The Family Rorschach with Families of Schizophrenics: Replication and Extension

Carter, Linda; Robertson, Susan R.; Ladd, Jon S.; Alpert, Murray

doi:10.1111/j.1545-5300.1987.00461.x

Cited by 8 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Put simply, confusing and disorienting styles of parental communication are reflected in the confused and disoriented thought processes of schizophrenic offspring. Related studies have shown that offsprings' and spouses' performance of cognitive tasks in an experimental situation is impaired during and immediately following interactions filled with high CD-type communication (Blakar, 1981;Carter, Robertson, Ladd & Alpert, 1987;Mossige, Petterson & Blakar, 1979;Reiss, 1981;Rund, 1986;Shapiro & Wild, 1976;Solvberg & Blakar, 1975). Lastly, Waxler (1974) found that schizophrenic offsprings' performance on a cognitive task improved after interaction with normal offsprings' parents (who presumably were low in CD).…”

Section: Studies Of Communication Deviance and Adult Thought Disordersmentioning

confidence: 98%

“Learning to Learn“ and the Family System: New Perspectives on Underachievement and Learning Disorders

Green

1989

J Marital Family Therapy

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A new frontier for family therapy is emerging from recent studies of underachievement in school, learning disabilities andparentul communication. Although poor school performance is frequently the presenting problem (or an associated symptom) in family therapy, this topic still lacks a coherent conceptual framework, An ecological model is proposed for understanding child and adolescent achievement problems. Four dimensions of a family's learning environment are suggested as foci: (a) family communication deviances; (b) family structure; (c) family attributions; and (d) family achievement values. The metaphor of the family as "primary classroom" is offered as a way to think about learning styles across home and school contexts, and some treatment guidelines are suggested.Failure and underachievement in school are relatively unexplored territories in the family systems literature. We seem to have delegated the task of formulating theory about school problems to the disciplines of educational psychology, school psychology and special education-fields with a mainly individual orientation. However, most family therapists regularly treat cases in which tutoring, special class placement, or struggles over homework and grades are an ever-present fixture of the work.School failure and learning problems in childhood often have dire consequences reaching far into adulthood. Poorly educated members of our society (e.g., school dropouts and functionally illiterate adults) are more likely to suffer severe economic disadvantages and persistent experiences of inferiority, shame, rejection and failure in the job market. As a consequence, they are more at risk for the entire panorama of biopsychosocial dysfunctions associated with lower socioeconomic status. I am grateful to the California School of Professional Psychology-Berkeley for providing me with a research development grant to undertake this review; to J. M. Xena Brenna for her outstanding assistance in searching the literature; to Patricia Ditton, Margaret T.

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Section: Studies Of Communication Deviance and Adult Thought Disordersmentioning

confidence: 98%

“Learning to Learn“ and the Family System: New Perspectives on Underachievement and Learning Disorders

Green

1989

J Marital Family Therapy

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“…Whereas families with normal offspring were typically able to achieve consensus and collectively report a moderately detailed percept, the written responses of members of families with schizophrenic offspring included a great deal of vagueness and disagreement with one another, reflecting tendencies toward pseudomutuality and premature closure. Carter, Robertson, Ladd, and Alpert (2), replicating Shapiro and Wild's study, later reported significant differences between families of schizophrenics and families of hospitalized but nonschizophrenic offspring, evidence indicating that the communication deviance was not simply a family response to the stress associated with having a family member hospitalized.…”

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confidence: 69%

The 20 Questions Task with Families of Schizophrenics: Divergent Findings

et al. 1989

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The study attempted to replicate and extend the results of an earlier study by Wild and Shapiro (16), establishing the utility of Mosher and Hornsby's (8) 20 Questions Task as a means of differentiating families with schizophrenic patients from those of psychiatrically hospitalized but nonschizophrenic individuals. In the current study, Wild and Shapiro's original design was expanded and revised by (a) diagnosing patients using Research Diagnostic Criteria rather than hospital diagnoses and (b) including families with schizophrenic daughters and/or one-parent families, in addition to intact families with schizophrenic sons. Families were comparable on age, intelligence, and socioeconomic variables. The results failed to replicate those reported by Wild and Shapiro, and indicated that the 20 Questions Task was sensitive to differences in family constellation and offspring gender as well as offspring diagnosis. The findings suggest that forms of familial communication deviance detected with the 20 Questions Task may not be unique to families of schizophrenics, thus highlighting the need to expand research on family communication deviance in families with schizophrenic offspring to families with varied family constellations and characteristics.

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“…In this task, family members attempt to reach a consensus on their perceptions of the inkblots. Using this procedure, several investigators have found that they could clearly differentiate families with a schizophrenic member from control families, and that families with schizophrenic members exhibit significantly more communication and attentional problems than families with non-schizophrenic offspring (1,2,9,16,27).…”

Section: Communication Deviance (Cd) Refers To Confusing and Fragmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can Communication Deviance Be Measured in a Family Problem‐Solving Interaction?

et al. 1990

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Communication deviance (CD) refers to confusing and fragmented communication that prevents family members from attaining a shared focus of attention and meaning. Levels of communication deviance based on individual parental projective test protocols--Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) and Rorschach--have repeatedly been found to be higher in parents of schizophrenic offspring than in parents of normal or nonpsychotic offspring. CD has also been measured in family transactions in which parents and their offspring interact with one another around a projective test stimulus, the Consensus Rorschach. There have been relatively few attempts to measure specific CD codes in familial interaction that is not initiated around an ambiguous visual stimulus. The present article examines the reliability and construct validity of an interactional measure (ICD) obtained from family transactions in which parents and patients are working toward the solution of a salient family problem. ICD from this family problem-solving task was compared to more traditional measures of CD from parental TAT protocols in a sample of 59 parents of 37 recent-onset schizophrenic patients. Results indicated that CD could be reliably measured in an interactive setting not initiated around a projective test stimulus, and provided evidence for the construct validity of ICD.

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The Family Rorschach with Families of Schizophrenics: Replication and Extension

Cited by 8 publications

References 11 publications

“Learning to Learn“ and the Family System: New Perspectives on Underachievement and Learning Disorders

“Learning to Learn“ and the Family System: New Perspectives on Underachievement and Learning Disorders

The 20 Questions Task with Families of Schizophrenics: Divergent Findings

Can Communication Deviance Be Measured in a Family Problem‐Solving Interaction?

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