title: Prospective Pilot Study of the Mastering Each New Direction Psychosocial Family Systems Program for Pediatric Chronic Illness.
abstract: Psychosocial interventions for pediatric chronic illness (CI) have been shown to support health management. Interventions that include a family systems approach offer potentially stronger and more sustainable improvements. This study explores the biopsychosocial benefits of a novel family systems psychosocial intervention (MEND: Mastering Each New Direction). Forty-five families participated in a 21-session intensive outpatient family systems-based program for pediatric CI. Within this single arm design, families were measured on five domains of Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQL) self-report measures; Stress, Cognitive Functioning, Mental Health, Child HRQL, Family Functioning. Both survey and biological measures (stress: catecholamine) were used in the study. Results from multivariate general linear models showed positive pre-, post-, and 3-month posteffects in all five domains. The program effects ranged from small to moderate (η2= .07-.64). The largest program effects were seen in the domains of cognitive functioning (η2= .64) and stress (η2= .27). Also, between disease groups, differences are noted and future implications for research and clinical practice are discussed. Conclusions suggest that the MEND program may be useful in helping families manage pediatric chronic illnesses. Study results also add to the growing body of literature suggesting that psychosocial interventions for pediatric chronic illness benefit from a family systems level of intervention.
authors.affiliation: Loma Linda University Behavioral Medicine Center, Redlands, CA.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Distelberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Counseling and Family Sciences, Loma Linda University Health Behavioral Medicine Center, Loma Linda, CA.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tapanes
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA.
authors.forename: Natacha D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Emerson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA.
authors.forename: Whitney N
authors.initials: WN
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Loma Linda University Health Behavioral Medicine Center, Loma Linda, CA.
authors.forename: Deepti
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vaswani
authors.affiliation: Department of Counseling and Family Sciences, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA.
authors.forename: Jackie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Williams-Reade
authors.affiliation: Loma Linda University Health Behavioral Medicine Center, Loma Linda, CA.
authors.forename: Ara M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Anspikian
authors.affiliation: Behavioral Health Institute, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA.
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Montgomery
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000523:psychology*; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005196:Family Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011446:Prospective Studies; D000072858:Psychosocial Support Systems; D011788:Quality of Life; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: 
  MEND
  ; Chronic Illness; Family Systems; Intervention; Mastering Each New Direction; enfermedad crónica; intervención; resultado; sistema familiar; 家庭系统; 干预; 慢性疾病; 成果