As part of The Family Institute's mission, we are committed to using clinical science to improve the effectiveness of our interventions. Clinical Science Insights distills our research expertise in a way that is relevant to both clinical practice and everyday life.
In this forum, our postdoctoral fellows, clinical staff and affiliates share their expert knowledge on a variety of topics relevant to families today – from child development, to innovative treatments for depression and anxiety, to best parenting practices, to the latest research on what works in couples therapy – just to name a few. These succinct summaries of the latest empirical research and theory on issues relevant to families are written for professional and lay audiences alike.
The Marriage Benefit
It has long been understood that there is a connection between long-term relationships and health. There is also a reciprocal relationship between marriage and health, where not only is marriage affected by illness, but the quality of marriage can actually influence the course of an illness. Dr. Sher explains why it’s important to include the spouse/intimate partner in both physical and mental health treatment of the ill spouse, and outlines the three primary ways that The…
Emerging Adults’ Relationships with Their Parents
In this issue of Clinical Science Insights, Jacob Goldsmith, Ph.D., explores Jeffrey Arnett’s theory of emerging adulthood, highlights potential problems that emerging adults and their families may encounter, and suggests some general guidelines for what parents can do to help and lay the foundation for a healthy parent-adult-child relationship.
Nonsuicidal Self-Injury Among Adolescents
Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) refers to deliberate, socially unacceptable destruction of one's own body tissue performed without the intention to die. Research shows that about 1 in 25 adults has engaged in NSSI, but rates are significantly higher among adolescents: around 1 in 5 engage in NSSI, and among adolescents hospitalized for psychiatric issues, rates are considerably higher (40-80%).
Providing Support For Individuals Experiencing Relationship Problems
When couples are dissatisfied in their relationship, couple therapy, in which both members of the couple participate in the treatment, has become one of the most widely practiced interventions. The effectiveness of couple therapy in improving couple relationships has been demonstrated by several studies.
The New Self-Esteem: Feeling Worthy from the Inside Out
In this engaging explanation of The New Self-Esteem, Aaron Cooper discusses the issues associated with today's abundance of parenting styles, and a potential solution for the anxieties of concerned parents and their affected children, alike.
Multiracial Identity Development: Illuminating Influential Factors
The goals of this article are to illuminate the historical context and shifting trends surrounding multiracial individuals in America, and to share research findings on factors that influence racial identity development. Recommendations to support multiracial youth and their families will also be described.
Thirteen Reasons Why & What Comes Next
You can’t venture on to the Internet these days without stumbling across some sort of editorial about the Netflix show Thirteen Reasons Why. The Chicago Tribune has called the show “highly problematic” and “dangerously wrong” (VanNoord, 2017). Vanity Fair has referred to Thirteen Reasons Why as “unsettling visual genius” (Robinson, 2017). Everyone is talking about it, and that is a good thing. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for individuals ages 10 to 24. Let…
Supporting Children in Distress
The tenor of the emotional environment in which children are raised has life-lasting effects for them (Valliant, 2012; Waldinger & Schulz, 2016). This emotional environment influences children’s brain development and their ability to regulate their emotions (Cassidy, 1994; Perry, 2002; Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000). Emotion regulation can be defined as “the ability to respond to the ongoing demands of experience with the range of emotions in a manner that is socially…