Since the onset of COVID-19 pandemic, additional risk factors affecting family caregivers’ mental health have arisen. Therefore, personal stress coping strategies and family dynamics became important factors in reducing the impact of the pandemic on family caregivers’ mental health. The present research aimed to estimate the association between COVID-19 stressors and family caregiving burden. Moreover, moderating effects of emotion dysregulation and family functioning on this association were investigated.

This study analyzed data collected in April 2021 from 154 family caregivers (Mage = 38.79, SDage = 9.36, range = 22–64) recruited through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk). The impact of COVID-19 stressors on family caregiving burden was tested, and moderating impacts of emotion dysregulation and family functioning were also investigated.

Both COVID-19 stress exposure and stress appraisal were positively associated with family caregiving burden. Emotion dysregulation and problematic family functioning were also positively associated with family caregiving burden. A significant moderating effect of emotion dysregulation was found, such that family caregivers with higher emotion dysregulation were likely to feel more caregiving burden when they experienced more COVID-19 stressors.

The current research highlighted the role of emotion regulation in reducing the negative impact of COVID-19 stressors on family caregiving burden. The research also emphasizes the need for intervention programs to improve emotion regulation strategies to decrease family caregiving burden during the pandemic.

The aim of the present cross-sectional study was to investigate the associations between caregivers’ attachment styles, family functioning, the care setting and pre-loss grief symptoms, the burden, and the caregivers’ belief of patients’ awareness of the terminal cancer diagnosis.

A total of 101 caregivers of patients with terminal cancer in residential hospice care and home care were interviewed and completed self-report questionnaires.

Insecure attachment style and home care setting were associated with worse psychological effects in caregivers of patients with terminal cancer. Moreover, family cohesion can promote low social burden and the patient’s awareness of their terminal condition.

This study highlighted the importance of evaluating the caregiver’s attachment style, family functioning, and the setting of care during the terminal phase of the patient’s life. These findings will be useful to planning interventions to prevent burden and the pre-loss grief symptoms in the caregivers.

The COVID-19 Family Disruption Model (FDM) describes the cascading effects of pandemic-related social disruptions on child and family psychosocial functioning. The current systematic review assesses the empirical support for the model.

Study eligibility: 1) children between 2–18 years (and/or their caregivers); 2) a quantitative longitudinal design; 3) published findings during the first 2.5 years of COVID-19; 4) an assessment of caregiver and/or family functioning; 5) an assessment of child internalizing, externalizing, or positive adjustment; and 6) an examination of a COVID-19 FDM pathway. Following a search of PsycINFO and MEDLINE in August 2022, screening, full-text assessments, and data extraction were completed by two reviewers. Study quality was examined using an adapted NIH risk-of- bias tool.

Findings from 47 studies were summarized using descriptive statistics, tables, and a narrative synthesis. There is emerging support for bidirectional pathways linking caregiver-child functioning and family-child functioning, particularly for child internalizing problems. Quality assessments indicated issues with attrition and power justification.

We provide a critical summary of the empirical support for the model, highlighting themes related to family systems theory and risk/resilience. We outline future directions for research on child and family well-being during COVID-19. Systematic review registration. PROSPERO [CRD42022327191].

Previous studies applying the Lausanne Trilogue Play (LTPc), a semi-structured method for observing family dynamics, highlighted dysfunctional interaction patterns in the families of individuals affected by restrictive eating disorders (REDs). Family-centered approaches are considered the first-line treatment for severe cases of REDs in adolescence.

To investigate family functioning in the families of adolescents with severe REDs assessed before and 6 months after a multidisciplinary family treatment program that combined psychodynamic psychotherapy, parental role intervention and triadic or family-centered intervention.

Sixty-seven families of adolescent patients diagnosed with REDs were assessed for eligibility between July 2017 and October 2020. Family functioning was assessed using the clinical version of LTPc. Nutritional counseling and neuropsychiatric monitoring were also provided.

We observed a significant change in the family functioning score for the LTPc phase 2, in which the father interacts with his daughter while the mother acts as a silent observer. This suggests that the fathers, when playing an active role, could improve dyadic family functioning. The treatment was not found to change triadic functioning: a 6-month treatment may not be long enough to modify interactions at the triadic level.

A brief multidisciplinary treatment program may significantly improve family functioning in the families of patients diagnosed with severe REDs. Although appropriate clinical trials are needed to further test the efficacy of this treatment, our study reinforce the concept that treatment programs targeting the individual patient and both the parents should be a first-line approach in adolescents with severe REDs.

The authors declare that they do not have a significant financial interest, consultancy or other relationship with products, manufacturer(s) of products or providers of services related to this abstrac.

Family functioning is associated with anxiety and depression. Perinatal depression and anxiety are common and influence the well-being of women, partners and their offspring. However, little is known about differences in associations between family functioning and mood symptoms in women and their partners in early pregnancy.

Investigating differences in associations between family functioning and anxious and depressive symptoms in women and their partners in early pregnancy.

In total, 171 woman–partner pairs were enrolled. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-Item scale (GAD-7) and Family Assessment Device (FAD) were performed. Correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis were applied to investigate the associations.

In pregnant women, all the subscale scores on the FAD were correlated with total scores on the EPDS and GAD-7 (all P < 0.05), whereas only the Roles subscale showed a predicting effect in regression models (P < 0.01). In partners, all the subscale scores on the FAD were related to total scores on the PHQ-9 (all P < 0.05), whereas only the Problem Solving subscale showed a predicting effect (P = 0.029).

Our findings indicate that family functioning in the domain of roles is associated with anxious and depressive symptoms in pregnant women and functioning in the domain of problem solving is associated with depressive symptoms in partners. Clinicians should pay special attention to roles and problem solving when assessing mood symptoms in pregnant women and their partners. This study also provides a basis for family health education in early pregnancy.

Young people are most vulnerable to suicidal behaviours but least likely to seek help. A more elaborate study of the intrinsic and extrinsic correlates of suicidal ideation and behaviours particularly amid ongoing population-level stressors and the identification of less stigmatising markers in representative youth populations is essential.

Participants (n = 2540, aged 15–25) were consecutively recruited from an ongoing large-scale household-based epidemiological youth mental health study in Hong Kong between September 2019 and 2021. Lifetime and 12-month prevalence of suicidal ideation, plan, and attempt were assessed, alongside suicide-related rumination, hopelessness and neuroticism, personal and population-level stressors, family functioning, cognitive ability, lifetime non-suicidal self-harm, 12-month major depressive disorder (MDD), and alcohol use.

The 12-month prevalence of suicidal ideation, ideation-only (no plan or attempt), plan, and attempt was 20.0, 15.4, 4.6, and 1.3%, respectively. Importantly, multivariable logistic regression findings revealed that suicide-related rumination was the only factor associated with all four suicidal outcomes (all p < 0.01). Among those with suicidal ideation (two-stage approach), intrinsic factors, including suicide-related rumination, poorer cognitive ability, and 12-month MDE, were specifically associated with suicide plan, while extrinsic factors, including coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) stressors, poorer family functioning, and personal life stressors, as well as non-suicidal self-harm, were specifically associated with suicide attempt.

Suicide-related rumination, population-level COVID-19 stressors, and poorer family functioning may be important less-stigmatising markers for youth suicidal risks. The respective roles played by not only intrinsic but also extrinsic factors in suicide plan and attempt using a two-stage approach should be considered in future preventative intervention work.

Causes of childhood behavior problems remain poorly understood. Enriched family environments and corresponding brain development may reduce the risk of their onset, but research investigating white matter neurodevelopmental pathways explaining associations between the family environment and behavior remains limited. We hypothesized that more positive prenatal and mid-childhood family functioning – a measure of a family's problem solving and supportive capacity – would be associated with two markers of preadolescent white matter neurodevelopment related to reduced behavior problems: higher global fractional anisotropy (FA) and lower global mean diffusivity (MD).

Data are from 2727 families in the Generation R Study, the Netherlands. Mothers reported family functioning (McMaster Family Assessment Device, range 1–4, higher scores indicate healthier functioning) prenatally and in mid-childhood (mean age 6.1 years). In preadolescence (mean age 10.1), the study collected diffusion-weighted scans. We computed standardized global MD and FA values by averaging metrics from 27 white matter tracts, and we fit linear models adjusting for possible confounders to examine global and tract-specific outcomes.

Prenatal and mid-childhood family functioning scores were moderately correlated, r = 0.38. However, only prenatal family functioning – and not mid-childhood functioning – was associated with higher global FA and lower global MD in preadolescence in fully adjusted models: βglobal FA = 0.11 (95% CI 0.00, 0.21) and βglobal MD = −0.15 (95% CI −0.28, −0.03) per one-unit increase in functioning score. Sensitivity and tract-specific analyses supported these global findings.

These results suggest high-functioning prenatal or perinatal family environments may confer lasting white matter neurodevelopmental benefits into preadolescence.

Children from low-socioeconomic backgrounds exhibit more behavioural difficulties than those from more affluent families. Influential theoretical models specify family stress and child characteristics as mediating this effect. These accounts, however, have often been based on cross-sectional data or longitudinal analyses that do not capture all potential pathways, and therefore may not provide good policy guidance.

In a UK representative sample of 2399 children aged 5–15, we tested mediation of the effect of household income on parent and teacher reports of conduct problems (CP) via unhealthy family functioning, poor parental mental health, stressful life events, child physical health and reading ability. We applied cross-lagged longitudinal mediation models which allowed for testing of reciprocal effects whereby the hypothesised mediators were modelled as outcomes as well as predictors of CP.

We found the predicted significant longitudinal effect of income on CP, but no evidence that it was mediated by the child and family factors included in the study. Instead, we found significant indirect paths from income to parental mental health, child physical health and stressful life events that were transmitted via child CP.

The results confirm that income is associated with change in CP but do not support models that suggest this effect is transmitted via unhealthy family functioning, parental mental health, child physical health, stressful life events or reading difficulties. Instead, the results highlight that child CP may be a mediator of social inequalities in family psychosocial functioning.

Voluntary dropouts before completion of inpatient psychiatric treatment are common in patients with dual disorders. However, the socioeconomic profile and family structure of patients who undergo a therapeutic program may correlate with their motivation and participation in the treatment received, as well as with their subsequent recovery.

To evaluate the family typology of patients with dual diagnosis according to the degree of intrafamily cohesion and adaptability correlated with the prediction of therapeutic success and the risk of voluntary abandonment of hospital detoxification treatment.

A total of 211 patients admitted to an inpatient psychiatric unit with substance use disorders were studied. Data were obtained from two sources: (1) interview of participants, (2) review of participants’ medical records using the Maudsley Addiction Profile (MAP) and the Family Cohesion and Adaptability Assessment Scale (FACES III).

The 127 subjects who completed the hospital detoxification program had significantly lower MAP and FACES III scores at baseline than the 84 subjects who did not complete the study. Those who did not complete the admission reported greater addictive severity and poorer family functioning. Family cohesion and adaptability measured with FACES III and addictive severity assessed with MAP positively correlated with successful compliance with the hospital treatment program for dual diagnosis patients.

These findings reveal the association of psychosocial and family determinants and addictive severity with treatment completion and subsequent prognostic evolution. Recognizing these predictive characteristics may allow early identification of patients at higher risk of early dropout and prevent it by increasing the intensity of treatment.

The role of sociodemographic and economic characteristics in mental distress has been rarely investigated in Indonesia.

To investigate the prevalence of common mental disorders (CMD) and identify any associations between mental distress and sociodemographic and economic characteristics among communities living in urban and rural (peri-urban) areas.

A community-based household survey was conducted in the province of Aceh, Indonesia, in 2018. The 20-item Self Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20) screening tool was used to measure symptoms of CMD. Information on sociodemographic characteristics, family functioning, labour market outcomes and healthcare costs was collected. Multivariate regressions were conducted to analyse the relationships between the measures of mental distress and sociodemographic and economic characteristics.

We found that 14% of the respondents had CMD symptoms. SRQ-20 scores were higher for female, older and lower-educated individuals. CMD prevalence was higher among non-married participants and clustered within families. Participants with CMD perceive their families as performing significantly better in the dimensions of affective involvement and behaviour control compared with their counterparts. Their work was more often affected by negative feelings; they were also twice as likely to report a recent physical or mental health complaint and faced twice the treatment costs compared with their non-affected counterparts.

The prevalence of mental disorders is especially high in disadvantaged population groups. Moreover, mental distress is associated with a lower perceived productivity and a higher physical health burden.

To determine the influence of parent and child depressive and anxiety symptoms, family functioning and its influence on child quality of life and diabetes control among children and adolescents.

149 Children and adolescents (aged 8-18 years) with duration of diabetes longer than 1 year were enrolled to the study. Participants and their parents were evaluated by self-report measures (BDI, STAI, CDI, MASC, FACE-IV).

There were 83 males and 66 females in the group. Mean age at the time of evaluation was 13,4±2,7 years. Median duration of diabetes was 4,0 (Interquartile Range 2,4-5,1) years. Mean HbA1c level was 8,0±1,5%. Child depression (beta= -0.41; p< 0.001), child (beta=-0.28; p< 0.01) and parent anxiety (beta=-0.17; p< 0.05) were all associated with lower quality of life. Family communication, flexibility, cohesion and satisfactions scores, despite being significant in univariate correlations were excluded during stepwise regression model building. HbA1c correlated with CDI rating (beta=-0.17; p< 0.05).

Presence of anxiety and depressive symptoms among children and their parents significantly worsens the quality of life among individuals with diabetes. Family-based communication trainings could contribute to improved metabolic control.

To investigate (i) associations between adolescents’ frequency of breakfast and family functioning (close relations to parents, quality of family communication and family support) and (ii) if any observed associations between breakfast frequency and family functioning vary by sociodemographic factors.

School-based cross-sectional study. Students completed a web-based questionnaire. Associations were estimated by multilevel multivariate logistic regression.

Danish arm of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study, 2014.

Adolescents aged 13 and 15 years (n 3054) from a random sample of forty-one schools.

Nearly one-quarter of the adolescents had low breakfast frequency. Low breakfast frequency was associated with low family functioning measured by three dimensions. The OR (95 % CI) of low breakfast frequency was 1·81 (1·40, 2·33) for adolescents who reported no close relations to parents, 2·28 (1·61, 3·22) for adolescents who reported low level of quality of family communication and 2·09 (1·39, 3·15) for adolescents who reported low level of family support. Joint effect analyses suggested that the odds of low breakfast frequency among adolescents with low family functioning compared with high family functioning were highest among adolescents being girls, immigrants and living in other than a traditional family structure.

Low breakfast frequency was associated with low family functioning measured by close relations to parents, quality of family communication and family support. Further, analyses suggested that the associations were more pronounced among girls, immigrants and adolescents from other family structure than traditional. The study highlights the importance of the family setting in promoting regular breakfast frequency among adolescents.