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The Family Check‐Up: A Pilot Study of a Brief Intervention to Improve Family Functioning in Adults
Author(s) -
UEBELACKER LISA A.,
HECHT JACKI,
MILLER IVAN W.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
family process
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.011
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1545-5300
pISSN - 0014-7370
DOI - 10.1111/j.1545-5300.2006.00092.x
Subject(s) - intervention (counseling) , anxiety , depression (economics) , psychology , family therapy , family history , psychiatry , clinical psychology , session (web analytics) , randomized controlled trial , medicine , surgery , macroeconomics , world wide web , computer science , economics , radiology
Many barriers exist for families seeking appropriate treatment for family problems. In an effort to minimize some of these barriers, we developed the Family Check‐Up, a brief two‐session family intervention. The Family Check‐Up is based on the Drinker's Check‐Up and consists of assessment, feedback, discussion, and goal setting. The purpose of the intervention is to help families identify and become motivated to make needed changes in any aspect of their family functioning. We conducted an open pilot trial of the Family Check‐Up with 32 families. Our data suggest that the Family Check‐Up (1) is sought out by the target audience, namely those with family problems; (2) is sought out by people with elevated depression symptoms or a history of treatment for depression or anxiety; (3) is feasible to conduct; (4) is acceptable to families; and (5) may be associated with changes in family functioning and depression symptoms over time. These results suggest that further research, particularly a randomized clinical trial, is warranted.