title: Family functioning and psychopathology among adolescents with severe emotional disturbances.
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 semi-structured 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 less than .001). In contrast, only parent FACES-IIII adaptability scores were significantly more extreme than a normative sample (p less than .01). Additionally, both parent and adolescent cohesion scores were significantly correlated with adolescent psychopathology measures: DISC-C conduct disorder (p less than .01), depression (p less than .05), alcohol/marijuana (p less than .01), and CBCL externalizing symptoms (p less than .01). These relationships did not deviate from linearity.
authors.affiliation: Research and Training Center for Children's Mental Health, University of South Florida, Tampa 33612.
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Prange
authors.forename: P E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Greenbaum
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Silver
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Friedman
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kutash
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Duchnowski
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D044469:Racial Groups; D012737:Sex Factors