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ObjectiveMethodResultsDiscussionPostpartum depression is common among new parents. Whilst there is a sizeable evidence base on mothers’ experience of the condition, much less is known about how it affects new fathers. The aim of this qualitative study was to address this gap in the literature by exploring the lived experiences of men with postpartum depression.Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 men diagnosed with postpartum depression recruited through purposive sampling from hospitals in two Indian cities. Interview transcripts were analyzed using Colaizzi's phenomenological method.Analysis revealed four themes: men's silence in relationships, which reflected fear of conflict and marital discord; economic burden due to their financial responsibility for a new child; sleep deprivation due to caring for the newborn; and enmeshment, which reflected interference from parents and parents-in-law.Postpartum depression has a significant impact on the mental health of fathers. Insights from this study can help clinicians and counsellors better understand the condition and support affected men. Policy-level changes such as paternal leave for fathers are also needed. There remains a lack of research into sociocultural factors associated with postpartum depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cohesion measure launched from the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale (FACES) is a well-known instrument to assess family functioning. It is essential to perform a measurement equivalence test of cohesion targeting racially diverse families. The web-based self-administered survey was performed and 291 college/university students' responses in Ohio were collected (Whites = 37.5%, Hispanics = 23%, Asians = 23%, and Blacks = 16.5%). This study explicated measurement equivalence for family cohesion structure (balanced cohesion, disengagement, enmeshed). The multiple group analysis was performed to investigate whether parameters in the measurement models of the "cohesion sub-structures (balanced cohesion, disengagement, enmeshed; 7 items of each)" were equivalent across the four racial groups. While "balanced cohesion" and "disengagement" structures showed measurement invariance across the groups, the "enmeshed" structure showed significant measurement variance across the groups. Two-items, "Family members feel pressured to spend most free time together" and "We feel too connected to each other" were inadequate for Hispanics' enmeshment. One-item, "Family members have little need for friends outside the family" was inadequate to explain enmeshment of Blacks and Asians. Professionals should be aware of possible misinterpretations of results from the cohesion measure of FACES IV when they particularly assess the enmeshment status of racially diverse families with closer attention to cross-cultural comparability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parent–child contact problems (PCCP) are among the most vexing and intractable matters encountered in contemporary divorce and post‐divorce litigation. These complex and incendiary family dynamics can confound even the most experienced evaluators, investigators, and jurists, fueling opposing confirmational biases, and sparking a destructive tug‐of‐war between the aligned parent's allegations of abuse and the rejected parent's allegations of alienation. This article describes all such either/or binary arguments as misleading, contrary to the science, and harmful to children. Rather than cast alienation and estrangement as mutually exclusive alternatives, the systemically‐informed professional must consider more than a dozen mutually compatible practical exigencies and relationship dynamics which can converge to cause a child to align with one parent and resist or refuse contact with the other. Together, these variables are described as constituting an ecological model of the conflicted family system. A rubric is proposed to standardize evaluation across time, children, families, and jurisdictions, minimize bias, avoid premature closure, facilitate more comprehensive evaluations, optimize the efficacy of associated interventions, and invite more rigorous future research. Key points for the family court community: Human relationships are characterized by complex, chaotic, non‐linear dynamics.Parent–child contact problems (PCCP; aka., resist/refuse dynamics) are typically associated with multiple, convergent dynamics and practical exigencies.Evaluators and Courts must not be drawn into artificial and appealing binary either/or attributions of parent–child contact problems.Alienation, estrangement, and enmeshment are three mutually compatible, commonly co‐occurring dynamics associated with PCCP.A rubric is described that helps to standardize the evaluation of PCCP, minimize bias, avoid premature closure, and assure that the breadth of the child's experience is considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The editors of Family Transitions have bravely and graciously invited this dialogue in an effort to clarify the state of the thinking and the science concerned with understanding and responding to the needs of the child who is aligned with Parent A and resists or refuses contact with Parent B1 This article responds to the considered and insightful contributions of Griffin (2024), Emery (2024), and Bernet and Baker (2024). Many points of consensus are highlighted, most notably agreements that (1) the child's position within her conflicted family system is routinely associated with multiple, convergent contemporary and historical relationship pressures, (2) understanding a child's position within her conflicted family system requires consideration of the full spectrum of a child's relationship ecology in a manner consistent with a rubric propounded by Garber (2024), and (3) the Five Factor Model (Bernet & Greenhill, 2022) can only attempt to answer the question "is alienation afoot?" subsidiary to a broader inquiry into the full ecology of the child's experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Co-dependency and enmeshment have been used interchangeably in psychological and psychotherapeutic practice. The commentary offers a discussion on the conceptual development of both concepts, highlighting the historical differences and similarities. It suggests that there are specific schemas and modes which operate within the scope of both concepts. The Bacon & Conway - CODEM Model 2022. is introduced to describe the schemas and modes associated with enmeshment and co-dependency. The conceptual model of enmeshment and co-dependency is offered with the intention to help the reader to identify and find ways to address these patterns. A fictional clinical case scenario was offered to illustrate the discussion. Further research is currently being developed to offer a robust empirical base for the model proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Domestic violence is a prevalent public health concern, affecting millions worldwide. The presence of domestic violence affecting women and couples experiencing homelessness both continue to be underreported areas of clinical work and commissioning within the sector. This paper explores the difficulties of trying to house and contain unhoused couples with reference to the psychoanalytic ideas of attachment and the claustro‐agoraphobic dilemma. The paper argues that more wrap‐around support, such as temporary alternative housing options, are required to manage instances of domestic abuse and instances of attachment anxiety. Flexible options are also required to account for the likelihood that a couple may return to the streets when perpetrators are evicted based upon the implementation of blanket policies. The paper also attempts to offer some nuance into the complexities of relational dynamics, which are amplified by two unhoused minds coming into intimate contact with one another in front of a professional audience. The paper concludes with drawing attention to the lack of therapeutic support and lack of appetite to commission this to enable couples to explore the roles each partner can play when enmeshed in destructive forms of relating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One-third of mothers experience emotional and psychological stress due to the demands of motherhood. This qualitative study analyzed the impact of enmeshment on the emotional and psychological well-being in the family of Armenian origin as well as new mothers current parenting styles and the impacts of their past experiences on their current families. Participants included 19 Armenian mothers, aged 20–40, living in Los Angeles, California, with at least one child in enmeshed paternal families. Results indicated that participants had minimal decision-making opportunities and open communication in their families. Participants experienced low confidence levels and increased pressure due to enmeshment, and how these experiences shaped parenting styles. This information can be used to encourage mental health professionals to assist with cultural dynamics within the Armenian population, while aiding mothers in improving parenting practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Objective Chronic pain can have detrimental effects on quality of life and a profound impact on one’s identity. The Pictorial Representation of Illness- and Self-Measure (PRISM), is a visual tool designed to measure the self-illness separation (SIS) that represents the degree of schema-enmeshment (i.e., the degree to which the self-schema and the illness-schema come to overlap). Our aim was to investigate the relationship between schema-enmeshment and pain-related outcomes in patients with fibromyalgia. Methods In this cross-sectional study, 114 patients with fibromyalgia completed self-report assessments of pain catastrophizing, pain severity and interference, impact of symptoms, anxiety, and depression. SIS was assessed using an iPad version of PRISM. Mediation analyses evaluated the mediating role of schema-enmeshment on the association between pain catastrophizing and fibromyalgia impact. Results A higher degree of schema-enmeshment was associated with greater pain catastrophizing, pain severity and interference, impact of symptoms, and depression. Moreover, a mediation analysis revealed that schema-enmeshment significantly mediated the association between pain catastrophizing and fibromyalgia impact (p

Objective: Chronic pain can have detrimental effects on quality of life and a profound impact on one's identity. The Pictorial Representation of Illness- and Self-Measure (PRISM), is a visual tool designed to measure the self-illness separation (SIS) that represents the degree of schema-enmeshment (i.e., the degree to which the self-schema and the illness-schema come to overlap). Our aim was to investigate the relationship between schema-enmeshment and pain-related outcomes in patients with fibromyalgia.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 114 patients with fibromyalgia completed self-report assessments of pain catastrophizing, pain severity and interference, impact of symptoms, anxiety, and depression. SIS was assessed using an iPad version of PRISM. Mediation analyses evaluated the mediating role of schema-enmeshment on the association between pain catastrophizing and fibromyalgia impact.Results: A higher degree of schema-enmeshment was associated with greater pain catastrophizing, pain severity and interference, impact of symptoms, and depression. Moreover, a mediation analysis revealed that schema-enmeshment significantly mediated the association between pain catastrophizing and fibromyalgia impact (p < 0.001).Conclusions: Our results indicate that schema-enmeshment is associated with greater intrusiveness of chronic pain on everyday life, thereby posing significant limitations on the emotional and physical well-being of fibromyalgia patients. Schema-enmeshment also appears to partly account for the deleterious effect of pain catastrophizing on disease impact. The PRISM is a simple tool that may uniquely capture the extent to which chronic pain and illness infiltrates and affects one's self-concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Big data sets in conjunction with self-learning algorithms are becoming increasingly important in public administration. A growing body of literature demonstrates that the use of such technologies poses fundamental questions about the way in which predictions are generated, and the extent to which such predictions may be used in policy making. Complementing other recent works, the goal of this article is to open the machine's black box to understand and critically examine how self-learning algorithms gain agency by transforming raw data into policy recommendations that are then used by policy makers. I identify five major concerns and discuss the implications for policy making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Addiction is notoriously difficult to treat. In this paper, I argue for the efficacy of a relationally analytic approach, as addictions often operate within malattuned, divisive relational contexts, providing a fleeting but vitalizing self-restoration. A debilitating subjective and intersubjective divisiveness often develops within such contexts, frequently marked by Brandchaftian accommodation and affective rigidity. Addictions are often derivative of such relational trauma—allowing analysts, with perseverance, experimentation, and perhaps some luck, to provide mitigation in a developmentally restorative context. I present a case study that highlights such a hard-won, mitigating relatedness, in employing an intersubjective-systems perspective. Obstacles arise from both the addicted patient's compulsive aversions to vulnerability, any trace of "dependence," and from my own co-transference. My own self-reflection reveals a discomfort with the patient's rigid yet chaotic aversions against emotionality, and my subtle dismissal of his explanations of the importance of marijuana. He and his mother, meanwhile, struggle within an mutually enslaving system, demanding compulsive riddance of vulnerability and compliance from others—including the beleaguered analyst. Eventually the patient's family context is seen to parallel my own archaically traumatizing environment, an analogous "hijacking" of authenticity. This difficult stretching of reflectivity, together with some of my own personal experience with addition, leads to my own differentiation from transferential rigidity. A dyadic loosening occurs, with a reinforcement of the analytic frame, and my deeper understanding of the patient's dilemma; this recognition frees the patient to self-initiate steps towards expansiveness, easing his compulsive reliance on antidotal and isolating self-protections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Mental health can be disturbed among adolescents at any time. One in five adolescents are affected by mental illness age between 14-24 years. 10-20% of adolescentsis affected by mental illness by the age of twenty all over the World. Aims: The study aims to Screening of adolescents for schizophrenia and depression and to identify its risk factors. Objectives: 1. To identify the risk factors of specific mental illness among adolescents. 2. To screen and identify the adolescents for depression through BECK depression scale. 3. To screen and identify the adolescents for neurotic disorders through Brief psychiatric rating scale. 4. To associate the risk factors of specific mental illness with their demographic variables. Method: Research approach: Exploratory approach, Research design: Descriptive design. Sample: Adolescents aged between 10-20 years. Sample size: 300. Sampling technique: Non probability Purposive sampling Tools: BECK depression inventory to identify depression, Brief psychiatric rating scale: To identify for neurotic disorders. Setting of study: Selected Schools of Wardha district. Results: The main risk factors identified are: Most of the adolescents was having enmeshment relationship towards their parents and 2% were having disengagement relationship; 15.67% family members of adolescents were diagnosed with psychiatric illnesses and on psychiatric treatment. In BECK depression inventory, most of the adolescents were adopted everyday ups and down are considered normal whereas 20% of them were having moderate depression. Conclusion: More interventions are required to deal with mental disorders among adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prevailing views of adolescent self-regulation (ASR) as a relatively stable disposition or skill that an individual possesses in various degrees stand in contrast to a complementary, situational perspective from family systems theory casting ASR as intertwined with ongoing family processes and malleable depending on interpersonal interactions. Using observational data from a large, ethnically diverse sample of substance-using adolescents (N = 458), the current study examines the social context of ASR across 3 increasingly conflictual family interaction tasks. Coders rated ASR and 3 concurrent family interaction patterns: enmeshment, conflict avoidance, and negative affect. ASR declined across the 3 tasks, and independent of this systematic change, family-level negative affect in the first task exerted a strong lagged statistical effect on subsequent declines in ASR. The findings are consistent with family systems theory in both the context-dependent nature of ASR behavior and the modulating role of family interaction. In addition to its well-established dispositional properties, ASR may be of interest as a context-specific and potentially modifiable dependent variable. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Had Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective, the great Sherlock Holmes, actually engaged in deductive reasoning, he would have solved many fewer crimes. In fact, Holmes' logical progression from astute observation to hypotheses is a model of a type of inductive reasoning. This paper argues that mental health professionals tasked to evaluate why a child is resisting/refusing contact with one parent must approach each family the way that Holmes approached each case, without a presumed suspect, moving systematically from detail to hypothesis, well‐versed in the full range of dynamics that may be at play, and erring in favor of parsimony rather than pathology. By contrast, the custody evaluator who approaches these matters through a deductive process, seeking data that support an a priori theory, is vulnerable to confirmatory bias and doing harm to the child whose interests are paramount. The literature concerned with resist/refuse dynamics is reviewed, yielding 13 non‐mutually exclusive variables that evaluators must consider so as to more fully identify why a particular child is resisting or refusing contact with one parent. On this basis, the hybrid model is expanded to include the full spectrum of contributing dynamics. Specific recommendations are made for judicial officers in the interest of writing orders for custody evaluations that minimize the risk of confirmatory bias. Key Points for the Family Court Community: Deductive reasoning seeks to confirm or refute an a priori hypothesisDeductive reasoning is highly vulnerable to confirmational biasConfirmational bias can corrupt and invalidate forensic evaluation to the detriment of all involvedResist/refuse dynamics must be understood through an inductive process that is open to all possible hypothesesA survey of the literature identifies at least thirteen mutually compatible hypotheses, all of which must be evaluatedCourts must take care to word orders for forensic family evaluations in a manner that minimizes confirmatory bias and invites inductive investigation [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ObjectiveThe authors evaluated the validity of familial enmeshment (extreme proximity in family relationships) as a risk factor for eating disorders across cultural value orientations. They tested the hypothesis that although familial enmeshment may be a risk factor for eating disorder pathology for (1) participants of non-Asian descent or (2) culturally independent participants, enmeshment will not be a risk factor for (1) participants of Asian descent or (2) culturally interdependent participants.Participants255 undergraduate women participated.MethodsParticipants completed questionnaires on cultural value orientations, enmeshment, and eating disorder pathology.ResultsAs hypothesized, enmeshment was related to eating disorder pathology in non-Asian American and culturally independent participants, but not in Asian American and culturally interdependent participants.ConclusionsDepending on cultural values, enmeshment may or may not be a risk factor for eating disorders. This study highlights the importance of examining risk factors in the appropriate cultural framework when considering college student mental health.

Transitional objects are those idiosyncratically determined, beloved blankies and stuffed animals that communicate an absent parent's affection. As such, transitional objects serve the short-term need to cope with separation, and the long-term need to move toward autonomy. This article discusses the value, use, and misuse of transitional objects in the context of coparental conflict. The concept of alienation-by-proxy is introduced. Specific recommendations are provided, including the therapeutic creation and empowerment of transitional objects to assist children experiencing separation anxiety, consideration of the role of transitional objects in child custody evaluations, and the court's responsibility to encourage litigating parents to respect the child's needs for transitional objects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The contribution of mother-adolescent parentification and enmeshment to adolescents' ability to establish an intimate same-sex non-romantic best friend relationship as a function of rejection sensitivity were examined in a sample of 334 Israeli early and mid-adolescents using partial Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients and a mediation model. The bivariate correlation demonstrated, contrary to expectations, that both mother-adolescent parentification and enmeshment was positively correlated with adolescents' intimacy. However, as expected, angry expectations and expectations of rejection were negatively correlated with adolescents' intimacy. The mediation model indicated that mother-adolescent parentification was positively correlated with adolescents' rejection sensitivity, which was negatively correlated with adolescents' intimacy. Rejection sensitivity fully mediated the link between mother-adolescent parentification and adolescents' intimacy. By contrast and again contrary to expectations, the direct path between mother-adolescent enmeshment and adolescents' intimacy was significantly and positively correlated. The discussion centers on the theoretical implications of rejection sensitivity as a mechanism through which parentification with the mother impedes adolescents' development of intimacy in the context of Israeli society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children learn through observing and interacting with their parents. Much of what children learn about money comes from these observations and interactions. An area of concern in parent – child relationships is the impact of boundaries and roles. Parents whose boundaries with their children are rigid and inflexible do not prepare their children to effectively deal with stress in their lives. Similarly, parents whose boundaries are too flexible may impede their children’s ability to develop appropriate coping skills. This is true of their development of personal finance, money, consumption, and debt coping skills. Financial enmeshment occurs when parents involve their children in adult financial matters before the children are cognitively and emotionally ready to cope with the information. Financial enmeshment may have a negative effect on the child’s development. Financial enmeshment can be addressed through financial therapy. This paper explores the dynamic of financial enmeshment and discusses tools available to financial professionals to help identify the dynamic and structure interventions.

• Filamentous bulking triggered selective HB washout in the anammox system; • Selective HB washout involved in shear detachment, enmeshment and washout; • AnAOB and HB grew under different SRTs to achieve high AnAOB abundance; • The filamentous bulking strategy was DO level and mechanical stirring dependents. In this study, the filamentous bulking was demonstrated to improve anammox capability and anammox bacteria (AnAOB) population density under organic stress. The selective heterotrophic bacteria (HB) washout that involved in shear detachment, enmeshment and biomass washout was triggered. The microbial spatial distribution and granular detachment properties revealed that the filamentous bulking transferred the "location advantage" of HB from granules interior to surface, and endowed granular surface low shear tolerance for shear detachment, ultimately resulted in selective HB detachment. The detached filaments-mediated enmeshment provided additional selective pressure for free HB-flocs, eventually achieving the retention time differentiation between AnAOB (34 – 141 days) and HB (3 – 15 days), and a high anammox population density. Controlling dissolved oxygen level was crucial for regulating sludge bulking. Collectively, the filamentous bulking was developed as an effective anti-organic stress strategy to broaden the application of granular anammox process in actual wastewater treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous work has demonstrated that three overarching vulnerabilities-genetic, environmental, and temperamental-contribute to the development of child anxiety. The purpose of our study was to assess: (a) the relationship between an environmental vulnerability, family enmeshment, and child anxiety; (b) whether parental anxiety accounts for this relationship; and (c) whether this relationship is mediated by levels of child Behavioral Inhibition System sensitivity, a highly persistent temperamental variable demonstrating positive associations with child anxiety. Our study included 38 Canadian parent-child dyads from an urban area, of which 33 children were Caucasian and 18 were girls. Children were aged 9 or 11 years ( M = 10.21, SD = 1.07). Children completed measures of anxiety and sensitivity towards threat and parents completed measures of family enmeshment. The results supported a significant positive relationship between family enmeshment and child anxiety; parental anxiety did not account for this relationship; and the relationship was partially mediated by Behavioral Inhibition System sensitivity. Specifically, when the effect of Behavioral Inhibition System sensitivity was controlled for, the association between family enmeshment and child anxiety became non-significant. The results suggest that family enmeshment is associated with levels of child anxiety largely through the function of children's sensitivity to threat. Enmeshed families may increase children's susceptibility to anxiety through their effect on child temperament, specifically sensitivity to threat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]