Despite convincing outcome evidence and the popularity of family therapy, little is known about how interpersonal change actually comes about in this context. To synthesize and integrate what is known and to offer recommendations for future, clinically relevant research, all published process studies on family therapy were reviewed. Included were naturalistic studies of conjoint treatment in which the focus was the in-session verbal behavior of the participants or their self-reported perceptions of actual interactions. Dating from 1963, 36 studies met the inclusion criteria. The review was organized according to 3 hierarchically ordered levels of in-session processes (L. S. Greenberg, 1986): observations of (a) speech acts, followed by studies of (b) important incidents or change episodes and (c) the therapeutic relationship. The implications of what is "known" are followed by a discussion of what is not "known" and suggested directions for future research.

The structural and Milan systemic approaches were compared in order to determine the extent to which their major proponents behave in ways that are consistent with theory. The focus was on interpersonal control dynamics between therapist and family system. Three published transcripts of each treatment were intensively studied using the Family Relational Communication Control Coding System (Friedlander & Heatherington, 1989; Heatherington & Friedlander, 1987), a systemically based instrument that identifies interpersonal control patterns in naturally occurring language. Results were generally congruent with theory and reflected hypothesized differences in the approaches. Whereas therapists in both approaches engage heavily in complementary transactions in which they are “one‐up” and the family members are “one‐down,” a number of other relational indices show considerable divergence. The implications of these results for an integration of the two approaches are discussed.

Results from earlier selection studies indicated that while the size of head spots in mice descended from the Goodale head-spot strain was a quantitative, polygenic trait, head-spot occurrence was probably a qualitative trait inherited by one or two genes. The present study was undertaken to examine this possibility by crossing a head-spot stock with three inbred strains and with two noninbred stocks carrying mutant genes. Observed segregation ratios in the F2 and backcross generations of these crosses were compared to results expected under various models of qualitative inheritance. Evidence of linkage between known loci and a putative head-spot gene also was sought. Results indicated that head spotting was inherited primarily by the action of a recessive autosomal gene, head spot (hs). The action of this gene was subject to modification, in some crosses, by other genes or by environmental factors. Attempts to demonstrate linkage between the head spots and known single-locus traits were unsuccessful.

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