Political violence leads to changes in multiple dimensions of family life and also to strategies for managing those changes. Qualitative family research is useful in better understanding refugee families and in helping them through family-oriented mental health services.

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The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of a multiple-family group in increasing access to mental health services for refugees with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study investigated a nine-session multiple-family group called Coffee and Families Education and Support with refugee families from Bosnia-Herzegovina in Chicago. Adults with PTSD (n = 197) and their families were randomly assigned to receive either the intervention or a control condition. The results indicated that a multiple-family group was effective in increasing access to mental health services and that depression and family comfort with discussing trauma mediated the intervention effect. Further well-designed studies of family interventions are needed for developing evidence-based interventions for refugee families.

The prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is 1 in 110 persons in the U.S. Both parents of children with ASD are under stress that may impact their health-related quality of life (HRQL) (physical and mental health). The purpose of the current study was to explore the relationship of parenting stress, support from family functioning and the HRQL (physical and mental health) of both parents. Female (n = 64) and male (n = 64) parents of children with ASD completed Web-based surveys examining parenting stress, family functioning, and physical and mental health. Results of a Wilcoxon signed-ranks test showed that female parent discrepant (D) scores between "what is" and "should be" family functioning were significantly larger than male parents, p = .002. Results of stepwise linear regression for the male-female partners showed that (1) higher female caregiving stress was related to lower female physical health (p < .001), (2) a higher discrepancy score in family functioning predicted lower mental health (p < .001), accounting for 31% of the variance for females and (3) male parent personal and family life stress (p < .001) and family functioning discrepant (D) score (p < .001) predicted poor mental health, with the discrepancy score accounting for 35% of the variance. These findings suggest that there may be differences in mothers' and fathers' perceptions and expectations about family functioning and this difference needs to be explored and applied when working with families of children with ASD.

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The object of this study was to describe a feasibility study of the Tea and Families Education and Support (TAFES) intervention used in a group of newly resettled adult refugees from Kosova. The subjects were 86 newly resettled Kosovar refugees in Chicago who gave informed consent to participate in an investigation of the TAFES intervention. All subjects received family home visits, and most participated in the TAFES multi-family groups. The instruments were administered to adult participants before and 3 months after the intervention. The TAFES program had contact with 61 Kosovar refugee families, of which 42 families (69%) engaged in TAFES groups, including families with educated and working members. Several characteristics were associated with engaging in TAFES groups and included lower monthly family income and higher age of the first child. The uncontrolled postintervention assessments demonstrated increases in social support and psychiatric service use associated with engagement in the TAFES group. Participants also showed time changes in scale scores assessing trauma mental health knowledge, trauma mental health attitudes, and family hardiness. This study provides preliminary evidence that multi-family support and education groups are a feasible and possibly beneficial intervention for newly resettled refugees and indicates the need for further studies.

Level of acculturation has been linked to depressed mood in studies across culturally diverse immigrant groups. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of acculturation, social alienation, personal and family stress, and demographic characteristics on depressed mood in midlife immigrant women from the former Soviet Union. Structural equation modeling showed that higher acculturation scores, measured by English language and American behavior, were indirectly related to lower scores for depressed mood. Higher acculturation levels promoted mental health indirectly by reducing social alienation and, subsequently, lowering family and personal stress, both of which had direct relationships to symptoms of depression. These findings support the ecological framework that guided our research and point to the importance of focusing on contextual factors in developing interventions for new immigrants.

Purpose This article reports on recommendations arising from an invitational workshop series held at the National Institutes of Health for the purposes of identifying critical genomics problems important to the health of the public that can be addressed through nursing science. The overall purpose of the Genomic Nursing State of the Science Initiative is to establish a nursing research blueprint based on gaps in the evidence and expert evaluation of the current state of the science and through public comment. Organizing Constructs A Genomic Nursing State of the Science Advisory Panel was convened in 2012 to develop the nursing research blueprint. The Advisory Panel, which met via two webinars and two in-person meetings, considered existing evidence from evidence reviews, testimony from key stakeholder groups, presentations from experts in research synthesis, and public comment. Findings The genomic nursing science blueprint arising from the Genomic Nursing State of Science Advisory Panel focuses on biologic plausibility studies as well as interventions likely to improve a variety of outcomes (e.g., clinical, economic, environmental). It also includes all care settings and diverse populations. The focus is on (a) the client, defined as person, family, community, or population; (b) the context, targeting informatics support systems, capacity building, education, and environmental influences; and (c) cross-cutting themes. It was agreed that building capacity to measure the impact of nursing actions on costs, quality, and outcomes of patient care is a strategic and scientific priority if findings are to be synthesized and aggregated to inform practice and policy. Conclusions The genomic nursing science blueprint provides the framework for furthering genomic nursing science to improve health outcomes. This blueprint is an independent recommendation of the Advisory Panel with input from the public and is not a policy statement of the National Institutes of Health or the federal government. Clinical Relevance This genomic nursing science blueprint targets research to build the evidence base to inform integration of genomics into nursing practice and regulation (such as nursing licensure requirements, institutional accreditation, and academic nursing school accreditation).