Family Support in Children’s Mental Health: A Review and Synthesis

Abstract

A comprehensive review of structured family support programs in children's mental health was conducted in collaboration with leadership from key national family organizations. The goals were to identify typologies of family support services for which evaluation data existed and identify research gaps. Over 200 programs were examined; 50 met criteria for inclusion. Programs were categorized by whether they were delivered by peer family members, clinicians, or teams. Five salient components of family support were identified: (a) informational, (b) instructional, (c) emotional, (d) instrumental, and (e) advocacy. Clinician-led programs were heavily represented (n = 33, 66%), followed by family-led (n = 11, 22%), and team-delivered (n = 6, 12%) programs. Key differences between programs delivered by clinicians or by peer family members were found in the degree of emphasis, research methodology, and outcomes. However, the content of the components was similar across all three program types. There are both important differences in emphasis across typologies of family support provided by clinicians, family members, or teams as well as important similarities in content. Family-delivered support may be an important adjunct to existing services for parents, although the research base remains thin. A research agenda to promote more rigorous evaluations of these services especially those delivered by peer family members is critical.

Youth top problems: Using idiographic, consumer-guided assessment to identify treatment needs and to track change during psychotherapy.

“…Using top problem assessment to pursue these goals would be consistent with calls for more idiographic approaches (e.g., Barlow & Nock, 2009) and client-guided methods of clinical assessment (e.g., Eifert, Evans, & McKendrick, 1990;Hoagwood et al, 2010) Client-guided assessment may be particularly important in youth treatment because it typically entails clinical work with two clients-youth and caregiver. For the clinician seeking to engage both parties, it may be critical to know what problems each sees as most important, and to assess treatment progress in relation to those problems.…”

A qualitative investigation into the relationships between social factors and suicidal thoughts and acts experienced by people with a bipolar disorder diagnosis

“…However, the role of such factors within pathways leading to suicidal behaviour is still not fully understood. Previous research focusing upon the role of social factors in suicidal ideation and behaviour has emphasised the impact of characteristics of family relationships, such as the perceived level of family support (e.g., Diamond et al, 2010;Hoagwood et al, 2010) and family conflict (e.g, Legleye al., 2010;Xing et al, 2010). Characteristics of wider social networks have also been implicated in the formation of suicidal ideation, such as social isolation (e.g., Bearman & Moody, 2004) and peer integration amongst adolescents (e.g., Connor & Rueter, 2006).…”

Advancing Efforts to Improve Children’s Mental Health in America: A Commentary

“…This is aligned with the family driven principle of SOC and is done to engage community members in research activities and assist in data use and dissemination for local purposes. This has evolved into spin-off studies with NIMH researchers and evaluators involving families (e.g., Olin et al 2009).…”