Family life education programs over conflict

The Life Horizons curriculum addresses not only the physiological and emotional aspects of sexuality, but moral, social and legal aspects as well. The Life Horizons curriculum addresses not only the physiological and emotional aspects of sexuality, but the moral, social and legal aspects as well. The Life Horizons I curriculum is the most widely used family life education program for individuals with developmental and learning disabilities.

Five separate topics are presented on over slides. The flexibility of our program has made it the first choice among our customers. The script and guide that accompany each set of pictures are comprehensive and easy to follow. Life Horizons I covers various areas of family life such as parts of the body, the sexual life cycle, human reproduction and sexual health.

The Life Horizons II program, developed at the request of many users of Life Horizons I who needed additional material on the psychosocial aspects of intimate human contact, focuses on attitudes and behaviors that promote good interpersonal relationships and responsible sexual behavior.

Life Horizons II covers topics such as moral, legal and social aspects of sexual behavior, dating skills, parenting, and preventing and coping with sexual abuse. Newman R. Providing direction on the road to resilence. J Behav Health Manag ; Shariaati M. Master's Thesis, Counseling Psychology. Isfahan University; Ameri F. Rayat Roknabadi M. Amato PR. Studing marital interaction and commitment with survery data.

J Marriage Fam ; Charney DS. Psychobiological mechanisms of resilience and vulnerability: Implications for successful adaptation to extreme stress. Am J Psychiatry ; Examine the relationship between communication patterns of marriage and marital satisfaction in employed couple in university of Isfahan. J Fam Res ; Kamran J, Mansour A. Acquaintance with the family life education. Tehran, Iran: State Welfare Organization; Irelan J, Vayzner M. Abdelah S, Gholamreza N. Also strong across Asian American groups are values of collectivism, respect for authority, self-discipline, and honoring elders Adler, Strong family units and filial piety are additional strengths among many Asian immigrant families, and multigenerational households are common Paik et al.

Therefore, Asian immigrant groups might be more receptive to FLE efforts that focus on the whole family Hwang, Many Asian Americans believe that success brings honor to the entire family and in turn, believe that family issues should be kept private which may be a barrier to attending FLE programs. However, because of the strong value placed on education by most Asian immigrant families, many may be receptive to the educational approach of FLE rather than other types of family interventions and therapies Hwang, This strong value on education provides opportunities for Family Life Educators to build partnerships with local schools which in turn could strengthen relationships between schools and Asian immigrant families Hwang, ; Paik et al.

In order to gain access and build trust with Asian immigrant families, Family Life Educators who are of non-Asian descent might consider partnering with members of the Asian community Hwang, Overall, the manner in which Family Life Educators address and respect cultural factors will impact the overall success of the FLE program. Chief concerns faced by this population include war-related trauma, family separation, loss of loved ones, and support system disruption Blume et al.

A harsh sociopolitical climate can form another challenge, and negative stereotypes can contribute to depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems Ads, ; ; Blume et al. Despite these challenges, a strong core cultural identification and a commitment to family helps to highlight family strengths and serves as an important coping mechanism for Arab American family members Ads, ; Blume et al.

Arab American strengths include family commitment, educational values, clear family roles, interdependence, and harmony Ads, ; ; Blume et al. Collectivistic values influence family members to value the whole over themselves, and Arab Americans tend to prioritize emotional closeness with both extended and individual family Ads, ; Blume et al.

Family Life Educators should be aware that every family is different, including in terms of gender roles Blume et al. Those with more traditional values may favor male dominance, endogamy, and arranged marriages Ads, ; Blume et al. While these practices may conflict with Western conventions, Arab Americans often view them as strengths that promote family harmony and reliance on heritage, collectivism, and agreement.

Culturally adapted FLE, including some of the recommendations provided above, can offer promising benefits to these vulnerable populations and, when carried out appropriately, may help immigrant families build on cultural strengths they already possess and connect to resources in their community.

The forthcoming second edition of our book Family Life Education With Diverse Populations will provide additional information on these three immigrant populations, eight other diverse immigrant family groups, and a model for best practices in FLE. By drawing on this and other resources, Family Life Educators can effectively work with families of all backgrounds.

Adler, S. Asian American families. Ponzetti Jr. New York, NY: Macmillan. Significant risks during fetal development for adverse neurobehavioral outcomes include genetic anomalies, poor maternal nutrition, maternal smoking and alcohol and drug use, exposure to neurotoxic substances, maternal depression or stress, low birth weight, and perinatal insults. Interventions that prevent these conditions have the potential to prevent many subsequent problems for the child.

For example, recent evidence suggests that reduced exposure of pregnant mothers to lead results in reduced total arrests and arrests for violent crimes of their children at ages 19—24 Wright, Dietrich, et al.

Universal preventive measures that have been adopted throughout the United States include the removal of lead from paint and gasoline. Another universal preventive measure U. Environmental Protection Agency, has been warning pregnant women or those anticipating conception about the high methyl mercury content of fish at the top of the marine food chain.

Prenatal exposure to this heavy metal has been linked to adverse cognitive and behavioral childhood outcomes Gao, Yan, et al. The rate of preterm births in the United States has increased from approximately 8 to Reducing preterm births remains a significant opportunity for prevention of MEB disorders in childhood.

Participation in WIC has been associated with improved birth outcomes, such as longer pregnancies, fewer preterm births, decreased prevalence of anemia in childhood, and improved cognitive outcomes Ryan and Zhou, Although it is likely that the WIC program contributes to the promotion of mental health of children and youth, the magnitude of this contribution is unknown. Changes in sleep, appetite, weight, energy level, and physical comfort in women during pregnancy and postpartum can cause significant emotional strain.

Screening for peripartum prenatal and postpartum depression is routinely recommended for women in primary care Pignone, Gaynes, et al. Preventive Services Task Force, Such screening tools as the EPDS have the potential to be modified to identify pregnant women with elevated symptoms of depression who would benefit from indicated interventions. In addition, some self-care tools can be useful as the first step in alleviating symptoms of depression Bower, Richards, and Lovell, CBT has a significant evidence base e.

A meta-analysis of 51 studies that evaluated interventions to increase maternal sensitivity and infant attachment using randomized controlled designs found that on average, the interventions were moderately effective in enhancing sensitivity Bakersman-Kranenburg, van Ijzendoorn, and Juffer, A total of 23 of the studies used a randomized design to assess impact on attachment and demonstrated a slight effect; interventions focused on directly enhancing sensitivity were significantly more effective than other types of interventions.

Home visiting is an intensive intervention that targets successful pregnancies and infant development. The majority of programs provide parenting education, information about child development, social support to parents, encouragement of positive parent—child interactions, and social and health services.

Some also provide case management services and health and developmental screening for children Sweet and Appelbaum, Sweet and Appelbaum conducted a meta-analysis of experimental and quasi-experimental evaluations of 60 home visiting programs.

Only a fourth of these programs included home visiting during pregnancy. The authors conclude that on average, families receiving home visiting did better than those in control conditions.

Mothers were more likely to pursue education but did not differ in their employment, self-sufficiency, or welfare dependence. However, the authors also note that the significant variability across programs makes it difficult to evaluate them as a group. Aos, Lieb, and colleagues found that average benefits of the 25 programs reviewed exceeded costs.

The home visiting program with the best experimental evaluations and strongest results to date is the Nurse-Family Partnership NFP , which has been evaluated in three randomized controlled trials. NFP is unique in targeting only first-time mothers. The theory of change is that women may be more open to support and guidance during their initial pregnancies Olds, Hill, et al.

In the first two trials in New York and Tennessee , the program improved pregnancy outcomes, maternal care-giving, and the maternal life course and prevented the development of antisocial behavior. The third trial in Colorado showed benefits as well. NFP has other distinguishing features that may contribute to the strength of its outcomes.

First, the program providers are nurses with both substantial training and credibility regarding pregnancy and infants. The Colorado trial experimentally evaluated the impact of nurses versus paraprofessionals and found that nurse visitation produced more benefits compared with the control condition Olds, Robinson, et al.

None of the other home visitation interventions reviewed by Gomby employed nurses as providers. Second, NFP uses well-established techniques to guide changes in specific behaviors, such as smoking, seeking an education, and getting social support. Since nurses who delivered the NFP trial interventions were also expected to deliver the program in the communities to which it would be disseminated, the trials had elements of effectiveness studies. However, the cost of training and the limited pool of nursing professionals in some communities may impede community-wide implementation.

A randomized controlled study by DuMont, Mitchell-Herzfeld, et al. The results of this study are consistent with those for NFP in at least two ways. Important differences were also reported.

DuMont, Mitchell-Herzfeld, et al. However, further research is needed to determine conclusively whether paraprofessional home visitors can achieve results comparable to those of nurse visitors.

Aggressive social behavior, which typically begins to emerge during childhood, is a key risk factor for progression of externalizing disorders see Brook, Cohen, et al. There is now extensive evidence on interventions designed to help families develop practices that prevent the development of aggressive and antisocial behavior and its associated problems. These interventions focus on providing training in parenting skills. Seminal research on family interactions by Patterson and colleagues over the past 40 years has shown that harsh and inconsistent parenting practices contribute to aggressive and uncooperative behavior and that positive involvement with children and positive reinforcement of desirable behavior contribute to cooperative and prosocial behavior e.

All of these programs teach and encourage parents to 1 use praise and rewards to reinforce desirable behavior; 2 replace criticism and physical punishment with mild and consistent negative consequences for undesirable behavior, such as time-out and brief loss of privileges; and 3 increase positive involvement with their children, such as playing with them, reading to them, and listening to them. The efficacy of interventions focused on parenting skills is well established see Lochman and van-den-Steenhoven, ; Petrie, Bunn, and Byrne, ; Prinz and Jones, ; Serketich and Dumas, In addition, several meta-analyses report positive effects of such interventions across a range of child and parent outcomes for parents of young children Barlow, Coren, and Stewart-Brown, ; Lundahl, Nimer, and Parsons, ; Serketich and Dumas, ; Kaminski, Valle, et al.

Kaminski, Valle, and colleagues report the greatest effect sizes for programs that include parent training in creating positive parent—child interactions, increasing effective emotional communication skills, and using time-out and that emphasize parenting consistency. Many parenting programs have been shown in two or more experimental trials to produce positive behavioral outcomes. Two examples of parenting interventions with substantial empirical evidence are highlighted in Boxes and The Incredible Years see Box , a combined parent—school intervention, has been tested as a selective and indicated intervention for children with aggressive behavior and related problems that have not yet reached clinical levels.

It also has been tested in effectiveness trials using indigenous family support personnel and is one of few interventions that has been tested by independent investigators rather than the program developer.

The Positive Parenting Program Triple P see Box is a multilevel intervention with universal, selective, and indicated components. It recently demonstrated positive results when tested on a population-wide basis in Australia Sanders, Ralph, et al.

Both programs have also been evaluated as treatment interventions, with positive results for those diagnosed with specific disorders, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ADHD; e. The Incredible Years Program Webster-Stratton, includes parent, teacher, and social skills training components. The parent-training program shows parents brief videotaped more The Positive Parenting Program Triple P focuses on the general population, not just individual families, and has selected components tailored to at-risk groups such as young single mothers or children more Additional parenting interventions are highlighted in the next section.

Interventions that combine training in parenting skills with school-based interventions are described later in the chapter. Early adolescence is a developmental period during which the prevalence of substance use, delinquency, and depression begins to rise. There is also evidence of an increase in the rates of teasing and harassment in middle school. Significant physical changes occur with the onset of puberty, along with social changes, including the transition from elementary school to middle school or junior high school, increased concern about peer acceptance Steinberg, , and increased demand for autonomy Eccles, Midgley, et al.

Major environmental risk factors that are especially important in early adolescence include family poverty and family conflict, as well as inadequate parental monitoring and deviant peer group formation. A key behavioral risk factor is aggressive social behavior, which contributes to social rejection and deviant peer group formation Patterson, DeBaryshe, and Ramsey, In addition, young people who use cigarettes and alcohol are more likely to use other drugs Kandel, Johnson, et al.

More generally, psychological and behavioral problems tend to be interrelated Biglan, Brennan, et al. Boxes and describe two parenting interventions using the parenting skills techniques discussed above that have been developed and evaluated in multiple randomized controlled trials.

They are adapted to address the unique issues, such as potential substance use and parental monitoring, that arise as young people enter early adolescence.

The Strengthening Families Program SFP and adaptations of it see Box is a universal intervention that has demonstrated positive results on a range of outcomes. The Adolescent Transitions Program see Box has evolved over a series of trials to an intervention with universal, selective, and indicated components designed for delivery in schools.

It has demonstrated long-term effects on substance use and delinquency among both white and minority youth. The Adolescent Transitions Program ATP is a multilevel, adaptive parenting intervention designed to reach parents through middle schools Dishion and Kavanagh, ; Dishion, more Without these conversations, adolescents overestimate the level of parental approval of their sexual behaviors, and mothers underestimate the amount of sexual activity of their adolescents Jaccard, Dittus, and Gordon, Such communication appears to depend on warm and supportive parent—child relationships Donenberg, Bryant, et al.

Conversely, family conflict and negative affect are associated with behavioral problems Szapocznik and Kurtines, , such as earlier sexual debut Paikoff, and generally risky sexual behavior Biglan, Metzler, et al. Parental monitoring and an authoritative parenting style are consistently associated with less risky sexual behavior, fewer sexual partners, less pregnancy, and increased condom use among youth in the family see Biglan, Metzler, et al.

Several interventions target HIV risk reduction. Like other parent-oriented interventions, they focus on improving parent—child communication and supportive parental behaviors and increasing parental monitoring and limit setting. Although no meta-analyses have been conducted for these programs, a growing body of evidence is available for such interventions Krauss, Goldsamt, and Bula, ; Wills, Gibbons, et al. Some interventions have targeted and successfully reduced both early sexual intercourse and substance use McKay, Bannon, et al.

Two HIV prevention interventions have been tested in multiple trials. Trials of the Chicago HIV Prevention and Adolescent Mental Health project, a family-based, universal HIV prevention program targeting youth in fourth and fifth grades, showed a number of benefits, such as enhanced family decision making, improved caregiver monitoring, and fewer disruptive difficulties with children McKay, Chasse, et al.