Review of the literature revealed two family theories of psychosomatic illness: the 'enmeshed' family of Minuchin and the family with affect disturbances. We interviewed twelve families, each containing a child with eczema. Most, but not all, of the families do fit in with one or other or both of the proposed interactional patterns, but the theory of a single family type, the 'psychosomatogenic family', is not supported. This complements the studies of individuals where specificity hypotheses have proved oversimplified.
A clinical study to compare clinically-observed with task-elicited family interaction was carried out as follows. Twelve families receiving family therapy were administered a series of tasks by tape-recorder. The therapist and an independent observer recorded interaction patterns in six dimensions (Alliance, Parenting, Marital Relationship, Communication, Affective Status and Boundary Integrity) and the results were compared with what was known clinically. Except for conflict the Task Interview revealed the main clinical features: however, it also revealedsignificant new informationinallcasesbutone. Thestudyhasimplicationsforclinicalwork.
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