Female sex workers as mothers are disproportionately disadvantaged and experience myriad intersecting vulnerabilities, including poverty, physical and mental health challenges, limited access to health care and health care providers, stigma and discrimination, substance use, and histories of trauma. These risks elevate the potential for negative developmental outcomes for their children. To date, little information exists on the contextual and familial dynamics of female sex workers and their children. Yet, this information is critical for providing effective, evidence-informed interventions. This is a life-course developmental examination of female sex workers and their children residing in an urban brothel district in India, framed in ecological systems theory. From mothers, we were particularly interested in developmental trajectories that led to commercial sex work, intergenerational family dynamics, microsystems of mothers and their children (residence patterns), and concerns for child wellbeing given environmental dangers of the red-light areas. Inquiries with children were aimed at understanding the family microsystem-dynamics and residence, other influential microsystems (peer and school), as well as the larger red-light district neighborhood (exosystem) and future aspirations. Most mothers had been trafficked into the sex industry. Because of their work, few remained in contact with families of origin. Mothers' concerns included generating income, getting children educated, and returning children to hostels. Prior to the pandemic, most child participants lived in hostels rather than the red-light area and described it as dirty and unsafe. Children described types of social support given and received by mothers and prioritized education. Continued policy and research that explore innovative measures for limiting social disparities in educational attainment for vulnerable children (e.g., mobile school programs) are recommended.

A significant portion of mothers (pregnant and postpartum) enrolled in U.S. home visiting programs report clinically significant depressive symptoms. Non-violent family conflict precipitates and exacerbates their depressive symptoms. This pilot randomized trial tested the preliminary effectiveness of a family therapy intervention, Resilience Enhancement Skills Training (REST), compared to the standard of care in home-visited mothers with moderate to severe depressive symptoms and moderate to high conflict with family members. A total of 83 mothers and their family members (N = 166) were randomized to receive REST or the standard of care. Both interventions were delivered by clinicians using HIPAA-compliant video conferencing technology. Outcomes were assessed by research assistants, blinded to study group assignment, at post-intervention, 3, and 6 months later. Linear mixed-effects models were used to analyze changes in continuous outcomes in mothers and family members, separately. Mixed-effects logistic regression was used to analyze changes in maternal job attainment/school enrollment. Participants in both study groups showed improvements in outcomes. When compared to standard-of-care participants, REST participants had significantly greater reductions in family conflict (mothers ES = -1.19, family members ES = -0.77), maternal depressive symptoms (ES = -0.96) and co-occurring anxiety symptoms (ES = -0.59), and greater increases in family cohesion (mothers ES = 0.99, family members ES = 0.94) and maternal job attainment/school enrollment (ES = 0.70). The results highlight the value of family therapy for the treatment of moderate to severe depressive symptoms in home-visited mothers, including those with co-occurring moderate to severe anxiety symptoms. Trial Registration: Registered in ClinicalTrials.gov on 02/04/2021. NCT04741776 https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04741776.

Given Black couples live in an environment pervaded by social stress that can compromise relationship integrity, romantic partners' use of effective coping resources is paramount to maintaining romantic relationship function. Culturally relevant coping (CRC) strategies-salient, contextually appropriate resources for Black Americans to deal with living in a racially hostile society-may directly promote relationship adjustment and relational resilience even in the face of racial stressors such as discriminatory encounters. John Henryism (JH; a high-effort coping strategy); and shift-and-persist coping (S&P coping; shifting focus and persisting for the future); are two notable CRC strategies but their relevance for Black couples' relationship functioning is unknown. Using cross-sectional, self-report data from 140 mixed-gender Black couples, we investigated the links between CRC strategies and relationship functioning (partner support; relationship conflict) within an actor-partner interdependence modeling framework; further, we examined the moderating role of racial discrimination in these linkages. Results showed that JH and S&P coping were both related to better relationship functioning for men and women. Unexpectedly, women's discrimination experiences were related to men's reports of lower partner support. Notably, S&P coping was related to less relationship conflict among women reporting less discrimination but not those reporting more discrimination, indicating that S&P coping's conflict-reducing effects may be diminished in the context of discrimination. Together, findings highlight the valuable role of CRC strategies in promoting relationship functioning for Black couples and the need to examine culturally informed coping in the context of racial stressors.

The goal of this study was to further local knowledge production and the ground-up cultural and contextual competencies needed for family therapy training and practice in Cambodia. First, expert interviews were conducted with Cambodian and international mental health professionals with several years of professional experience in Cambodia (N = 25; 72% Cambodian, 52% female). Current characteristics of Cambodian family life and related problems were identified, as well as aspects of the current reality of mental health services in this Southeast Asian nation, which continue to be counted among the low- and middle-income countries (LAMICs). Second, in a group discussion with four Cambodian trainer experts in family therapy, the cultural and contextual competencies to be developed in the training of Cambodian family therapists were identified. The competencies for incorporating religious beliefs, respecting hierarchical family structures/expressing respect, and competencies for dealing with the cultural imperative of silence/face-saving appear to be significant. For the trainees, it is precisely here that areas of tension were described-triggered by collusion of their own value systems with those implicit in Western concepts. These moments of alienation should be carefully registered for reflection. The experience of dissonance in relation to certain content and procedures points precisely to the need for adaptation by local experts for the development of culturally appropriate curricula.

Group parenting programs, including emotion-focused programs, are effective at improving children's emotional and behavioral adjustment; however, the impact of these programs may be limited due to parents, typically mothers, attending sessions alone. It is expected that actively involving both caregivers in parenting programs will lead to superior outcomes given family systems are interconnected and when parents feel more supported by one another, they are more likely to have greater emotional availability for their children. Tuning in to Kids Together (TIK-Together) was developed to involve both caregivers and address the coparenting relationship. The current study examined the feasibility and pilot testing of TIK-Together when delivered in a real-world context, specifically assessing program adherence, reliability of measures, and program outcomes. TIK-Together was delivered to 57 participants (27 mother-father dyads, 1 triad) by community services in Australia in an intervention-only design. Facilitators completed attendance sheets and fidelity checklists after each session, and parents completed online questionnaires at pre-intervention, post-intervention, and 6-month follow-up. Adherence across services varied; however, parent attendance and the proportion of content delivered was high. The measures used to assess coparent outcomes demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency in the current sample. After attending the program, parents reported increased supportive/cooperative coparenting of children's emotions, greater dyadic coping, improved emotion coaching beliefs and practices, reduced undermining coparenting of children's emotions, lower emotion dismissing beliefs and practices, and less parent emotion dysregulation. Mothers and fathers reported improved child emotion regulation and decreased behavioral difficulties. The findings are consistent with prior TIK research and pave the way for future research exploring the benefits of integrating coparenting content into this parenting intervention.

Depression, in recent decades, has shown a clear trend to occur at a younger age, emerging as a prevalent mental health concern among primary school children. According to family system theory and social-ecological principles, parent individual factors, as distal factors, are able to influence the depression of child individual through the proximal factor of parent-child dyadic interaction. Within this integrated theory framework, this study aimed to utilize the principle of the actor-partner independence model to investigate the indirect pathway from paternal and maternal positive/negative emotional expressiveness to primary school children's depression via father-child and mother-child closeness/conflict. The study comprised 403 Chinese families, assessed at two separate time points with a 6-month interval. Our results showed that both paternal and maternal positive emotional expressiveness indirectly predicted children's depression through their own conflict with their child, while both parental negative emotional expressiveness indirectly predicted the children's depression through mother-child conflict. This study elucidated two pathways of (a) family distal factors to proximal factors, and subsequently to the child; (b) parent individual factors to the parent-child dyadic interaction, and subsequently to the child individual factors within the family system. Our findings suggest that regulating parental emotional expressiveness and fostering good parent-child relationships represent potential effective strategies for preventing primary school children's depression.

Despite extensive research about adult attachment insecurity in romantic relationships and parenting behaviors, there is a noticeable gap in the literature regarding the association between prenatal attachment insecurity and establishing postnatal coparenting relationships among new parents. While recent empirical studies have shown an increasing interest in this area, research investigating the moderation on the association between attachment insecurity and coparenting relationships through preventative intervention remains limited. This study aims to investigate if a preventative couple-focused intervention can reduce the negative effects of attachment insecurity on coparenting relationship quality. Using data from 574 new parents living in the United States, this study compares the relationship between attachment insecurity and perceived coparenting quality between the intervention and control groups. Each parent completed a pretest questionnaire before childbirth and a posttest questionnaire approximately 1 year postpartum. Multilevel model results demonstrate that new parents with higher levels of attachment avoidance in the control group, but not in the intervention group, tended to report lower quality of coparenting. This study suggests that a couple-focused preventative intervention can benefit new parents transitioning into parenthood, especially those with higher levels of attachment avoidance. Future research may consider how to best help new parents depending on the degree and type of attachment insecurity.

The well-being of individuals in the United States is steadily declining, with a concurrent rise in harmful behaviors. Contextual Therapy posits that well-being is grounded in equitable, trust-based relationships-a principle known as relational ethics. However, the dominant ideology of neoliberalism may challenge these connections by promoting individualism and self-interest. Research suggests that neoliberal influences can diminish well-being, prompting individuals to prioritize personal gain over fostering humane connections with others. Contextual Therapy provides therapists with a pathway to address these influences, supporting clients in building healthier, more humanizing relationships. This article seeks to inform therapists of the potential impact of neoliberal values on clients' lives, demonstrating how Contextual Therapy can mitigate these effects and enhance relational ethics. We begin with an overview of neoliberalism and Contextual Therapy, followed by two case examples that illustrate presenting issues potentially influenced by neoliberal factors. Finally, we introduce a framework that mental health practitioners can incorporate into treatment, utilizing Contextual Therapy to address internalized neoliberalism. By cultivating empathy and reinforcing supportive connections, we propose that Contextual Therapy can contribute to improved well-being and a reduction in harmful behaviors.

Much of the research focusing on LGBTQ parenting has focused on White parents. This is concerning given that LGBTQ families are more racially and ethnically diverse than heterosexual households, with Latinx queer parents comprising most LGBTQ parents raising children. In turn, there is a lack of research about the cultural experiences that inform parenting among Latinx LGBTQ parents. This study uses a family systems intersectional lens to explore how Latinx and LGBTQ cultural values guide the parenting practices of Latinx LGBTQ parents. Eight participants completed semi-structured interviews in which they were asked to reflect and share how Latinx and LGBTQ cultural values inform their parenting experiences. Using a phenomenological qualitative research approach, Latinx LGBTQ parents described their parenting experience and identified the underlying cultural messages that inform them, including (a) Familismo, (b) Gender Norms, (c) Religion and Spirituality, (d) Openness, Support, and Pride, (e) Embracing Chosen Families, and (f) Providing a Different Parenting Experience. Policymakers and treatment providers can use these findings that capture ethnic, cultural, and sexual identity factors for Latinx LGBTQ parents and consider the best approaches to working with these communities using a strong intersectionality lens.

Caring for a family member with dementia impacts caregivers' mental health. Daughters who provide care seem to be particularly affected due to their multiple roles. The study analyzed the role of dysfunctional thoughts and family function for understanding caregivers' depressive and anxiety symptoms, focusing on the potential moderating effect of family function in the relationship between dysfunctional thoughts and distress. In addition, it examined potential differences in the obtained associations considering the kinship relationship. A total of 278 family caregivers of people with dementia were divided into four groups (wives, husbands, daughters, sons). Sociodemographic variables, family obligations, dysfunctional thoughts, frequency and discomfort associated with problematic behaviors, family function, anxious symptomatology, and depressive symptomatology were assessed. Regression analyses revealed that the moderating effect of family function was significant only for daughters. For depressive symptomatology, the model explained 28.6% of the variance for daughters, showing that high levels of dysfunctional thoughts were associated with increased depressive symptoms when family function was low or intermediate (p < 0.001), but not when it was high. Similarly, for anxious symptomatology, the model explained 23.9% of the variance for daughters, with dysfunctional thoughts again associated with higher anxiety symptoms when family function was low or intermediate (p < 0.001), but not significantly when family function was high. These findings suggest that a well-functioning family may buffer the negative impact of rigid caregiving beliefs, particularly for daughters. The results highlight the importance of interventions aimed at improving family dynamics to enhance caregivers' well-being.

From August 16th to 20th of 2023, the Calgary Family Therapy Centre (CFTC) 50th Anniversary and Conference: Bringing Forth Generativities Within Relational Disquiet was held in Calgary, Canada. The theme of the conference was relational disquiet, a notion introduced at the CFTC to raise awareness that something is experienced as amiss, uneasy, restless, or a sense of unfairness when something is experienced as not right during the therapeutic process. In preparation for the conference, we interviewed Dr. Karl Tomm, founder and senior advisor of the Calgary Family Therapy Centre and a professor of Psychiatry at the Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary. In this article, we present Karl's interview, where he explains the notion of disquiet as a relational response to unwanted differences about hopes or desires emerging in our interactions with one another. Karl shares a clinical example of a possible transition from disquiet to generativity in a family therapy process. We offer some theoretical reflections on how Karl navigates disquieting interactions in family therapy conversations and discuss potential actions that family therapists can take to bring forth generativities from within relational disquiet.

A unique psychotherapeutic method of Internalized Other Interviewing (IOI) has emerged over the last 35 years. It is based on a social constructionist and bringforthist perspective in which a person as a self-aware individual is seen to arise through a rich history of interaction with other human beings. If a therapist can apply this understanding and conceive of the self as constituted by an internalized community in one's memory, it becomes coherent to interview any member of that inner community as an internalized other within the client. As a result, the possibilities for intervention in a client's relationships are expanded. If the IOI method is used in the presence of the actual other in conjoint work, the latter could meet their distributed self as they exist in the interviewee, and even more change possibilities arise. This paper focuses on applying the method in clinical practice using examples, transcripts, and commentary.

The quality of parental involvement in children's homework are vital parenting practices that influence children's academic and emotional functioning. Therefore, studies on the contributing factors of parents' homework involvement quality are warranted. Notably, environmental, parental, and child-related factors may put parents under pressure that impairs parents' homework involvement quality. Yet, extant literature lacks an examination of this issue holistically, especially in non-Western societies. The current research addressed this gap by investigating how Chinese mothers' perceived stress in life, child-based worth, and children's general helplessness toward homework, which created pressures on mothers, uniquely contributed to mothers' daily homework involvement quality. Chinese mothers (N = 261, mean age = 40.90 years, SD = 2.65) of fourth graders reported on these pressures via survey and their daily constructive (i.e., positive emotions, autonomy support, and mastery-oriented teaching) and unconstructive homework involvement (i.e., negative emotions, control, and performance-oriented teaching) for 14 consecutive days after the completion of the survey. Results from multilevel modeling indicated that mothers' perceived stress negatively predicted their constructive involvement, while mothers' child-based worth and children's helplessness toward homework positively predicted their unconstructive involvement over the daily diaries. The findings highlight the importance of understanding daily family processes holistically by considering environmental, parental, and child factors, and extending knowledge about the contributing factors of parents' homework involvement quality in real-life settings. Practitioners and educators are encouraged to alleviate multiple pressures parents may experience to make parents' homework involvement constructive to child development.

Significant events are defined as relevant moments in therapy that help in understanding how changes occur. Scene-based psychodramatic family therapy follows a multiple-family-group format based on systemic therapy and psychodrama, aimed at families with adolescents exhibiting externalizing problems. This study aimed to identify the significant events and analyze therapeutic processes through a joint analysis of significant events from the client's perspective. Fourteen multiple-family groups were evaluated (122 adolescents and 107 parents in total) through focus groups at the end of the treatment. Using thematic analysis, we identified six types of significant events, the phase of treatment in which they occurred, the clients' involvement during the identified events, the modality of the intervention in which the events occurred, and their impact. The results confirm enactment, conflict dramatization, emotional expression, and catharsis as the main events in multiple-family groups. The participants reported significant events, particularly during the middle and final phases of the treatment, notably moments related to enactment and role-playing situations. Moreover, adolescents identified significant events both in group moments without their parents and in group situations with their parents. These findings highlight key mechanisms of change in families with adolescents exhibiting externalizing behaviors that participate in multiple-family groups with a systemic approach and psychodramatic techniques.

This study focuses on validating a Negative Interaction Scale using a Bayesian approach for confirmatory factor analysis. Considering the significant impact of negative interactions on couple relationships, both in terms of satisfaction and the mental and physical health of individuals, the aim was to provide a reliable and precise tool for measuring these behaviors in a specific cultural context, such as that of young and adult individuals in Peru. A non-probabilistic convenience sampling design was used, involving 313 participants, predominantly women, and a majority identifying as heterosexual. The average age was around 26 years, encompassing various types of couple relationships. The Negative Interaction Scale (NIS-5) and the Peruvian version of the Relationship Assessment Scale (RAS) were employed for data collection, using Bayesian statistical tools for analysis, particularly Bayesian confirmatory factor analysis (BCFA), offering advantages in flexibility, precision, and the evaluation of the proposed unidimensional structure. The NIS-5 demonstrated a unidimensional structure with excellent fit indices, moderate to strong factor loadings, and good internal consistency, supported by an omega reliability coefficient of 0.836. These results validate the unifactorial structure of the NIS-5, reflecting that negative interaction can be globally and uniquely interpreted within the study context. The study confirms the validity and reliability of the NIS-5 as an instrument for measuring negative interaction in couple relationships in Peru. It highlights the importance of considering negative interaction to improve relationship quality and suggests the implementation of programs or theoretical models to promote healthier relationships.

This article compares exoneration with the correlated concept of forgiveness. According to Contextual Therapy, a fundamental distinction exists between the two. It states that exoneration depends on an adult reassessment of history, resulting in the offender being freed of guilt. Conversely, according to Contextual Therapy, forgiveness is beyond reassessment and relies on the generosity of the forgiver while retaining the assumption of guilt on the part of the wrongdoer. After briefly introducing and concisely overviewing contextual theory, the five core elements of exoneration are identified as (a) an intrapersonal, interpersonal, or posthumous process; (b) motivated by loyalty and obligation; (c) recognition of suffered injustice; and (d) an adult reassessment, leading to (e) a promise of improvement. Then, the core elements are compared with the findings of a previously conducted international phenomenological research study on forgiveness processes between children and parents. Instead of finding evidence of the distinction between exoneration and forgiveness as Contextual Therapy proposes, this article confirms the importance of the five identified elements for both exoneration and forgiveness.

Parental burnout is a chronic condition of experiencing exhaustion, inefficacy, and emotional distance in one's parental role. Given the detrimental influence of parental burnout on both parents and children, it is important to study the antecedents and consequences of parental burnout, particularly at the within-family level. Using a three-wave sample of 443 Chinese parents (70% mothers; mean age = 41.81 years, SD = 3.81 years) of middle school adolescents (50% girls; mean age = 13.35 years, SD = 0.36 years), the present study examined the transactional processes between parental burnout and parent-adolescent conflict. Random intercept cross-lagged panel modeling allowed the present study to focus on within-family effects by using random intercepts to account for between-family effects. In this way, this study can rule out time-invariant confounds by focusing on whether the ups and downs of parental burnout at a family level contribute to the changes in parent-adolescent conflict, and vice versa. At the within-family level, parental burnout predicted greater parent-adolescent conflict over time, and parent-adolescent conflict also predicted greater parental burnout over time. Notably, multigroup comparisons showed that the link from parent-adolescent conflict to parental burnout was only significant among parents with lower but not higher educational attainment, and the link from parental burnout to parent-adolescent conflict was only evident among mothers but not fathers. Taken together, the findings suggest that parental burnout and parent-adolescent conflict positively shape and sustain one another over time, highlighting the necessity to adapt the designs of family conflict interventions in treating and preventing parental burnout.

Situational couple aggression is common; most couples who seek conjoint treatment report at least some instances of aggression. Modern couple therapy research provides support for the safe and effective use of conjoint treatment with situationally aggressive couples; however, many clinicians feel ill equipped to assess and treat aggression via relational therapy. We propose that integrative behavioral couple therapy (IBCT) offers a uniquely suited lens for working with couples who participate in situational aggression. With an integrated case study to illustrate principles, we walk therapists through each aspect of assessment and treatment using IBCT to treat relational aggression. This paper provides a comprehensive resource for couple therapists using IBCT to treat situationally aggressive couples.

This article describes culturally sensitive clinical work with Asian Indian families, using contextual family therapy. The authors describe how Contextual Therapy concepts such as justice, fairness, credibility, obligation, focus on posterity, and constructive/destructive entitlement are closely aligned with Indian cultural values and concepts of Dharma, Karma, and Seva. The authors expand upon these concepts and give case examples of their application with Indian families. The article also presents how Contextual Therapy is culturally congruent in addressing broader contextual issues, such as lifecycle transitions, gender, power, patriarchy, cross-generational relationships, and discuss some of the culturally sensitive ways with which Contextual Therapy can be used with this population.

Family functioning has been confirmed to predict adolescent suicidal ideation (SI). However, the relationships between specific dimensions of family functioning and SI, as well as related mediating mechanisms, remain unclear. Based on the McMaster Model of Family Functioning, this study aims to examine the bidirectional longitudinal relationships between family affective responsiveness (i.e., a dimension of family functioning) and SI intensity and frequency, as well as the mediating effects of depressive symptoms in these relationships among adolescents. A total of 712 adolescents (55.8% females; M = 15.20, SD = 1.43) completed questionnaires and were surveyed three times, six months apart. Using random intercept cross-lagged panel model analysis, this study found that at the within-person level, family affective responsiveness influenced SI intensity twelve months later through depressive symptoms six months later, and both SI intensity and frequency influenced family affective responsiveness twelve months later through depressive symptoms six months later. The findings indicate that temporal bidirectional relationships between family affective responsiveness, adolescent depressive symptoms, and adolescent SI exist and may eventually develop into vicious cycles. Breaking the vicious cycles and preventing the deterioration of SI is the key point of interventions.

Parenting a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be stressful for parents, posing unique challenges not only in their relationships with the child but also in their relationships with each other. The present study examined the daily spillover of parenting experiences (i.e., child-related stress and parent-child conflict) into interparental relationships (i.e., marital conflict and satisfaction). We also explored whether daily positive and negative affect mediated these spillover effects and whether parental trait mindfulness moderated them. Seventy-three Chinese parents (55 mothers) of children with autism completed a baseline survey and daily diaries for 14 consecutive days. Results revealed that on days with elevated child-related stress and parent-child conflict, parents reported increased marital conflict and decreased marital satisfaction on the same day (but not the next day). Furthermore, the same-day spillover processes were fully or partially mediated by daily negative affect. Importantly, parental trait mindfulness acted as a buffer against the adverse effects of daily parent-child conflict on parents' negative affect. The findings provide valuable insights for intervention strategies aimed at enhancing interparental relationships during stressful parenting days and underscore the importance of mitigating negative affect and cultivating trait mindfulness to alleviate this spillover process.

This study aimed to reveal the association between spousal stress perception and marital instability across different stages of the family life cycle, focusing on the actor and partner effects and exploring the mediating role of daily communication in this relationship. With rising divorce rates, it's essential to examine factors affecting marital instability. Drawing from the stress-divorce model, spouses' stress perception likely permeates into marriage via daily communication. It is important to consider challenges unique to different marital stages to understand variations among couples through the family life cycle. The study used the Perceived Stress Scale, the Primary Communication Inventory, and the Marital Instability Scale to survey 654 couples in the newlywed, couples with pre-school children, couples with school-age children, and empty-nest stages. The study revealed that the actor-partner effects between stress perception and marital instability were initially present in the early stages of marriage. As the duration of the marriage progressed, during the stages of pre-school age and school-age children, only actor effects existed. In the empty nest stage, the actor-partner effects gradually diminish. Throughout the life cycle, daily communication served as a mediating factor in the relationship between stress and marital instability. This research uncovers a dynamic evolution in the association between couples' stress perception and marital instability across marital longevity: at the beginning of marriage, spouses have interactive effects; at the stage with child(ren), the interactive effect diminishes; at the empty-nest stage, the role is imposed only through the medium of daily communication. Our research reveals that maintaining communication during all stages of marriage is key to effectively managing stress and maintaining marital instability.

As measurement of sexual minority (SM) people's demographic characteristics has evolved over time, it is of interest to understand how identity intersections within SM communities, such as SM parents, have also changed. The current study aimed to investigate how SM parents may or may not differ in demographic characteristics from SM childfree adults and how the demographic characteristics of SM parents may differ across three cohorts. Participants could be part of one of three age cohorts, with each cohort reflecting distinct historic or cultural events related to LGBTQ+ people's experiences. We used data from a national probability study of 1502 SM adults conducted between 2016 and 2017 to compare demographic characteristics by parent and cohort status. SM parents (n = 297) and childfree adults differed in sexual and gender identity, relationship status, educational attainment, urbanicity, and poverty status. There were differences among SM parents based on cohort status in sexual and gender identity, partner status (and gender of the partner), educational attainment, poverty status, and urbanicity. However, there were no differences based on racial/ethnic identity or geographic region among SM parents. This work contributes to the ongoing literature on SM parent families by providing a view of the ways in which SM parents have, and have not, changed demographically over time in the United States.

Contextual therapy, concerned with equity of responsibility and relational balances, seeks to reintroduce the truth of personal uniqueness and genuine dialogue in meaningful relationships by establishing a bridge between individual therapy and family therapy. Bowen family systems theory, on the other hand, is an approach that considers differentiation as a concept involving the degree to which a person becomes individuated from the parents. This process emerges from relational-family experiences, in accordance with the regulation of the emotions experienced and the balance achieved between the forces of autonomy and togetherness. We analyzed the connection between relational ethics and differentiation of self, as well as comparing these variables in a non-clinical sample (N = 1230) and a clinical one (N = 241) to whom we administered the Spanish Relational Ethics Scale and the Differentiation of Self Inventory. The empirical results suggest that relational ethics and differentiation of self are highly interconnected and linked to health and to the achievement of mature individuation, contributing to our empirical knowledge of the two constructs. Our findings suggest that these two frameworks and their respective constructs may be viewed as mutually supportive, offering a potential opportunity to thoughtfully integrate them into clinical practice where appropriate.

Multisystemic Therapy (MST) is an evidence- and family-based treatment for youth with serious aggressive and delinquent behavior. Despite randomized controlled trials demonstrating short- and long-term effectiveness of MST, arrest is still a concern for many youths who complete treatment. Prior studies examined risk factors for arrest after MST treatment but accounted for risk at pre-treatment rather than over the course of treatment and failed to consider the combined impact of risk and protective factors by the end of treatment on long-term outcomes. Models of resilience suggest that when faced with cumulative stress, the effects of family could serve as a protective factor that promotes either stabilizing, enhancing, or reactive effects. As such, the current study examined family environment (i.e., cohesion and flexibility) at the end of treatment as a moderator of relations between cumulative stress by the end of treatment and the likelihood of arrest at follow-up. Results demonstrated that high family cohesion and flexibility served as protective factors by decreasing the likelihood of arrest when cumulative stress was low; however, these effects faded as cumulative stress increased. These results suggest the protective effects of known targets of MST (i.e., family cohesion and flexibility) do not buffer against post-treatment arrest for all youth in treatment. Treatment targeting family cohesion and flexibility is less likely to be effective in preventing arrest for youth that continue accumulating stressful life events during treatment. Results of this study suggest that MST treatment should be further tailored to account for these families.

This study explored the associations of grief support between social support for grief and pandemic grief symptoms, attachment, and mental health through accounting for sociodemographic factors among bereaved spouses widowed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. From September 10 to November 23, 2020, a cross-sectional mobile online survey was conducted, involving 92 participants with a mean age of 44.21 years. The sample was predominantly Islamic (91%) and female (88.8%), with an average marriage duration of 18.73 years. Participants completed assessments, including the Grief Support Assessment Scale, Brief Symptom Rating Scale-5, Pandemic Grief Scale, Revised Adult Attachment Scale, and Couple Interaction Scale for Marital Support. Results showed that the extent to which grief support was received (β = -0.36, p = 0.03) and that bereaved spouses were satisfied with (β = -0.29, p = 0.03) grief support were negatively correlated with pandemic grief. Age, education, and attachment directly influenced mental health. A k-means cluster analysis identified a younger cluster (M = 34.76 ± 4.63) experiencing greater mental health difficulties (14.84 ± 3.9), pandemic grief (7.23 ± 3.06), and attachment needs (51.80 ± 8.06). The findings highlight that the grief support needed was higher than the support received and the satisfaction with that support during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, participants were dissatisfied with the higher demand for resources from governmental and nongovernmental organizations. The study emphasizes the importance of accessible, high-quality grief support services that are culturally and religiously sensitive, especially in diverse contexts like Indonesia.

Father involvement in childcare is associated with positive outcomes for children. Growing evidence supports many predictors of fathers' involvement, including maternal gatekeeping and father characteristics. The present study focuses on fathers' postpartum experiences, exploring parallel insights from environmental, interpersonal, and internal factors after having a baby to predict later involvement. We investigated how early household chaos, couple conflict, and father depressive symptoms in infancy predict later direct involvement in toddler care. The current study utilized data from 202 families participating in a parenting intervention program. We longitudinally assessed father reports of household chaos and their depressive symptoms, and employed an observational measure of conflict, at 6, 12, and 18 months postpartum to predict mother and father reports of father direct contributions to childcare at 18 months. Latent variables were created for household chaos, depressive symptoms, and destructiveness to incorporate reports 6 months apart. A structural equation model indicated father appraisals of household chaos were positively associated with depressive symptoms over time. Furthermore, couple destructiveness was negatively predictive of mothers' reports, but not fathers' reports of father direct care at 18 months after controlling for direct care behavior within 6 months postpartum. These results suggest that although father appraisals of his environment likely relate to his mental health, couple functioning played a greater role over time in direct care. We emphasize including fathers' appraisals of their experience in future research and underscore the potential impact of intervening at the couple level postpartum to support fathers' direct involvement in childcare over time.

Literature has consistently linked family elements as risk and/or protective factors in adolescence. Consequently, numerous family-focused prevention programs have been developed. In the context of selective and indicated prevention, the most structured actions take place within the municipal services. However, studies demonstrating the effectiveness of these interventions are scarce. Our aim was to explore the effectiveness of the Brief Intervention Program for addiction prevention in the family context (IBAF) to improve family protective dynamics. We used a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design. The final sample consisted of 136 cases and 191 family members (64.9% women and 35.1% men). The dimensions of family functioning were measured with the self-reported Madrid Family Functioning scale. Results indicated a statistically significant increase post-intervention in family climate, family consensus, setting of rules and boundaries, coping patterns, and improvement in stress/anxiety. There were no significant differences based on the sex of the family members. The IBAF program shows promise in addressing the demand for structured interventions in family indicated prevention. Future research could build on these preliminary findings by testing the efficacy of the intervention using rigorous methodologies.

Although relationship education (RE) programs aim to improve parents' communication with one another with the hope that it will enhance children's mental health, few studies have investigated if such spillover actually occurs. Therefore, drawing from a sample of 431 families from the Supporting Healthy Marriage Project, the present study examined the relations between parental participation in a RE program and children's subsequent distress, as well as mechanisms that may explain these effects. Using a multi-informant (focal child and parents) and multi-method (self-report and observational assessments) longitudinal design, the current study examined whether randomization into RE programming predicted children's exposure and emotional reactivity to interparental conflict and if decreases in parents' negative communication mediated these effects. Results based on mothers' reports indicated that when parents received RE, children's exposure to conflict decreased. However, these findings were not corroborated by fathers or children. There were also no differences in children's emotional reactivity across conditions, and observable communication did not mediate the relation between randomization into RE and children's outcomes. Together, there was minimal evidence for the efficacy of RE on children's functioning. Results underscore the importance of evaluating multiple family members' perspectives and highlight the need for future work to consider these pathways in samples experiencing greater distress.

This study examines the intergenerational transmission of the strong Black woman (SBW) narrative between Black mothers and daughters, exploring how this transmission contributes to both resilience and psychological stress. Utilizing a collective case study design with 10 participants (5 mother-daughter dyads), the study reveals how the SBW narrative, encompassing pride in identity, community support, and survival lessons, is perpetuated within Black families. It also delves into strategies Black women believe can facilitate healing from generational trauma, emphasizing changing the narrative and fostering new attitudes toward self-care. The findings underscore the importance of utilizing culturally responsive systemic approaches to explore how generational narratives shape identity and mental health. These insights highlight the need for understanding and addressing the complexities of generational trauma and cultural narratives in mental health practices.