Stages of change and engagement in a family intervention

Abstract

Prochaska and DiClemente's stages of change model facilitate understanding of engagement difficulties in psychosocial intervention processes. We assessed the link between stages of family change and intervention dropout in a sample of 141 families with relational conflicts between parents and adolescent children. Each family member's stage of change was defined according to three criteria: seeing the conflict as a relational problem, assuming part of the responsibility for the dysfunctional relationship, and understanding one's own mental and emotional states and those of the other family members involved in the conflict (mentalization). Our dropout rate for the sample was 41.8% and was higher for immigrant families. We found a strong association between engagement and the contemplation stage of change, particularly the mother's. In family conflict interventions, participation of all the family members is essential so as raise awareness of the relational aspects of the conflict and the shared responsibility for the conflict and its resolution.

Family conflict as ontological (in)security for young people with experiences of homelessness

“…Family conflict, including conflict between children and young people and their carers or parents, has long been acknowledged as a typical and healthy feature of adolescent social and emotional development (Allison, 2000). The transformation and reorganisation of family relationships, including adolescents' construction of their identity, and changes in levels of autonomy and peer relationships are dynamics that can create or contribute to family tensions or conflict (Castillo-Garayoa et al, 2020). Some children (under the age of 18 years) and young people (aged between 15 and 24 years of age) (United Nations, 2023), however, experience potent, persistent or pervasive levels of family conflict that can continue to impact them across the life course.…”