and strengthen relationships. However, these communications have the potential to cause emotional distress to individuals and family members if family members are informed of a risk they do not wish to know or discuss. Communication about the decision to pursue testing and test results are especially sensitive in Huntington’s disease (HD), where individuals often feel strongly about either knowing or not knowing their genetic status. Objective: To examine family communication patterns of genetic risk, the decision to pursue testing, and test results not just years, but decades after testing for HD, and examine how family communication of genetic risk information affects family relationships over the long-term. Methods: In this qualitative study, 39 semi-structured interviews were conducted with probands who went through genetic testing for HD. Clinic notes from these individuals were also analyzed. Results: Family communication patterns varied based on relation (e.g., significant others, child, extended family) and were influenced by a variety of factors. Sharing with spouses and children had a positive influence on the relationship in most cases. Sharing with extended family members had varying effects on relationships. Negative effects were more likely when family members were in denial, had not pursued testing for themselves, or did not support testing. Conclusion: Communication to significant others and children, should be discussed with and supported in individuals seeking testing for HD, but for extended family members, potential effects on the relationship, emotional distress, and benefits should be discussed and weighed.

scholarly journals Psychometric properties of the family communication scale in Colombian population

2021 ◽  
Vol 129 (s1) ◽  
pp. 44-55
Author(s):  
Lorena Cudris-Torres ◽  
Marly Johana Bahamón ◽  
José Julián Javela ◽  
Giselle Olivella-López ◽  
Raúl A. Gutiérrez-García ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Psychometric Properties ◽  
Family Communication ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Family System ◽  
Family Members ◽  
The Family ◽  
Transmission Of Information ◽  
Quality Of Family Life ◽  
Communication Scale

Family communication establishes a vehicle for the transmission of information between family members and completely marks the nature and quality of family life. Family communication can be understood as an index of the climate and quality of the family system. La comunicación familiar establece un vehículo para la transmisión de información entre los miembros dela familia y marca por completo la naturaleza y la calidad de la vida familiar. La comunicación familiar puede entenderse como un índice del clima y la calidaddel sistema familiar.

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