The Role of Family Process on Academic Educational Achievements in the United States: Evidence from a longitudinal study

This paper's main objective is to understand how thefamily process affects youth's educational outcomes in the U.S.Previous research does not have a conclusive understandingregarding parental influence and educational achievement.Some studies determine that some parental influence isconnected with positive academic achievement, while othersconclude that it is not associated with young adults' academicachievement. Using data from the National Longitudinal Surveyof Youth 1997, an event history analysis was conducted toaddress how family process measures (family routines andparental monitoring) during adolescence change the rates andtiming of the completion of a bachelor's degree. Althoughmothers' monitoring does not have a significant relationship withhaving an academic degree, higher father monitoring waspositively associated with having the degree. Family routinesprovide a complex result. Average family routines are associatedwith a higher likelihood of academic achievements, while low andhigh family routines have the same outcomes. The research'sfindings imply the role of fathers and the multidimensionalnature of the family process, suggesting that the family process isessential in determining rates and timing of academicachievements in the U.S.

The effectiveness of self-differentiation training on improving family process and content in demanding couples of contested divorce

Aim: The purpose of the present study was to determine the effectiveness of self-differentiation training on improving family process and content in demanding couples with contested divorce. Methods: A quasi-experimental design with pre-test, post-test and two-months follow-up with control group was used. The statistical population included couples who mutually consented for divorce, and had referred to the counselling clinic of Behravan in Qazvin in 2018. Ten couples (20 participants) were selected through purposeful sampling and assigned in experimental and control groups. Research tools included Samani’s (2008) family process and content questionnaire. Self-differentiation was administered for the experimental group in 10 weekly 90-minute sessions. The changes of family process and content was measured in posttest and follow-up and data were analyzed by repeated measurement. Results: Results indicated that self-differentiation significantly have promoted family process (P<0.01, F=21.14) and family content (P<0.01, F= 23.32). This effect was observed in follow-up, and four couples gave up the divorce requests (P>0.01, t= 0.01). Conclusion: self-differentiation training, thorough empowering couples, helps in moderating between reason and emotions; while differentiaton of self from original family, affects the functions of family process and content. Therefore, it can be used as an efficient psycho-educational package for improving the functions of family process and content in divorce demanding couples, and may helpprevent divorce.

The Foster Family Process to Maintain the Will to Remain in Foster Care—Implications for a Sustainable Programme

There were 7032 children in out-of-home care in 2018 in Portugal. Of these, only 2.8% were in foster care, despite this being the recommended response according to legal regulations. It is critical that more families be encouraged to become foster carers and also that experienced carers stay in the system to create a sustainable programme. How is the will to foster a child maintained? What can we learn from foster families’ experiences to improve childcare and the child protection system? The methodology of this study was based on interviews with foster carers. The analysis was inspired by grounded theory. We found three types of foster families, classified according to their will to leave or remain in foster care—unconditional, hesitant, or retired. The results suggest that the key elements for foster carers to remain in the foster care system are (i) their level of satisfaction with how the previous placement concluded, (ii) keeping in touch with the ex-foster child, (iii) the feeling of acknowledgement by all the stakeholders, and (iv) the quality of social services as well as the support of the professional teams.