Family process in health research: Extending a family typology to a new cultural context.

Abstract

To describe family context in health research, the authors tested a typology of families developed in California with a sample of families in Quebec, Canada. Family scales from the California study were submitted to focus groups, translated, and standardized on a sample of 209 parents. A panel of experts then revised the scales to make them relevant to Quebec families and to health promotion. Data from the new and revised scales were collected on 509 Quebec couples (1,018 spouses) and were clustered separately by gender, using K means. The procedure classified all respondents into family types that paralleled the original typology. Discriminant analyses indicated that family profile variables significantly distinguished family types. Comparisons with family, stress, and health variables further differentiated among the types and expanded their meaning. The study demonstrates a method for redefining and extending family data in health research with different cultural groups.

Association of body mass index and dietary restraint with changes in eating behaviour throughout late childhood and early adolescence: a 5-year study

“…Grade four classes were recruited from 14 rural, five suburban and 13 urban elementary schools in control and experimental sites of the Quebec Heart Health Demonstration Project 30 , 31 . A total of 1274 fourth grade students for whom parental consent was obtained provided baseline data in March 1995.…”

“…This study is part of a 5-year longitudinal study aimed at exploring how behaviour-specific environments and family characteristics might be associated with heart health behaviours (dietary consumption, physical activity and cigarette smoking) during pre-and early adolescence 30,31 .…”

A Typology of Management Styles in Families with Children with ADHD

“…The advantage of deriving a family typology is that it allows a complex, dynamic system, such as the family, to be efficiently described so that family types can be profiled. Each profile type can then address a variety of health-related issues, and family assessment and intervention strategies can be directed toward each specific family type, maximizing efficiency (Fisher et al, 1998). Certainly the disadvantage of developing any type of typology is that it can become static, making it more difficult to address issues of diversity or individual family biography.…”

“…Common estimates of prevalence suggest that from 3% to 6% of the child and adolescent population in the United States is diagnosed with ADHD (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Recent reports suggest, however, that ADHD may affect as many as 8% to 17% of America's youth, posing a much more significant public health threat than previously thought (Fisher et al, 1998;Lefever, Dawson, & Morrow, 1999). Children and adolescents with ADHD are at a significantly higher risk for numerous emotional and social problems than those without ADHD, including academic and occupational underachievement, violence and criminality, increased suicide and risk-taking behavior, depression, addiction, interpersonal difficulties, and family disruption (Barkley, 1998;Wexler, 1996).…”

Perceived conflict in the couple and chronic illness management: Preliminary analyses from the Quebec Health Survey

“…In our exploration of couple conflict and illness management we have used a limited assessment of these constructs using the available variables of the Quebec Health Survey. Clearly, additional research with more structured and nuanced measures is required given both the complexity of family life and the variety of behaviors and strategies of self-care that chronically ill patients use [ 33 , 34 ]. Given the cross-sectional nature of this study, all of its results indicate statistical associations and we cannot derive any directional or cause to effect statement.…”