Adherence to a Socio-Educational Family Prevention Program at Primary and Secondary Schools

This study analyzes adherence to a universal family prevention program used in schools, the Universal Family Competence Program 11-14. It reports on the family members’ retention rates, attendance and quality of participation in the sessions, as well as family satisfaction with the trainers and the program itself. The study, based on a quasi-experimental design with pretest and posttest measures and experimental and control groups, evaluated fidelity and the effectiveness of the mechanisms used to control the program conditions. The results point to the need for the inclusion of methodological strategies aimed at facilitating assessments of the multiple dimensions of adherence and at guaranteeing optimal family participation rates.

A meta-analytic investigation of the relationships between different dimensions of family strengths and personal and family well-being

Objective: Evaluate the relationships between five family strengths dimensions (commitment, communication, cohesion, coping & competence) and personal and family well-being. Background: Noted family strengths experts contend that families who describe themselves as strong share a number of broad qualities or traits. Family strengths are viewed as internal resources that are hypothesized to be related to enhanced personal and family well-being. Method: Meta-analysis was used to determine the effect sizes between different family strengths dimensions and both parent and family well-being. The meta-analysis included 14 studies (N = 3,491 participants) conducted in 10 countries. The focus of analysis was the sizes of effects between each family strengths dimension and both parent and family well-being and whether the strengths of relations between family strengths and well-being differed for each family strength dimension. Results: Publication bias analysis indicated no differences in the sizes of effects for peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed research reports. Each of the family strengths dimensions was significantly related to both personal and family well-being. The size of effect for the relationship between family strengths and family well-being was larger than that for personal well-being. The between type of family strengths dimension analyses showed that the size of effect between family competence and personal and family well-being was smaller than those for each of the other family strengths dimensions. Conclusion: The findings support the hypothesis that different dimensions of family strengths are important predictors of personal and family well-being.

Family and social functioning in adults with hoarding disorder

Hoarding is associated with problems engaging in social activities, lower social support, increased isolation and poses substantial challenges to family functioning. The aim of this investigation was to explore the relationship between hoarding severity and family and social functioning variables in 60 treatment-seeking adults with hoarding disorder (HD). Participants completed a battery of self-report measures during a baseline assessment completed prior to treatment. Forty-seven percent of participants reported they live alone. Forty-eight percent of participants reported that family and friends never visit them in their home, and 33% indicated they never had visitors to their home, not even service workers or repair people. Twelve percent of participants indicated they never visit with family or friends outside of their home; however, 55% of participants endorsed phoning family or friends more than 9 times each month. Increased clutter and hoarding severity was associated with a lower frequency of family and friends visiting in the home. Family competence and conflict were both positively associated with hoarding severity. Our results shed light on family and social impairment in HD and their relationship with symptom severity; however, additional research should examine social dysfunction among non-treatment-seeking individuals who may be more impaired or isolated.

Building Family Resilience Through an Evidence-Based Program: Results From the Spanish Strengthening Families Program

In recent years, family resilience has come to be seen as more of a process than an outcome. This process involves different family members who receive training during the course of family prevention programs. The Family Competence Program is a Spanish cultural adaptation of the Strengthening Families Program, which uses a Family Strengths and Resilience Scale. With this scale of 11 items, encompassing aspects such as communication, cohesion and family organization or parental skills, changes in family resilience were measured before and after the application of the program. The results point to positive changes. Potential links with family vulnerability were also tested, but the results of the study do not suggest any association between resilience and family vulnerability.

Do callous-unemotional traits mediate the effect of family competence on bullying?

One of the assumptions of the triadic reciprocal model is that the dynamic relationships between internal factors and environmental contexts may have a reciprocal influence on behaviour. Based on this assumption, this study examined whether callous-unemotional traits mediate the relationship between family competence and bullying among 256 selected senior secondary pupils (age = 14–16; M = 15.5, SD = 5.4; boys = 131 and girls = 125). Three self-report scales were used to collect data for bullying, family competence, and callous-unemotional traits. Mediated multiple regression was used to test the hypotheses. The result showed that callous-unemotional traits and family competence have a positive and negative linear relationship with bullying, respectively, B = 0.13 and −0.20, p < .01. Similarly, the indirect effect of family competence on bullying through callous-unemotional traits was significant, B = 0.04, p < .05. This indicated that callous-unemotional traits could regulate the effect of family competence on bullying. The results may have implications for understanding, planning, and designing programmes for preventing and intervention of school bullying.

The Strengthening Families Programme in Spain: a long-term evaluation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to first assess the long-term effects of the adaptation of the American Strengthening Families Programme in Spain (known as the Programa de Competencia Familiar, translated into English as the Family Competence Programme (FCP)). The second aim is to identify family typologies and family changes regarding family competence over time. The paper’s initial hypothesis is that families have different behaviours and take advantage of the FCP in different ways. Design/methodology/approach – Monitored applications of the FCP were conducted using a quasi-experimental design consisting of a control group and pre-test, post-test and two-year follow-up assessments. The sample was made up of 136 families who took part in the programme and another 18 who participated in the control groups. Validated instruments were applied to assess the methodological processes and the family assessments. A cluster analysis was undertaken to identify different family typologies and their evolution in relation to the FCP goals. Findings – The FCP shows effective and consistent results over time for families in a variety of difficult situations, with important result maintenance. The longitudinal analysis (i.e. the two-year follow-up) demonstrates that the majority of changes identified (using the factors under consideration) maintained their relevance for most of the families, producing positive change. Originality/value – There is little long-term evaluation or longitudinal analysis of family prevention programmes that are evidence-based and include cognitive-emotional content. This paper analyses the long-term evaluation of family prevention programmes and identifies the ways in which families change over time.