Reconnecting Homeless Adolescents and Their Families: Correlates of Participation in a Family Intervention.

Behavioral family interventions are an effective way to intervene to prevent negative developmental outcomes for adolescents. Participation in family interventions encompasses behavioral and cognitive/attitudinal dimensions, among others, indicated by retention and engagement, respectively. Two dimensions of participation, retention and engagement, in a family intervention were examined in a sample of newly homeless adolescents and their parents or guardians. Correlates of participation included parents with more income and less perceived family conflict and adolescents with higher endorsement of depression, anxiety, somatization, obsessive-compulsive, phobic, and psychotic symptoms on the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). Stronger therapeutic alliance was correlated with being more distressed (i.e., lower income, more hostility), being a female adolescent participant, and having greater comfort discussing sex with parents. Furthermore, parents and adolescents with greater distress and thus greater need were more apt to finish the intervention. The finding that families who were experiencing more distress had higher alliance scores suggests that there is an additional need for development of interventions for families in crisis. Both participant and provider perceptions are also important in development of a strong therapeutic alliance. This study's findings have implications for further exploration of the development of cultural humility and improving mental health literacy among facilitators of behavioral interventions.

Evaluation of a Family-Centered Preventive Intervention for Military Families: Parent and Child Longitudinal Outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: This study evaluates the longitudinal outcomes of Families OverComing Under Stress (FOCUS), a family-centered preventive intervention implemented to enhance resilience and to reduce psychological health risk in military families and children who have high levels of stress related to parental wartime military service. METHOD: We performed a secondary analysis of evaluation data from a large-scale service implementation of the FOCUS intervention collected between July 2008 and December 2013 at 15 military installations in the United States and Japan. We present data for 2,615 unique families (3,499 parents and 3,810 children) with completed intake and at least 1 postintervention assessment. Longitudinal regression models with family-level random effects were used to assess the patterns of change in child and parent (civilian and military) psychological health outcomes over time. RESULTS: Improvement in psychological health outcomes occurred in both service member and civilian parents. Relative to intake, parental anxiety and depression symptoms were significantly reduced postintervention, and these reductions were maintained at 2 subsequent follow-up assessments. In addition, we identified an improvement over time in emotional and behavioral symptoms and in prosocial behaviors for both boys and girls. We observed reductions in the prevalence of unhealthy family functioning and child anxiety symptoms, as well as parental depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress symptoms from intake to follow-up. CONCLUSION: Longitudinal program evaluation data show sustained trajectories of reduced psychological health risk symptoms and improved indices of resilience in children, civilian, and active duty military parents participating in a strength-based, family-centered preventive intervention.

Adjustment of Adolescents of Parents Living with HIV.

Family environment and rates of mental health and behavioral problems in HIV-negative adolescents and their parents living with HIV (PWH) were compared to adolescents and parents from non HIV-affected families living in similar inner-city neighborhoods. Adolescents and their parents were interviewed and a case-control sample was constructed. Data on sixty-two matched pairs of adolescents of PWH and those of neighborhood parents and forty-six matched pairs of PWH and HIV-negative parents were examined. Compared to neighborhood controls, adolescents of PWH experienced greater life stressors and family conflict and reported lower self-esteem. PWH reported greater emotional distress and substance use. However, there were no significant differences in emotional distress or externalized problem behaviors between the two adolescent groups. Clinical implications are discussed.

Children's body mass index and nutrition intake in HIV/AIDS.

HIV/AIDS in China poses many challenges for caregivers and their children. A total of 154 caregivers of HIV/AIDS-affected families were interviewed to examine the children's nutrition intake and body mass index (BMI) in the context of HIV/AIDS in the family. The results showed that 25% of children in HIV/AIDS-affected families were underweight or at risk of being underweight according to US criteria. More than half the children reported that their consumption of protein such as meat, eggs or milk ranged from not at all to two times during the past month. About 40% of the children sometimes or often went hungry due to insufficient food. The study findings underscore the need to improve the nutrition and general health of children of people living with HIV/AIDS.

Child behaviour and parenting in HIV/AIDS-affected families in China.

Human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) among families in China poses many challenges for caregivers and their children. A total of 154 caregivers of HIV/AIDS-affected children were interviewed to examine child behaviour in HIV/AIDS-affected families. Parenting skills were found to be correlated with child delinquency, and this correlation was influenced by the number of children in the family and the child's age. Illiterate caregivers were more likely to have delinquent children, and parenting skills had less of an association with child delinquency among illiterate caregivers. Study findings underscore the necessity of emphasizing good parenting skills in interventions with caregivers of HIV/AIDS-affected children in China in order to improve child behaviour and overall family well-being.