Global Family Functioning

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12/19/2011 Journal Article Review Family Functioning in Bipolar I Disorder Introduction: The topic of this article is whether or not global family functioning was associated with the presence of a corresponding bipolar episode as well as whether global family functioning was associated with the presence of manic and depressive episodes in the 3 months of the study. I chose this article out of curiosity. I suffer from bipolar II so this has given the chance to really research the disorder and to understand the different parts of it. Summary: Research has shown that aspects of family functioning, particularly expressed emotion and negative family affective style, can predict a poorer course of illness and an increased risk of relapse…show more content…
They examined: * Whether family functioning was associated with concurrent episode status. * Whether family functioning predicted episode status during the subsequent three months. * Whether treatment group moderated the association between family functioning and episode status. Multiple data points within the subjects allowed them to estimate the degree in which the level of family functioning was associated with the differences in episode status within an individual instead of just between individuals. Research design: The research design used in this study was a repeated measures longitudinal design. A longitudinal study is a correlational research study that involves repeated observations of the same variables over long periods of time and is a type of observational study. Longitudinal studies are often used in psychology to study developmental trends across the life span. They track the same people and because of this the differences observed in those people are less likely to be the result of cultural differences across generations. Because of this benefit, longitudinal studies make observing changes more accurate. Results: (1-2…show more content…
These strengths include: family functioning assessment from both patient and clinician perspectives, differential assessment of depressed and manic episodes, the ability to control for symptom status at the time that family functioning was assessed, and a longitudinal, repeated measures design. Continued research on the ways that family functioning and bipolar symptoms mutually influence each other can help identify individuals at highest risk for relapse and increase the ability to use family treatments to create better outcomes for those suffering from bipolar disorder. Article: Miller, I. W. (2006). Family Functioning in Bipolar I Disorder. Journal of Family Psychology, 20(No. 4 ), 701-704. Retrieved October 25, 2011, from the PsycArticles [Ftxt] database.
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