Israeli and Palestinian families in the peace process: sources of stress and response patterns.

The Israeli-Palestinian peace process is characterized by its unknown outcomes and consequences for the families involved. The purpose of this study was to identify family processes under conditions of prolonged uncertainty. Data were collected from both Israeli and Palestinian families in the West Bank by means of semi-structured interviews. Qualitative and quantitative analyses showed cross-cultural differences in the perception of the situation; different kinds of concerns and sources of stress; different coping responses; and differences in dyadic interaction patterns and intrafamily processes. The findings are discussed in social-contextual terms, particularly the ways in which political and cultural contexts shape the perception of the situation and family processes under prolonged stressful conditions.

Seven types of marriage: empirical typology based on enrich*.

Using ENRICH, a computerized marriage assessment tool (Olson, Fournier & Druckman, 1986), data from 8,385 couples was collected across nine dimensions of their marriage. The data was analyzed in two phases-cluster structure seeking and classification phases-by three different clustering methods (inverse factor analysis, hierarchical agglomerative, and k-means cluster analysis). Seven types of marriage were identified: Devitalized couples (40%), Financially focused couples (11%), Conflicted couples (14%), Traditional couples (10%), Balanced couples (8%), Harmonious couples (8%), and Vitalized couples (9%). The multidimensional profiles are described in relation to global measure of marital satisfaction, demographic characteristics, and clinical and research implications.

Families in the sealed room: interaction patterns of Israeli families during SCUD missile attacks.

This study attempted to delineate styles of family interaction and behavior during war. Sixty-six families were randomly selected during the first week of the Gulf War and were telephone-interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Qualitative methodology was used to analyze the interview transcripts. Three themes emerged: the emotional atmosphere (degree of expressed stress), mode of family organization, and extent and form of interpersonal relationship. When these categories were considered, four types of families were found: (1) the Anxious Family, characterized by high level of stress, low role distribution, negative interaction style; (2) the Cautious Family, with high stress, clear role allocation, positive interaction among members; (3) the Confident Family, typified by low stress level, clear role allocation, and positive non-interaction; and (4) the Indifferent family, characterized by low stress level, no role allocation, and negative non-interaction. These findings are discussed in terms of recent attempts to clarify the concept and describe the process of family coping, as well as in terms of understanding family behavior in other stressful situations.

Western and non-western human sexuality: implications for clinical practice.

The emergence of the "new sex therapies" in the early 1970s has brought more people, from more diverse cultural groups, to seek help for sexual problems. However, the directive approach in sex therapy seems be deemphasize cultural differences by offering a set of procedures and techniques that clearly are grounded in Western sexual values. Based on existing literature concerning cultural values and clinical observations, the idea that the commonly practiced sex therapy is useful for everybody is challenged. Four culturally determined factors are discussed: 1) the meaning of sexuality; 2) the definition of normal sexual relationship; 3) the perception and meaning of sexual dysfunctions; and 4) the role of the therapist and therapist-client relations. Finally, implications for practice are presented.

A comparison of the empirical utility of three composite measures of adolescent overall drug involvement.

Researchers have relied on a number of measurement techniques to construct a summated index of drug involvement to reflect both the qualitative and quantitative dimensions of adolescent drug-using behavior. The purpose of this study was to examine the adequacy of three strategies for constructing a composite measure--stage-of-drug-use, unweighted sum of frequencies of use of different substances, and a weighted composite index of substance use. Data for this study were derived from two independent samples of adolescents. The three drug-use measures were assessed both as predictors of consequences of drug use and as outcome measures explained by familial, intrapersonal and interpersonal factors. The weighted composite index of substance use, though conceptually and methodologically superior to the simple (unweighted) sum of frequency, did not perform any better as a predictor or as an outcome variable than the unweighted measure. The weighted composite index of drug involvement is somewhat complicated to calculate and requires substantial resources. The decision whether to use a weighted composite index or a simple sum of frequencies measure of overall drug involvement should be based on both scientific and practical considerations.

Costs and consequences of drug use: a comparison of health care utilization and social-psychological consequences for clinical and nonclinical adolescents and their families.

A retrospective (case control) design was used to compare adolescents in treatment for alcohol and drug problems and their families with adolescents and families not in treatment to determine: (1) the extent to which adolescents' drug-using behavior was associated with greater physical and mental health services utilized by the adolescent and his/her family members over a period of 3 years; and (2) costs incurred for a health maintenance organization and social-psychological consequences for the individuals and their families. On the average, those families with an adolescent with alcohol and/or drug problems use more health services, resulting in greater costs to the prepaid health plan than the costs for families with adolescents not in treatment or not using drugs. For both the adolescents and other family members, significant differences between groups were found for utilization of mental health services, but not for services for physical health. Consequences of drug use--relational, health related, and social/legal--were greatest for adolescents in treatment. Adolescents whose drug use was similar to those in treatment, but who were not in treatment, also experienced drug-related consequences; this group can be considered at high risk for alcohol and drug problems that, in the future, may require treatment.

Familial, interpersonal, and intrapersonal correlates of drug use: a longitudinal comparison of adolescents in treatment, drug-using adolescents not in treatment, and non-drug-using adolescents.

This study examined familial, interpersonal, and intrapersonal factors associated with adolescent drug use from both developmental and etiological perspectives. Retrospective case-control and prospective longitudinal designs were used. A multivariate analysis of variance with repeated measures design was conducted to examine changes over time and differences between groups of adolescents in treatment for alcohol and drug problems, drug-using adolescents not in treatment, and non-drug-using adolescents, on 16 measures of familial, interpersonal, and intrapersonal variables. Significant differences were found between adolescents using drugs (clinical or nonclinical) and those not using drugs and alcohol. No differences were found in any of the variables between clinical adolescents and those using drugs but not in treatment.