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The Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scale (FACES) IV does not provide instructions about which family members respondents should think about while answering questions. This study examined which family members respondents thought about while completing the FACES IV, and if this changed measurement invariance and population heterogeneity of the measure. Using a sample of n = 511 individuals, a latent class analysis showed three distinct classes: Nuclear Family, Family of Origin, and All of the Above. The FACES IV demonstrated measurement invariance across classes on the majority of subscales; however, population heterogeneity tests suggested that the means and variances of the subscales varied across classes. The findings suggest further examination of how the measure functions with unique family constellations is warranted.

This study examined associations between reported histories of childhood abuse and later reports of obligation towards their family of origin from a family life cycle perspective. Data from this study included a subsample of 725 single and married, English-speaking adult participants (57.1% female, M age 5 49.8 years) from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS II): Biomarker Project. Findings suggest that childhood abuse impacts later family obligation in many ways, and that different categories of abuse (e.g. emotional, neglect, physical and sexual) and severity levels (e.g. none, less severe, more severe) differ in their impacts on adults' reports of obligation to their families. Implications for future research and clinical practice are suggested.Practitioner points • Clinicians should be aware that different categories of childhood abuse may have unique effects on clients' feelings of obligation towards their families later in life • The intersection between severity of childhood abuse and category of childhood abuse is important to explore in therapy due to nuanced effects on feelings of family obligation later in life

We examined the trends of quantitative research over the past 10 years in the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy (JMFT). Specifically, within the JMFT, we investigated the types and trends of research design and statistical analysis within the quantitative research that was published in JMFT from 2005 to 2014. We found that while the amount of peer-reviewed articles have increased over time, the percentage of quantitative research has remained constant. We discussed the types and trends of statistical analysis and the implications for clinical work and training programs in the field of marriage and family therapy.

Background Health risk behaviors are the most common sources of morbidity among adolescents. Adolescent health guidelines (Guidelines for Preventive Services by the AMA and Bright Futures by the Maternal Child Health Bureau) recommend screening and counseling, but the implementation is inconsistent. Objective This study aims to test the efficacy of electronic risk behavior screening with integrated patient-facing feedback on the delivery of adolescent-reported clinician counseling and risk behaviors over time. Methods This was a randomized controlled trial comparing an electronic tool to usual care in five pediatric clinics in the Pacific Northwest. A total of 300 participants aged 13-18 years who attended a well-care visit between September 30, 2016, and January 12, 2018, were included. Adolescents were randomized after consent by employing a 1:1 balanced age, sex, and clinic stratified schema with 150 adolescents in the intervention group and 150 in the control group. Intervention adolescents received electronic screening with integrated feedback, and the clinicians received a summary report of the results. Control adolescents received usual care. Outcomes, assessed via online survey methods, included adolescent-reported receipt of counseling during the visit (measured a day after the visit) and health risk behavior change (measured at 3 and 6 months after the visit). Results Of the original 300 participants, 94% (n=282), 94.3% (n=283), and 94.6% (n=284) completed follow-up surveys at 1 day, 3 months, and 6 months, respectively, with similar levels of attrition across study arms. The mean risk behavior score at baseline was 2.86 (SD 2.33) for intervention adolescents and 3.10 (SD 2.52) for control adolescents (score potential range 0-21). After adjusting for age, gender, and random effect of the clinic, intervention adolescents were 36% more likely to report having received counseling for endorsed risk behaviors than control adolescents (adjusted rate ratio 1.36, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.78) 1 day after the well-care visit. Both the intervention and control groups reported decreased risk behaviors at the 3- and 6-month follow-up assessments, with no significant group differences in risk behavior scores at either time point (3-month group difference: β=−.15, 95% CI −0.57 to −0.01, P=.05; 6-month group difference: β=−.12, 95% CI −0.29 to 0.52, P=.57). Conclusions Although electronic health screening with integrated feedback improves the delivery of counseling by clinicians, the impact on risk behaviors is modest and, in this study, not significantly different from usual care. More research is needed to identify effective strategies to reduce risk in the context of well-care. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02882919; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02882919