Abstract
Family psychosocial functioning and its relation to psychopathology among adolescents with severe emotional disturbances (SED) was assessed. Subjects were 353 adolescents with SED, ages 12–18, and their parents. During a semistructured interview, adolescents were administered Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale (FACES-III), Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children-Child Version (DISC-C), and the Self-Derogation Scale. Parents were administered FACES-IIII and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) in a phone interview. Results indicated that on the FACES-IIII cohesion dimension, both parents and adolescents perceived their family relations as more disengaged and less connected than did normative families (p < .001). In contrast, only parent FACES-IIII adaptability scores were significantly more extreme than a normative sample (p < .01). Additionally, both parent and adolescent cohesion scores were significantly correlated with adolescent psyehopathology measures: DISC-C conduct disorder (p < .01), depression (p < .05), alcohol/marijuana (p < .01), and CBCL externalizing symptoms (p < .01). These relationships did not deviate from linearity.
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We gratefully acknowledge Eric C. Brown, Sue Greer, and Sharon P. Lardieri for assistance in data management of this project. Preparation of this article was supported by grant H133B90004-01 from the National Institute on Disability Rehabilitation Research and the National Institute of Mental Health.
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Prange, M.E., Greenbaum, P.E., Silver, S.E. et al. Family functioning and psychopathology among adolescents with severe emotional disturbances. J Abnorm Child Psychol 20, 83–102 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00927118
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00927118