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Objective: To explore fathers' experiences as biological parents in father–stepmother families. Background: Biological parents play an important role in the formation and development of stepfamily relationships, but little is known about fathers in stepfamilies. Method: In-person interviews were conducted with 10 Belgian fathers. Interviews were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Results: Three themes emerged from the data: (a) reflecting on children's experiences and transitions, (b) pursuing a shared family understanding, and (c) innovating new ways of doing fatherhood and family. The first theme centers on fathers' concerns about the impact family transitions may have on their children. The second theme centers on fathers' pursuit of a shared understanding that clarifies family roles and expectations within the stepfamily. The last theme addresses the creativity of these fathers as they co-construct new stepfamily and fatherhood identities in the absence of culturally ascribed norms. Conclusion: Given their connecting role as parent and partner, biological fathers in stepfamilies are key to the formation and development of a new family narrative. Findings contribute to family practitioners' understanding of how fathers experience stepfamily life.

Background: Obesity is a major health problem worldwide, and one of its causes is unhealthy eating. A healthy diet should ensure that energy intake (calories) is in balance with energy expenditure, but in this paper a subjective experience of healthy eating will be discussed. Research has revealed many determinants of food consumption, but a more holistic view of food consumption is often overlooked. Aim: The aim was to go beyond identifying determinants of eating by exploring the experience of (healthy) food for people with obesity. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight patients with obesity. Results: Interpretative phenomenological analysis identified four superordinate themes: ambivalence in the emotional relationship with food, an obesogenic environment where it is less acceptable to society to be obese, an experience of unfairness in the relationship to eating in comparison with other people, and the parental role as an existential motivation to eat healthier. Conclusion: The relationship of people with obesity and food is highly complex and personal, and is influenced by the uncontrollability of the social and physical environment. These personal experiences of people with obesity should be taken into account in the psychological treatment of obesity. The current research adds to the mostly motivational determinants discovered with social cognition models, by showing the subjective experience of (healthy) food consumption for people with obesity.

Perceived responsiveness has become one of the most important constructs in the relationship sciences. It is central to the development of a secure attachment style, the experience of social support, an internal locus of control, and the sense of control in close relationships. Conversely, an unresponsive environment is associated with learned helplessness and depression. Viewed through the lens of the social relations model (SRM), perceived responsiveness in family relationships could have multiple sources: the perceiver; the target or partner; the perceiver-target relationship; and the family group. This study used the SRM to determine the relative importance of these sources of perceived responsiveness in the relationships of 207 two-parent two-child families. Characteristics of the perceiver and the target each accounted for about 25% of the systematic variance in perceived responsiveness, whereas the perceiver-target relationship accounted for approximately 48%. At the individual level of analysis, reciprocity of perceived responsiveness was pervasive in the family relationships of the two children. Regardless of age, young people who generally perceived others as responsive were generally perceived by others as responsive. At the dyadic level of analysis, reciprocity was present in two dyads: mother-father and older child-younger child. Reliable target variances support the view that perceived responsiveness is not just "inside the head" of the perceiver, and reciprocity correlations suggest potentially useful systemic interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record

Cette étude examine l’influence des adolescents sur leurs parents, dans les contextes socioculturels d’Afrique Subsaharienne (Togo) et d’Europe Occidentale (Belgique). À travers une démarche qualitative inductive, les données d’entretiens semi-directifs avec des adolescents qui consomment des substances psychoactives ont fait l’objet d’une analyse phénoménologique interprétative. Les résultats montrent une bidirectionnalité de cette influence et les thèmes qui émergent renvoient à la préoccupation sur les résultats scolaires, sur la consommation de substances, et sur les besoins matériels et affectifs des adolescents. L’étude a montré que les significations culturelles associées à la relation parent-adolescent et à la consommation de substances impriment l'agentivité de l’adolescent. Elle a permis de mieux comprendre l’adolescent comme un partenaire actif du processus de construction de son identité, au même titre que les parents, et permet de modifier bien d’idées reçues à propos des adolescents qui consomment des substances psychoactives., This study examines the influence of teenagers on their parents in the socio-cultural contexts of sub-Saharan Africa (Togo) and Western Europe (Belgium). Through an inductive qualitative approach, the data of semi-directive interviews with teenagers who use psychoactive substances were analyzed using the Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis method. The results show a bidirectionality of this influence and the themes that emerged refer to the school performance, the substances use and the material and emotional needs of youths. The study showed that the cultural meanings associated with parent-adolescent relationships and substances use influence the teenager’s agency. It has led to a better understanding of the teenager as an active partner in the process of the building of his own identity in the same way as parents and help to change many preconceived ideas about teenagers who use psychoactive substances.

This study was an attempt to determine the factor structure, reliability, validity, and adaptation of the Fisher Divorce Adjustment Scale (FDAS) for Iranian divorced individuals. The primary ration...

The current study examined the respective role of step- family members' individual characteristics and their dyadic relationships in stepfamily members' percep- tions of mattering to one another. Parents, stepparents, and adolescents from 86 stepfamilies participated. Applying social relations model analyses, several trends emerged regarding the relative importance of individ- ual and dyadic factors. Parents' and adolescents' reports of mattering to one another were mainly driven by individual factors, whereas relational factors were important to understand the reports of mattering in which the stepparent was one of the dyad members. These findings contribute to stepfamily research by highlighting that stepfamily members' sense of belong- ing is at least partly a function of the interpersonal adaptation between the stepparent and other family members.

Addressing calls for more mediation process research, this qualitative study explored which contradictory tensions are in play in a helpful working relationship between mediators and their clients. Data were collected in semistructured interviews with divorce mediators (n = 12). Relational dialectical analysis detailed how divorce mediators varied practice styles along the central opposing pulls of client self-determination and professional control, neutrality and engagement, and efficiency and exploration. The findings counterbalance traditional hallmarks of mediation and highlight a range of dynamic truths in which mediators operate. Methodological limitations and implications for research and practice are discussed.

Background: This study aims to examine the adaptive process of children and mothers from multistressed low-income families in Singapore. It aims to bridge the knowledge gap left by existing poverty studies, which are predominately risk focused. Through a sequential longitudinal mixed-methods design, we will differentiate children and mothers who demonstrate varied social, developmental, and mental health trajectories of outcomes. Through utilizing the Latent Growth Curve Model (LGCM), we aim to detect the development and changes of the positive Family Agency and adaptive capacities of these families over time. The construct of Family Agency is underpinned by the theoretical guidance from the Social Relational Theory, which examines child agency, parent agency, relational agency, and the interactions among these members. It is hypothesized that positive Family Agency within low-income families may lead to better outcomes. The key research questions include whether the extent of positive Family Agency mediates the relationship among financial stress, resource utilization, home environment, and parental stress. Objective: The study elucidates the Family Agency construct through interviews with mother-child dyads. It also aims to understand how financial stress and resources are differentially related to home environment, parent stress, and parent and child outcomes. Methods: In phase 1, 60 mother-child dyads from families receiving government financial assistance and with children aged between 7 and 12 years will be recruited. In-depth interviews will be conducted separately with mothers and children. On the basis of 120 interviews, a measurement for the construct of Family Agency will be developed and will be pilot tested. In phase 2a, a longitudinal survey will be conducted over 3 time points from 800 mother-child dyads. The 3 waves of survey results will be analyzed by LGCM to identify the trajectories of adaptation pathways of these low-income families. In addition, 10 focus groups with up to 15 participants in each will be conducted to validate the LGCM results. Results: This project is funded by the Social Science Research Thematic Grant (Singapore). The recruitment of 60 mother-child dyads has been achieved. Data collection will commence once the amendment to the protocol has been approved by the Institutional Review Board. Analysis of phase 1 data will be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2019, and the first set of results is expected to be submitted for publication by the second quarter of 2019. Phase 2 implementation will commence in the second quarter of 2019, and the project end date is in May 2021. Conclusions: Findings from this study can potentially inform social policy and programs as it refines the understanding of low-income families by distinguishing trajectories of adaptive capacities so that policies and interventions can be targeted in enhancing the adaptive pathways of low-income families with children. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID): PRR1-10.2196/11629

Background: Childhood cancer not only presents challenges to the life of the child with cancer but also to the siblings’ daily family life. The aim of the current study was to gain a better understanding of siblings’ experiences of living in a family where one child has been diagnosed with blood cancer. Method: Ten siblings of children with leukemia or non-Hodgkin lymphoma completed a semistructured interview about their everyday family life experiences postdiagnosis. The verbatim transcripts of the interviews served as the data for an interpretative phenomenological analysis. Results: The results showed that overall the siblings experienced a continuity in many aspects of their family life: they still experienced their family as an important source of support and information/communication, as warm and loving and as a safe harbor where family members aim to protect each other. However, at the same time, the participating siblings also expressed that some things felt unmistakably different postdiagnosis: They felt that their family as a whole had been ripped apart, with a greater focus on the diagnosed child and changing responsibilities for each family member. Conclusion: This study informs parents and clinicians about the daily family life experiences from the siblings’ perspective, a perspective that is often overlooked. A focus on challenges as well as continuities within family life, the wish for connection expressed by the siblings, and the uniqueness of every sibling’s experiences is what can be taken away from this study by psychosocial workers in the field.

BACKGROUND This study aims to examine the adaptive process of children and mothers from multistressed low-income families in Singapore. It aims to bridge the knowledge gap left by existing poverty studies, which are predominately risk focused. Through a sequential longitudinal mixed-methods design, we will differentiate children and mothers who demonstrate varied social, developmental, and mental health trajectories of outcomes. Through utilizing the Latent Growth Curve Model (LGCM), we aim to detect the development and changes of the positive Family Agency and adaptive capacities of these families over time. The construct of Family Agency is underpinned by the theoretical guidance from the Social Relational Theory, which examines child agency, parent agency, relational agency, and the interactions among these members. It is hypothesized that positive Family Agency within low-income families may lead to better outcomes. The key research questions include whether the extent of positive Family Agency mediates the relationship among financial stress, resource utilization, home environment, and parental stress. OBJECTIVE The study elucidates the Family Agency construct through interviews with mother-child dyads. It also aims to understand how financial stress and resources are differentially related to home environment, parent stress, and parent and child outcomes. METHODS In phase 1, 60 mother-child dyads from families receiving government financial assistance and with children aged between 7 and 12 years will be recruited. In-depth interviews will be conducted separately with mothers and children. On the basis of 120 interviews, a measurement for the construct of Family Agency will be developed and will be pilot tested. In phase 2a, a longitudinal survey will be conducted over 3 time points from 800 mother-child dyads. The 3 waves of survey results will be analyzed by LGCM to identify the trajectories of adaptation pathways of these low-income families. In addition, 10 focus groups with up to 15 participants in each will be conducted to validate the LGCM results. RESULTS This project is funded by the Social Science Research Thematic Grant (Singapore). The recruitment of 60 mother-child dyads has been achieved. Data collection will commence once the amendment to the protocol has been approved by the Institutional Review Board. Analysis of phase 1 data will be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2019, and the first set of results is expected to be submitted for publication by the second quarter of 2019. Phase 2 implementation will commence in the second quarter of 2019, and the project end date is in May 2021. CONCLUSIONS Findings from this study can potentially inform social policy and programs as it refines the understanding of low-income families by distinguishing trajectories of adaptive capacities so that policies and interventions can be targeted in enhancing the adaptive pathways of low-income families with children. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPOR PRR1-10.2196/11629

Purpose Pediatric cancer presents many challenges to the life of the child diagnosed with cancer and his/her family. Among the studies investigating risk and protective factors, social support has emerged as an important construct. However, little is known on how family members support each other in this particular context. Method In order to further explore this process, interviews were performed separately with mothers, fathers and siblings. For the purpose of this study (as this is part of a larger project), data from four families in which both parents and at least one sibling participated, were used. Multi Family Member Interview Analysis was used as the methodological framework to analyze the individual interviews, allowing a detailed and systematic analysis of shared family experiences. Results The analysis of the data revealed three themes: Being together matters: the families identified the need of being physically together; Finding support in (not) talking: the complexity of sharing emotions was explained and Working together as a team: the families described working together as a team in order to get everything organized. Conclusions This study broadens our understanding of the interpersonal process of family support-giving when facing pediatric cancer. When meeting with families, families should be invited as a unit in order to best capture family level experiences. Also, clinicians should be sensitive to the different cancer-related communication needs within the family (i.e., the need to talk or not to talk) and incorporate this knowledge into their care.

This study examined how 34 senior students and first-year college students with autism spectrum disorder, their mothers (n = 34) and fathers (n = 26) navigate the higher education transition, and how this context impacts on dynamics in the parent-child relationships. Semi-structured interviews were analyzed based on grounded theory and dyadic analysis principles. Both parties were confronted with an abundance of challenges and experienced strong feelings of ambivalence, stress and anxiety. Differences in perspectives occurred regarding the construction of adulthood, the acquisition of autonomy, disclosure and subscribing to support services. These differences caused tensions in the parent-child relationship, hindering the transformation of the relationship into an adult-like mutual relationship. Clinical implications are extrapolated on the basis of these findings.

Externalizing behavior (EB) has been found to be pervasive in children across different interactional systems. The transactional model is one of the most interesting and plausible mechanisms explaining the development of behavioral problems (Sameroff, 2009). The main goal of the study is to test bidirectional and recursive transactional relations between the quality of the caregiver–child relationship and children's externalizing behavior. The transactional model was tested in three-wave longitudinal cross-lagged models involving 117 children (78.5% boys) aged 4 at the beginning of the study and three caregivers, i.e. their mother, father and teacher. All of the children had been clinically referred for externalizing behavior. The multi-informant three-wave design was an original feature of this research. The results provided no evidence for a transactional process. The results suggest the singularity of each of these three interactional systems. They are discussed from the theoretical viewpoint and in terms of their clinical implications.

Pediatric cancer is a life threatening disease that challenges the life of the diagnosed child, the parents and possible siblings. Moreover, it also places considerable demands on family life. The aim of the current study was to explore changes in the family functioning after a pediatric cancer diagnosis. Ten couples that had a child with leukemia or Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma were interviewed individually about their experiences. Interviews were semi-structured and the data were analyzed using Multi Family Member Interview Analysis. Three themes emerged from the data: (1) Family Cohesion: Strengthened vs. Fragmented; (2) Educational Norms and Values: Overindulgence vs. Being Stricter, and (3) Normality: Loss vs. Preservation. The conflicting dynamics present in these emerging themes exemplify the complexity of this process of family adaptation. The current study illustrates the need to take into account the family level, as well as the conflicting feelings parents may experience after a pediatric cancer diagnosis.

Expatriates experiencing emotional distress and a call for globally oriented psychotherapy receive an increased focus in the research agendas. That one may better understand how expatriates may be helped in times of distress, the insight in their actual psychotherapy experience may serve as a valuable avenue. The aim of this qualitative study was to illuminate the lived experience of psychotherapy and the meaning that expatriates attributed to these experiences within their expatriate context. Semi-structured interviews were utilized for the data collection and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was employed for data analysis. The following themes emerged from the expatriates’ narratives about their psychotherapy experience: “The recognition of the expatriate complexity,” “Personal growth vs Dependency,” “Endurance vs Change,” “The globally minded therapist,” and “Language makes or breaks.” The overall common psychotherapy experience was expatriates’ considerable need to get the recognition of their expatriate complexity in a global context. Findings are discussed in relation to the existing expatriate and multicultural counselling literature taking into account the importance of cultural aspects in mental health treatment. The current study presents a unique and important contribution in the field of expatriate mental health as it highlights the psychotherapy experience that can be valuable for professionals in various settings offering psychological support.

The concept of agency is relevant in family therapy. As family therapists we approach each family member as a full agent, which means that what each person thinks and feels, makes sense, and that each person contributes in a significant way to the construction of a relationship. A person’s sense of relational agency is constructed in rela- tionships through processes of relational influence. Thus, agency is a relational construct and is dependent on bidi- rectional transactions in a relationship. A person’s sense of relational agency refers to the belief a person has about being able to influence another person, that this influence is significant for the other, makes a difference for the other, and contributes to the construction of the relationship. Many family members who enter therapy have lost their sense of relational agency. In this paper we discuss ideas how to reconstruct family members’ sense of relational agency in therapeutic practice.

Objectives: The impact of autism on family life quality is a clinical reality. Research indicates a dynamic of mutual reinforcement between child's behavior and mothers' symptoms of depression. The objective of the current study is to investigate the association between depressive symptoms of mothers who have a child with autism and the child's behavioral disorder, and to indicate the importance of perceived stress, parental sense of competence and individual coping in their associations with mothers' symptoms of depression. Method: Participants (53 mothers, from 29 to 51 years, with a child with autism from 3 to 16 years) completed five standardized questionnaires. Bivariate correlations analysis and step by step regression analyses were done. Results: Significant correlations between mothers' psychological well-being and mothers' stress perception, parental sense of competence, child's behavioral disorder, and individual coping were found. The child's behavioral disorder is the first predictor (26%, p < .001) of depressive symptoms of mothers, followed by individual coping (21%, p < .001) and perceived stress (5%, p < .05). Conclusions: The negative bidirectional reinforcement described in literature was found in this study. Indeed, behavioral disorders of children with autism increase depressive symptoms in mother and vice versa. These results also suggest other important factors which modulate well-being of mothers of children with autism. Finally, because marital and leisure stress and individual stress coping explain an additional variance of depressive symptoms in mothers, the role of spouse and family support, as well as self-help groups and associations of families, is raised.

In today’s Western societies, the transition to adulthood is prolonged, creating a separate developmental phase between adolescence and adulthood referred to as emerging adulthood. Following from this general delay in adult commitment-making, a considerable number of emerging adults continues to live in the parental household. The present study was conducted in Belgium and aimed to obtain a greater understanding of the home-leaving experience by qualitatively exploring how emerging adults who live with their parents or who have taken steps toward independent living experience their residential status. Twenty Belgian emerging adults, aged 24 to 25, were questioned during an interview. Responses were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Emerging adults’ descriptions suggest that the home-leaving process is a complex period in life characterized by feelings of ambivalence, whereby young people are simultaneously trying to combine a strong need for independence with a wish to remain connected to the parents. Implications for clinical practice and future research are discussed.

Recent Belgian policy changes led to progressive shared parenting, mediation, and no-fault legislation. However, little is known about the practices and policy preferences of the implicated professionals. The present study surveyed 664 Flemish divorce lawyers, mental health professionals, and mediators. The majority of professionals supports no-fault divorce legislation, unified family courts, court-independent mediation, and well-informed trajectory decisions, but disagree with a primary caretaker presumption. Equally shared parenting agreements were uncommon in lawyers' practice and most frequent among mediators. Yet, whereas mediators were mostly skeptical, the majority of lawyers were convinced of the positive effect of such agreements on children. Mental health professionals are set apart by exclusive maternal authority agreements and rarely providing trajectory information in their practice. Implications for clients, practice, and policy are addressed. Keypoints for the Family Court Community Discusses recent sociological and legal developments in Flanders Details key policy and practice preferences of different divorce professionals Clarifies policy and practice differences and similarities between divorce professionals on: Equally shared parenting agreements No-fault divorce and the nature of mediation services Informing on divorce trajectories and changing divorce trajectories Informs on possibilities for interprofessionnal collaboration and areas of expertise

In contrast to mediation outcome studies, there is a lack of research on mediation processes. In response, this article explores mediators’ styles and goals and their determinants, such as the mediators’ professional background and client characteristics. Survey data of 359 divorce pro-fessionals were analyzed with the use of multiple regression analyses. Results showed that styles and goals are predominantly determined by professional-related characteristics. Lawyer mediators and mental health mediators diverged in advisory and interest-based styles but were unifi ed in all goals we studied. Th e goals, self-determination, advocacy, and processing emotions diff erentiated mediation from law and mental health practice. Implications are discussed.

The aim of the present study was to investigate (a) how intergenerational influence takes form within families with a child with a disability, and (b) the extent to which positive and negative influence - as perceived by family members - within and across generations, is predictive of family members' subjective quality of life. The study involved 60 two-parent two-child families where one of the children had a disability. Within a round-robin design, family members completed self-report measures of felt influence within their family and subjective quality of life. The main findings suggest that interpersonal influence as perceived by parents and children (a) varies as a function of valence (positive vs. negative) and target (from whom the influence is felt); and (b) is related to subjective quality of life. However, there seem to be differential effects of the distinct dimensions of influence (positive vs. negative; intergenerational vs. intragenerational) depending on whose quality of life is examined. ispartof: Psychologica Belgica vol:53 issue:3 pages:25-47 status: published

This research explores the effects of participating in the Rebuilding Seminar on postdivorce adjustment and the general health of divorced women in Arak, Iran. For this quasi-experimental study, 15 participants were recruited through convenience sampling. Prior to the participation in group intervention, participants were asked to complete a demographic questionnaire, the Fisher Divorce Adjustment Scale (FDAS), and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ–28). Participants then completed the 10 weekly, 2-hour group intervention program. After the completion of the group intervention, postintervention questionnaires were administered. Results indicate that this particular educational program affected adjustment in participants on all subscales of the FDAS, except for social self-worth. The results also suggest that the intervention program was effective on all subscales of the GHQ–28, except for somatic symptoms. Due to numerous changes in the life of divorced women and the stressful nature of divorce...

Studies have reported that mediation has higher settlement rates than litigation. The quality of these agreements as experienced by the parties as well as the processes that contribute to this subjective experience remains underexamined, however. In a large, representative, and multidisciplinary study of divorcing couples, we studied the relationship between the practices of lawyers and mediators and the quality of agreements experienced by their clients. We used multiple regression analysis to reveal that divorce mediation is significantly more likely than litigation to produce high-quality divorce settlements. Furthermore, we found that high-quality divorce agreements were more likely to occur when mediators and lawyers were perceived to have worked facilitatively. In addition, we found that pre-divorce conflict levels were inversely correlated with the quality of agreements. Which party initiated the divorce, the parties' gender, and the type of legal divorce did not explain variances in the quality of the agreements. In this article, we also discuss the training and practice implications of our findings.

One purpose of family assessment is to formulate hypotheses that can guide clinical interventions. Family assessment is based on models about family functioning. In this paper the Social Relations Model (Kenny and La Voie, 1984; SRM) is presented as such a model about family dynamics. Moreover, SRM provides statistical tools to underpin empirical hypotheses about family functioning. An SRM family assessment of a family with a child in child psychiatric care exemplifies the possibilities and limitations of this SRM approach to family assessment. The subject of the family assessment is family members' sense of influence in their family relationships.

Bidirectional models of interpersonal influence in parent—child relationships underscore the influence of children on their parents. Following a social constructionist perspective, the present study uses Q methodology to explore meanings and beliefs concerning children's influence among members of the Belgian-Flemish culture. Children and adults each performed the Q-sorting tasks that were analysed separately. Q-factor analysis of the children-sorts produced five factors and six factors for the adults. These analyses revealed that a central understanding of children's influence for children and adults is the recognition of the full person and partnership of the child in the relationship. Children's responses focus on the responsiveness of the parents and stress that parents learn from them. Adults' responses emphasize the massiveness of children's influence on the parents' personal development.

Despite contemporary acceptance that children are active agents in their own socialization, that causality between parents and children is bidirectional, and that context matters, basic concepts used in socialization research continue to reflect an underlying mechanistic ontology. In this chapter we propose that a dialectical relational systems conception of the transaction model provides direction for future advances in the study of dynamic parent-child socialization processes with an emphasis of intergenerational change, not only continuity. The chapter begins by exploring dialectics as a framework underlying an organismic-contextual meta-theory for understanding the transactional model of human development. The chapter then outlines social relational theory as a framework for translating four assumptions of a dialectical ontology including agency, holism, contradiction, and synthesis to reformulate major transactional processes in parent-child relations and socialization. The chapter ends by considering implications for application and methodology informed by dialectics. Keywords: agency; bidirectionality; compliance; control; dialectic; family processes; internalization; parent-child interactions; parent-child relationships; relational influence; resistance; socialization; transaction

This article reports on a qualitative study with 21 young adults who grew up with a depressed parent. We examined how young adults make sense of their childhood experiences of parental depression and how their retrospective reflections help us to understand the experiences of children and the processes of parentification. Participants recounted that their childhood consisted mainly of actions in the service of family well-being. At that time, they reflected on their own experiences only rarely. In adolescence, there was an evolution toward a greater consideration for oneself and a repositioning within the family. In the discussion, we explore the therapeutic implications of this study--and in particular--the meaningfulness of silence in the family process of parentification.

Dysfunctional use of the mobile phone has often been conceptualized as a 'behavioural addiction' that shares most features with drug addictions. In the current article, we challenge the clinical utility of the addiction model as applied to mobile phone overuse. We describe the case of a woman who overuses her mobile phone from two distinct approaches: (1) a symptom-based categorical approach inspired from the addiction model of dysfunctional mobile phone use and (2) a process-based approach resulting from an idiosyncratic clinical case conceptualization. In the case depicted here, the addiction model was shown to lead to standardized and non-relevant treatment, whereas the clinical case conceptualization allowed identification of specific psychological processes that can be targeted with specific, empirically based psychological interventions. This finding highlights that conceptualizing excessive behaviours (e.g., gambling and sex) within the addiction model can be a simplification of an individual's psychological functioning, offering only limited clinical relevance.The addiction model, applied to excessive behaviours (e.g., gambling, sex and Internet-related activities) may lead to non-relevant standardized treatments. Clinical case conceptualization allowed identification of specific psychological processes that can be targeted with specific empirically based psychological interventions. The biomedical model might lead to the simplification of an individual's psychological functioning with limited clinical relevance.

Expanding on current advancement in divorce and family dispute resolution research, an integrative and process-oriented model is presented. This article explores the extent to which, and how, individual, trajectory, and arrangement factors are related to post-divorce personal wellbeing. Questionnaire data were collected from a sample of 423 individuals who divorced through mediation or litigation. A subsample of 112 respondents provided extra information on the personal qualities of divorce professionals. A series of multiple regression analysis demonstrated that: (1) gender, (2) experienced facilitative problem solving behaviors and the Rogerian personal qualities of professionals, and (3) the quality of divorce arrangements all directly relate to post-divorce wellbeing. No significant associations emerged for other individual characteristics (i.e., age, having children or not, pre-divorce conflict levels, relationship duration, initiator-status), or trajectory features (i.e., type of professional and type of legal procedure). Path analytic procedures did not show any indirect effect from problem solving behaviors or Rogerian attitudes of lawyers and mediators on post-divorce wellbeing through its effect on the quality of divorce arrangements. The implications for mediation practice are discussed.

Traditional approaches to the study of parent-child relationships view intergenerational transmission as a top-down phenomenon in which parents transfer their values, beliefs, and practices to their children. Furthermore, the focus of these unidirectional approaches regarding children's internalisation processes is on continuity or the transmission of similar values, beliefs, and practices from parents to children. Analogous unidirectional perspectives have also influenced the domain of family therapy. In this paper a cognitive-bidirectional and dialectical model of dynamics in parent-child relationships is discussed in which the focus is on continual creation of novel meanings and not just reproduction of old ones in the bidirectional transmission processes between parents and children. Parents and children are addressed as full and equally agents in their interdependent relationship, while these relational dynamics are embedded within culture. This cultural context complicates bidirectional transmission influences in the parent-child relationship as both parents and children are influenced by many other contexts. Further, current research in the domain of parent-child relationships and current concepts of intergenerational transmission in family therapy are reviewed from a bidirectional cognitive-dialectical perspective.

Family assessment in grief research has been interested in either the impact of bereavement on family grief, and more precisely, how an individual’s grief influences the family functioning, or how family dynamics mediate family members’ individual grief experiences. Couple and family instruments used in grief research are reviewed. These were found to be well-validated and are usually popular in family research. In addition, qualitative research on family grief is reviewed to provide a more dynamic and interactive perspective. Finally, recommendations for further development of family grief assessment instruments are proposed. For future bereavement research, we suggest the use of multidimensional assessments, a multi-method, multi-informant, and multi-level approach to grasp the complex interactions of grief in the couple and family context.

The objective of this article was to develop and psychometrically evaluate a self-report instrument that would assess interpersonal influence in families. The Influence in Families Questionnaire (IFQ) was developed as a 16-item scale which assesses both positive and negative influence. The IFQ and its subscales, when administered to a sample of 581 adolescents and young adults, showed high internal consistency and exhibited a promising pattern of convergent, divergent and criterion validity in relation to relevant criteria such as impact messages, family and attachment relationships and interpersonal sense of control. Overall, these results suggest that the IFQ is a useful instrument for measuring interpersonal influence within families.

The global aim of this study was to explore children’s narratives of parental divorce. A convenience sample, composed of 11- and 14-year-old children, was recruited. A total of 22 children (12 male, 10 female) participated in this focus group study. The findings show that two components seem to be really important for children during the divorce process: the ability to construct meaning about their parents’ decision to divorce and their feeling to count in the process of family transition. Children expressed the need for an explanation about why parents decided to divorce and wanted to matter with regard to the decisions on their post-divorce living arrangements.

This study investigates children’s eating behavior in a context of bidirectional parent—child influences. Parents and children were asked about their sense of influence and of being influenced concerning food rules. For parents, these feelings seemed to be partly correlated with children’s eating behavior. Additionally, Social Relations Model analysis revealed that parents’ and children’s feelings of influence and being influenced were not only dependent on characteristics of the rater or actor, but also characteristics of the partner and of the unique relationship were found to be important. Furthermore, evidence was found for bidirectional influences, but only for the mother—older sibling dyad.

Serum concentrations of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and growth hormone were measured in 25 cats with untreated diabetes mellitus (11 of which were used for follow-up measurements, one to three, four to eight, nine to 12 and 13 to 16 weeks after their treatment with insulin began), 14 diabetic cats that had previously been treated with insulin, and seven diabetic cats that also had hypersomatotropism, two of which had not previously been treated with insulin; 18 healthy cats were used as controls. In the untreated diabetic cats the concentration of IGF-1 ranged from 13.0 to 433.0 ng/ml (median 170.5 ng/ml), which was significantly lower than the concentrations in the control cats (196.0 to 791.0 ng/ml, median 452.0 ng/ml). Their IGF-1 concentrations increased significantly when they were treated with insulin and after four to eight weeks were not different from those in the control cats. In the diabetic cats that had previously been treated with insulin the IGF-1 concentrations were 33.0 to 476.0 ng/ml (median 316.0 ng/ml), which was significantly lower than the concentrations in the control cats, but significantly higher than in the untreated diabetic cats. The IGF-1 concentrations in the two previously untreated diabetic cats with hypersomatotropism were low and low-normal but increased markedly after treatment with insulin. In the five previously treated cats with hypersomatotropism the concentration of IGF-1 was above the normal range. The concentrations of growth hormone in the treated and untreated diabetic cats without hypersomatotropisms were not significantly different and there was an overlap in its concentrations in the diabetic cats with and without hypersomatotropism.