ResearchandAssessmentinFamilyTherapy.pptx

    Research and Assessment in Family Therapy

    Chapter 17

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    Importance of Research and Assessment

    Vitally interlinked with family therapy

    Most of the pioneers in family therapy employed research-based procedures to evaluate and work with families.

    In the 21st century, family therapy has become even more redefined in its research and focus on real-life context

    The assessment of families is becoming stronger.

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    Five Important Reasons for Research

    Knowledge – informs therapists about phenomena

    Confirmation and verification – demonstrates the efficacy of techniques and procedures

    Accountability – provides means to show their services are grounded in science

    Practicality – pays off in the long run

    Uniqueness – way of distinguishing itself from other fields

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    Research Findings in Family Therapy

    Findings from research on family therapy indicate in general that most individuals and families improve when they receive couple and family therapy.

    Contributions by Szapocznik:

    Development of brief strategic family therapy

    Formulation of structural ecosystems therapy

    Development of the Strategic Family Systems Rating

    Creation of one-person family therapy

    Efficacy of individual, psychodynamic, and child therapy versus family therapy

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    Two Types of Family Therapy Research

    Quantitative

    Grew out of the scientific traditions of physics, chemistry, and biology

    Numbers

    Qualitative

    Rooted in the traditions of anthropology and sociology

    Words or other means

    Participatory evaluation research

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    Difficulties in Family Therapy Research

    Complexity of relationships within families

    Time commitment needed to study the effects of family therapy

    Getting families to participate in research projects

    Ethical and regulatory standards

    National Research Act

    Belmont Report

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    Research Design

    The way in which research is designed affects results

    Five categories of research design:

    Exploratory: qualitative design used to better define issues

    Descriptive: describes specific variables

    Developmental: studies change over time

    Experimental: adhere to classic “hard science methodologies, such as using hypotheses and dependent/independent variables

    Correlational: studies degree of association between variables

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    Sampling

    Probability Samples: drawn from a known population with the possibility of calculating the likelihood of each case being included in the sample

    Simple random sampling: each person in a population has an equal chance of being selected

    Systematic random assignment: first family selected at random, then every nth family is automatically included

    Stratified sample: random samples are drawn from different strata or groups of a population

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    Sampling

    Nonprobability samples: used when representation of a whole population is less important than the information itself

    Convenience: using easy-to-access families

    Snowball: asking participating individuals to refer other individuals

    Purposive: choosing participants because they are believed to be representative of the study population

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    Instrumentation

    Self-report instruments

    External validity (i.e., generalizability)

    Construct validity (i.e., measuring what they report to measure)

    Direct observational assessment (i.e., use of coders, raters, or judges)

    Inter-rater reliability (degree to which raters agree on what they observe)

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    Procedure

    How families are studied

    Many different methods for study families

    Not neutral, as they reflect the epistemology of the investigator

    Evidence-based research

    Akin to outcome research

    The available research evidence bearing on whether and why a treatment works (McMillan & Schumacher, 2014)

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    Theory and Statistics

    Well-designed research is based on questions that have usually arisen from a theory

    Most family therapy is based on general systems theory

    Statistically reported research needs to be clinically relevant and readable to practitioners as well as scientists (Gay et al., 2012)

    Normal distribution is important when reporting statistics

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    Validity

    “The extent to which a measuring instrument measures what it was intended to measure” (Miller, 1986, p. 58)

    Three main measures of validity:

    Content: how well a measure taps the full range of dimensions or meaning of some underlying construct

    Criterion: how well a measurement predicts or correlates with external criteria

    Construct: how well a measure correlates with measures of similar construct

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    Reliability

    The consistency or dependency of a measure

    Perfect reliability is expressed as a correlational coefficient of 1.00, which is seldom achieved.

    An instrument can be reliable or consistent without being valid or accurate. However, an instrument cannot be valid or accurate without being reliable or consistent.

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    Importance of Assessing Families

    Assessment procedure – any method used to measure characteristics of people, programs, or objects.

    Assessment is a vital part of family therapy

    Through assessment therapists gain information that helps them diagnose and respond systematically and appropriately to families

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    Dimensions of Assessing Families

    Mostly based on a systemic approach

    Questions asked in family therapy are generally focused on transactions and relationships

    Fishman (1988) suggested four aspects of assessment for family therapists:

    Contemporary developmental pressures on the family

    History

    Structure

    Process

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    Methods Used in Assessing Families

    Informal Methods of Assessment

    Couples Creativity Assessment Task (C-C A T)

    Family Assessment Form

    Direct Observation

    Formal Methods of Assessment

    More than 1,000 instruments are available to family therapists to assess families and couples

    Cover such diverse areas as intimacy, power, parenthood, and adjustment

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    Common Formal Assessment Instruments

    Caring Days Inventory

    Family of Origin

    Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Scale

    Myers-Briggs Type Inventory

    Beavers-Timberlawn Family Evaluation Scales

    Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scale

    McMaster Family Assessment Device

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