Therapist-Family Interactions in Functional Family Therapy for Drug Abusing Youth

描述（由申请人提供）：拟议研究的总体目标是试点测试一种新开发的观察编码工具，用于研究青少年药物滥用功能家庭治疗中治疗师-家庭相互作用的研究序列。该仪器的名称是功能家庭治疗编码和评定量表（FFT CARS）。FFT CARS已经进行了第一轮试点测试，其中研究了特定类型治疗师行为的总体比率或比例，并将其与青少年和家庭结果联系起来。目前的项目将建立并扩展FFT CARS的试点研究，纳入FFT期间家庭成员行为的观察代码，以便对理论上相关的治疗师-家庭互动序列进行检查，从而预测临床结果。建议项目的具体目标是：1。使用已建立的基于家庭的观察编码系统对FFT治疗过程中家庭成员的行为进行编码，其中治疗师的行为已经使用FFT CARS进行了编码；2. 将FFT治疗过程中家庭行为的编码数据与FFT CARS先前的试点研究中获得的相同FFT治疗过程中治疗师行为的编码数据合并。3. 分析合并的数据，以经验确定FFT期间治疗师家庭互动的序列。4. 模拟FFT中某些类型的会话序列与青少年和家庭临床结果之间的统计联系。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overarching objective of the proposed research is to pilot test a newly developed observational coding instrument for study sequences of therapist-family interaction in sessions of Functional Family Therapy for adolescent drug abuse. The name of the instrument is the Functional Family Therapy Coding and Rating Scale (FFT CARS). The FFT CARS has undergone an initial round of pilot testing in which overall rates or proportions of specific types of therapist behavior have been studies and linked with adolescent and family outcomes. The current project would build upon and extend this pilot study of the FFT CARS by incorporating observational codes pertaining to the behavior of the family members during the sessions of FFT so to allow for the examination of theoretically relevant sequences of therapist-family interaction that may predict clinical outcomes. The specific aims of the propose project are: 1. To use an established family-based observational coding system to code the behavior of family members in sessions of FFT in which the behavior of the therapists have already been coded using the FFT CARS; 2. Merge coded data on family behavior in sessions of FFT with existing coded data on therapist behavior in the same FFT sessions obtained in a prior pilot study of the FFT CARS. 3. Analyze the merged data to empirically identify sequences of therapist family interaction during sessions of FFT. 4. Model statistical linkages between certain type's in-session sequences in FFT and adolescent and family clinical outcomes. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The proposed research is designed to contribute to the development and refinement of Functional Family Therapy (FFT), a treatment of proven efficacy for adolescent substance abuse. Such clinical process-outcome studies may help to facilitate and propel the dissemination of FFT in community-based adolescent treatment settings. These advances could increase the likelihood that FFT will have a favorable impact at a public health level on drug-abuse problems of adolescents and their families.