The effectiveness of structural family therapy in repairing behavioral problems and improving family functioning in single-parent families in Iran

Comparing the effectiveness of structural family therapy and mindfulness-based family therapy in cohesion and adaptability in couples with marital dissatisfaction

The present study was conducted with the aim of comparing the effectiveness of structural family therapy and mindfulness-based family therapy in cohesion and adaptability in couples with marital dissatisfaction. The research was a semi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest control group design and a two-month follow-up. The research population comprised all couples with marital dissatisfaction who referred to family counseling centers in Tehran (Iran) in the first 6 months of 2021. Out of this number, 30 couples with marital dissatisfaction were selected using convenience and purposive sampling and were randomly assigned to three groups: structural family therapy, mindfulness-based family therapy and the control group. The research tool was the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale by Olson, Portner and Lavee (1996). In order to analyze the data, repeated measures analysis of variance was used. The findings demonstrated that there is a significant difference between the two experimental groups and the control group in cohesion and adaptability scores. This means that both experimental groups had a significant effect on cohesion and adaptability components (p < 0.05). Further, the results suggested that there is a significant difference between the two experimental groups of structural family therapy and mindfulness-based family therapy in terms of the effectiveness in the components of cohesion and adaptability. Accordingly, the effect of structural family therapy on couple's cohesion and adaptability was greater than that of mindfulness-based family therapy (p < 0.05).

The nurse manager support process in the work-family conflict of clinical nurses: a qualitative study

Background

Nurses are exposed to work-family conflict because of the high expectations associated with the workplace and family demands. Nurse managers' support for work-family conflict requires theoretical principles.

Aims

The current study explores managers' experiences of work-life conflict and how they manage this.

Methods

Grounded theory is used to explain the theoretical principles of nursing managers' support to clinical nurses. Participants included 20 managers and 2 clinical nurses working in one hospital. The data collection method used unstructured interviews. Sampling was first purposive and then theoretical, and data analysis was carried out using Corbin and Strauss's approach.

Results

Participants' primary concern was the threat to their organisational position, and they used a functional-exchangeable conservation strategy to consolidate their own positions. The strategy resulted in the consolidation of managers' and nurses' positions. Two factors were identified as influencing nurse managers' strategies, namely 'the sense of insecurity in the functional position' with a deterrent effect, and 'cooperative atmosphere' as a facilitator with a positive effect.

Conclusion

The most important supportive strategy used by nurse managers in the work-family conflict of clinical nurses was based on 'functional-exchangeable conservation' between themselves and the nursing staff. Functional- exchangeable protection is a type of protection of human resources by the manager. In this exchange, to solve the conflict between work and family for the nurse, the nursing manager wants to maintain their managerial position by solving the nurse's problem. Both of them benefit from this exchange. The theory of functional-exchangeable protection may provide the necessary background for the development of a prescriptive theory to minimise nurses' worries about family matters. Flexible work schedules may help nurses resolve work-family conflict and so provide better care and reduce work errors. The concept of functional-exchangeable protection and its subclasses may be helpful in preparing policies to support clinical nurses through implementing flexible work schedules, increasing nurses' motivation and fulfilling the family role of nurses.

State of research in MFT: Thoughts from the Editor's Chair: This article is a modified transcript of the keynote address given by Dr. Steven M. Harris, Editor of the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, at the inaugural annual meeting of the Intervention Research Topical Interest Network of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. The meeting was held on October 5, 2022 at the Kellogg Center on the campus of Michigan State University

The Editor of JMFT discusses the state of research in systemic family therapy.