title: A mother-child, multiple-family, counseling program: procedures and results.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of a family counseling program of the following variables: (a) parents' family satisfaction, perceived integration, and family congruence; (b) the number of positive and negative responses communicated among family members; and (c) an undesirable behavior exhibited by one child in the family. The sample consisted of 14 families in the experimental condition and 11 families in the control condition. Mother and one child had responsibility for teaching other family members that principles taught during the multiple-family category sessions. The findings indicated: (a) parents receiving family counseling increased significantly their family-satisfaction and perceived-integration scores as compared to the parents not receiving counseling; (b) families receiving counseling increased significantly the number of positive responses among them compared with the control families; (c) children receiving counseling decreased significantly the frequency of exhibiting a specific undesirable behavior; and (d) no significant differences were found between the groups of families in parents' family-congruence scores and in the number of negative responses communicated among family members.
mesh_terms: D001521:Behavior Therapy; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000628:therapy; D003142:Communication; D003376:Counseling; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005196:Family Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008722:Methods; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D012649:Self Concept