OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the efficacy of systemic therapy on psychiatric disorders in adulthood.METHODS:This meta-analysis integrates results of 37 randomized controlled trials (RCT) of therapy with an explicit systemic focus on adults with psychiatric disorders. Studies were identified through systematic searches in electronic databases and cross-referencing.RESULTS:On average, systemic therapy had stronger short-term (g = .51) and long-term (g = .55) efficacies than control groups without alternative treatment and stronger short-term effects than alternative active treatments (g = .25). In addition, efficacy of systemic therapy was similar to those of other bona fide psychotherapies. Individuals receiving systemic therapy plus medication showed stronger improvements at posttest (g = .71) and follow-up (g = .87) than those receiving only medication. Illness-specific analyses showed positive short-term efficacy of systemic therapy on eating disorders, mood disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, schizophrenia, and somatoform disorders. At follow-up, efficacy of systemic therapy was only found on eating disorders, mood disorders, and schizophrenia. In addition, systemic therapy had lower dropout rates than alternative treatments. For certain comparisons, effect sizes were moderated by participant age, study quality, and year of publication.CONCLUSIONS:We conclude that the present meta-analysis found some evidence for the efficacy of systemic therapy on five disorders, but the number of available RCT is still limited. More research is needed on systemic therapy of other disorders, such as anxiety disorders and substance use disorders.

Systemic therapy is a frequently used form of psychotherapy for the treatment of mental disorders in children and adolescents. The present study reports the results of the first meta-analysis on the effects of systemic treatment of mental disorders and behavior problems in children and adolescents. Based on systematic search in electronic databases (PsycINFO, Psyndex, PubMed, ISI Web of Knowledge, CINAHL), k = 56 randomized, controlled trials met the inclusion criteria. We computed a random-effects meta-analysis. Systemic therapy showed small-to-medium effects in comparison with an untreated control group (posttest: k = 7, g = .59 standard deviation units, follow-up: k = 2, g = .27) and alternative treatment (posttest: k = 43, g = .32, follow-up: k = 38, g = .28). At follow-up, longer interventions produced larger effect sizes. No other moderator effects were identified. Although available randomized, controlled trials show convincing results, their effects refer to a limited number of systemic approaches and mental disorders, and also pertain to adolescents rather than younger children. Thus, more research is needed before more general conclusions about the effects of systemic therapy can be drawn.

We applied a new German coparenting questionnaire to families with preschoolers. Fathers and mothers from 270 families participated in the study. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the expected three-factor structure with the factors cooperation, conflict, and triangulation. Correlations with other coparenting scales support the validity of the new measure. After controlling for sociodemographic variables, parental reports on coparenting conflict and cooperation predicted nursery teachers’ ratings of oppositional-aggressive behavior of the child. In addition, cooperation between parents was associated with lower levels of parenting stress if parents endorsed a liberal attitude toward parental roles that value paternal involvement in child-rearing. In contrast, higher cooperation was related to higher maternal parenting stress if mothers favored traditional parenting roles.

OBJECTIVE We compared the levels of academic, physical, and social functioning of children and adolescents with chronic physical diseases with those of healthy peers or test norms. METHODS A random effects meta-analysis was computed to integrate the results of 954 studies. RESULTS Impairments of physical functioning (g = 0.82 standard deviation units) were stronger than impairments of academic (g = 0.53) and social functioning (g = 0.43). Children with cerebral palsy and spina bifida showed the largest levels of functional impairments. The levels of functional impairments also varied by year of publication, source of information, ethnicity, country, and sociodemographic equivalence of the compared groups. CONCLUSIONS More efforts are needed to develop and implement measures for the prevention of impaired functioning of children and adolescents with chronic physical illness and for the reduction of already existing impairments of their functioning.

The present study examined the association between coparenting (the parental collaboration in childrearing), parenting (childrearing behavior of the individual parent), and adolescent life satisfaction. Using structural equation modeling we tested the hypothesis that dimensions of parenting (warmth/involvement and supervision/strictness) would partly mediate the link between dimensions of coparenting (conflict and cooperation) and adolescent life satisfaction. Participants were 476 adolescents (M = 13.05 years, SD = 0.95; 55.7% girls), their mothers (M = 41.76 years, SD = 4.11), and fathers (M = 44.37 years, SD = 5.85). Both parents filled in scales regarding their coparenting behavior as well as their individual parenting; adolescents reported their global life satisfaction. Structural equation modeling showed a direct and indirect association (via maternal warmth/involvement) between coparenting-conflict (father report) and adolescent satisfaction with life. However, coparenting-cooperation as well as paternal supervision/strictness and warmth/involvement showed no significant associations with adolescent life satisfaction. Implications for future research and for practitioners' working with adolescents and their families are discussed.

Anxiety disorders are the most frequent psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents and have adverse effects on their psychosocial functioning. An increasing number of studies are aimed at its prevention. This meta-analysis included 65 studies on anxiety prevention. We found small but significant effects on anxiety at posttest (symptoms: g=.22, diagnosis: g=.23; SD units) and follow-up (symptoms: g=.19, diagnosis: g=.32). Intervention effects at posttest varied by type of prevention: Indicated/selective prevention programs showed lager effect sizes than universal programs. At follow-up, smaller effects were found in samples with higher percentages of girls and stronger effect size for programs focusing primarily on anxiety prevention. We conclude: Anxiety prevention programs produce effects size of practical relevance. More efforts are needed for assessing the long-term program effects on the risk for developing anxiety disorders and for improving long-term prevention effects on girls.

This study introduces an inventory that assesses coparenting from the perspective of parents and their adolescent offspring. Within two independent samples of families, we examined reliability and validity of the Coparenting Inventory for Parents and Adolescents (CI-PA). We postulated a model that consists of cooperation, conflict, and triangulation as dimensions of coparenting. Our results showed that this three-factor solution, compared to two- or one-factor solutions, fit the data best. Convergence between mothers and fathers was satisfactory, whereas convergence between parents and their adolescent offspring was weaker, but mostly significant. Moreover, the concurrent validity of the CI-PA was supported by high correlations with a conceptually related questionnaire, and discriminant validity by small to moderate correlations with scales assessing parents' marital quality as well as their individual parenting. Concerning criterion validity, the subscales of the CI-PA accounted for 20% of variance of adolescent psychosocial adjustment. Finally, we discuss implications and limitations of our results.

Bei Coparenting handelt es sich um ein multidimensionales Konstrukt, welches das elterliche Zusammenspiel bei der Kindererziehung beschreibt. Seit den 1980er Jahren ist dieses Konstrukt immer starker in den Fokus der Forschung vor allem in der amerikanischen Entwicklungs-psychologie geruckt. Der vorliegende Uberblicksartikel beschreibt verschiedene Konzepte uber Dimensionen des Coparentings und integriert diese in ein Konzept, welches vier Kategorien umfasst: „Kooperation“, „Konflikt“, „Untergrabung“ und „Triangulation“. Im Anschluss werden Methoden zur Erfassung des Coparentings, aktuelle Forschungsergebnisse zum Zusammenhang von Co-parenting mit der Qualitat der Paarbeziehung und dem Erziehungsstil der Eltern sowie weiteren elterlichen Charakteristika dargelegt und Auswirkungen von Coparenting auf die Entwicklung von Kindern und Jugendlichen berichtet. Abschliesend wird auf offene Forschungsfragen im Zusammenhang mit Coparenting und die praktische Relevanz dieses Konstruktes hingewiesen.

SYNOPSIS Objective . The present meta-analysis examines the relation between coparenting and child adjustment. Design . The authors integrate 59 studies and differentiate among cooperation, agreement, conflict, and triangulation as dimensions of coparenting. Further, they differentiate internalizing and externalizing symptoms, social functioning of children, and attachment as outcomes. Results . Effect sizes were generally small and, to some extent, moderated by age of the children, percentage of girls in the sample, clinical background of the sample, mono-informant bias, annual family income, and percentage of separated parents. Effect sizes remained significant after controlling for individual parenting or marital quality. Coparenting predicted change in child adjustment. Conclusions . Coparenting is important for the psychological adjustment of children. Research and practice should pay further regard to this construct.

The present study used a cluster-analytic strategy to identify types of families in terms of parents' and adolescents' views of coparenting. Data were collected from 348 adolescents (M=14.01 SD=1.93) and their parents. Cluster analysis revealed four types of families differing in the way adolescents and their parents perceive coparenting: "Above-Average-Families" (n=130), "Congruent-Negative-Families" (n=31), "Positive-Discrepant-Families" (n=125) and "Negative-Discrepant-Families" (n=62). These clusters differed in family cohesion and adolescent adjustment. Interestingly, adolescents of "Negative-Discrepant-Families," which had more negative views on coparenting than their parents had, showed significantly higher levels of internalizing problems than their peers from "Above-Average-Families." Results suggest the importance of direction and magnitude of perceptual differences between adolescents and their parents.

The present meta-analysis integrates the effects of randomized controlled trials that focus on promoting effective parenting in the transition to parenthood. We included 142 papers on interventions which started during pregnancy or in the first 6 months after birth. Computations were based on random-effects models. On average, interventions had small to very small significant effects on parenting (d = .35 SD units), parental stress (d = .20), child abuse (d = .13), health-promoting behavior of parents (d=.15), cognitive development (d = .24), social development (d = .30), motor development of the child (d = .15), child mental health (d = .40), parental mental health (d = .31), and couple adjustment (d = .13). Most of the effects were maintained at follow-up. Effects varied by onset of the intervention, delivery mode, qualification of the intervener, length of intervention, intervention goals, and gender distribution. In addition, we found that older studies reported greater effect sizes. We conclude that parenting-focused interventions are effective and should be made accessible to more expectant and new parents.

The present meta-analysis integrates results of 21 controlled couple-focused interventions with expectant and new parents. The interventions had, on average, small effects on couple communication (d = .28 standard deviation units) and psychological well-being (d = .21), as well as very small effects on couple adjustment (d = .09). Stronger effects emerged if the intervention included more than five sessions, included an antenatal and postnatal component, and was led by professionals rather than semiprofessionals.

The present meta-analysis integrates results of 21 controlled couple-focused interventions with expectant and new parents. The interventions had, on average, small effects on couple communication (d = .28 standard deviation units) and psychological well-being (d = .21), as well as very small effects on couple adjustment (d = .09). Stronger effects emerged if the intervention included more than five sessions, included an antenatal and postnatal component, and was led by professionals rather than semiprofessionals.

Coparenting is a multidimensional construct which describes parents' collaboration in child rearing. Since the 1980's, coparenting became an important field of research in American developmental psychology. This article summarizes different conceptualizations of coparenting and integrates them in a coparenting framework which includes the dimensions "cooperation", "conflict", "undermining" and "triangulation". Furthermore, this paper summarizes methods for assessing coparenting, current research findings about the relation between coparenting, marriage quality, parenting style, and parents' characteristics, as well as the impact of coparenting on the social and emotional adjustment of children and adolescents. Conclusions are stated regarding the need for further conceptual and empirical work, as well as regarding practical implications of research on coparenting.