title: The enhanced Aussie Optimism Positive Thinking Skills Program: The relationship between internalizing symptoms and family functioning in children aged 9-11 years old.
abstract: The family context plays a critical role in the health of the child. This was the first study to examine the usefulness of the General Functioning subscale of the Family Assessment Device (FAD-GF) in assessing family functioning and its relationship to internalizing symptoms in school-aged children aged between 9 and 11 years of age. Eight hundred and forty-seven year 4 and 5 students from 13 schools (607 intervention students, and 240 control students) participated in the Aussie Optimism Positive Thinking Skills Program (AO-PTS) - a universal school-based program targeting internalizing symptoms. Students rated how 'healthy' they perceived their family to be at pre-test and at 6-months follow-up. Although some aspects of validity and reliability could be improved, results indicated that perceptions of family functioning at pre-test were predictive of internalizing symptoms at the 6-months follow-up. The FAD-GF therefore showed promise as a potential measure of family functioning for children as young as 9 years old. Regardless of children's pre-test levels of perceived family functioning, no intervention effects were found on the anxiety and depression scales; this finding suggests that child perceptions of family functioning may act as a general protective factor against internalizing symptomology.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University Perth, WA, Australia.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kennedy
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University Perth, WA, Australia.
authors.forename: Rosanna M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Rooney
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University Perth, WA, Australia.
authors.forename: Robert T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Kane
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University Perth, WA, Australia.
authors.forename: Sharinaz
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hassan
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University Perth, WA, Australia.
authors.forename: Monique
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nesa
keywords: AO-PTS; child perceptions; family functioning; internalizing symptoms; protective factors