Bibliographies
The following bibliography has been compiled from the Australian Family & Society Abstracts database and other resources held in the Institute's library. Where available a link to the document on the Web is provided. Most items can be borrowed from the Institute's library via the inter library loan system. Online publications in PDF format require Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Updated August 2008
Adolescents and family relationships
6. (2007).
Melville, W.A.: City of Melville.
This 50 minute DVD is about 6 mates, 6 stories. This set of 6 interconnected short films centres around six teenage friends, each facing their own issues including low self esteem, homosexuality, crime, and drink driving. '6' provides a starting point for young men to discuss male emotional health and help seeking behaviour.
2005
overview: What is concerning children and young people in
Australia? (2006).
Kids Help Line
Milton, Qld: Kids Help
Line, Online.
Information about children and young people who sought help through Kids Help Line telephone and online counselling during 2005 is presented. The report looks at: number of calls and web and email contacts; reason for the contact; geographic area; gender; cultural and linguistic background; and age. Common concerns among children and young people were: relationships with family; relationships with friends and peers; relationships with partners; emotional and behavioural management; mental health; bullying; child abuse; homelessness and leaving home; pregnancy; suicide related issues; eating and weight concerns; grief and loss; self image; and deliberate self injury.
Beyond
the double edged sword: The contradictory experiences
of biological children in foster families. (2004).
Nuske, E. M.
In: Building stronger families: Conference on International
Research Perspectives on Child and Family Welfare,
Mackay, Queensland, 6-8 August 2004: Conference papers.
Mackay, Qld: Centre for Research on Community and Children's
Services, Online.
This research project interviewed 22 young people, between nine and 30 years of age, who lived as the biological children within foster homes. The participants discuss: sharing and losing; being responsible and escaping; caring and resenting; being independent and belonging; having stability and living with change; shouting and keeping quiet. The paper includes a series of questions for foster parents and workers to strengthen foster families.
Community
Building Through Intergenerational Exchange Programs: Report to the National Youth
Affairs Research Scheme (NYARS). (2006).
MacCallum, J., Palmer, D., Wright, P., et al.
Canberra, ACT: Australian Government Department of Families,
Community Services and Indigenous Affairs for National Youth Affairs
Research Scheme, Online.
The report is based on a literature review and the findings of four Australian case studies. The report concludes that successful intergenerational exchange programs display four key features: they provide opportunities for the development of relationships between generations; have access to a range of support mechanisms; provide opportunities for generations to do a range of things together; and take account of program-specific issues, such as gender, culture and language.
Disrupted relationships: Adult daughters
and father absence. (2006-2007).
East, L., Jackson, D., & O'Brien, L.
Contemporary Nurse, 23(2), 252-261.
Father absence that occurs as a result of the breakdown of the parental relationship is associated with life adversity and less than optimal outcomes for children and adolescents. However, little research exists that explores this phenomenon from the perspective of the father absent young person. This phenomenological study was conducted in 2005 and aimed to explore women's perceptions about relationships with their fathers within the context of a father absent childhood. Findings revealed that growing up without their father present in the home disrupted the relationship these daughters held with their fathers. Due to the perceived lack of interest they felt from their fathers, they expressed feelings of hurt and diminished respect for their fathers. The findings of this paper provide insights that can help nurses and other healthcare professionals to recognise the emotional impact that father absence can have on young women. (Journal abstract, edited)
Family separation: A guide for teens. (2007).
Child
Support Agency (Australia).
Belconnen, ACT: Child Support Agency.
About 11,000 Australian teenagers each year experience family separation. This booklet is designed to help teenagers whose parents are separating to understand and cope with what is happening to them and their family. It identifies common situations, offers tips for dealing with them and gives information about where to get help. It covers: emotions; human and legal rights; relationship with parents, siblings, extended family and step family; coping with change; getting support from friends; looking after personal safety and mental health; useful coping strategies.
Family-related school issues and the mental health of
adolescents: Post hoc analyses of the Portuguese National Health
Behaviour in School-Aged Children Survey data. (2006).
Matos,
M. G., Dadds, M. R. & Barrett, P. M.
Journal of Family
Studies, 12(2), 261-275.
An ecological model of mental health is proposed, based on data obtained from the Portuguese National Health Behaviour in School Aged Children Survey. The article examines whether parent encouragement for school added a specific effect to adolescent health over and above that afforded by the quality of the home and school environments. Measures were constructed of physical health, conduct problems, anxiety and depression, family communication, school environment and parental encouragement for school. A series of regression analyses supported an ecological model of psychological health in which the family and school, as well as the relationship between the two, show relationships to adolescent health, conduct, and anxiety and depression problems. Results suggest that parental encouragement for school can be considered as having a specific positive effect on adolescent health, beyond the effect of school environment and family communication addressed individually. (Journal abstract, edited)
Fractured families: Parental perspectives
of the effects of adolescent drug abuse on family
life. (2006-2007).
Jackson, D., Usher, K., & O'Brien, L.
Contemporary Nurse, 23(2), 321-330.
Drug use in young people has serious ramifications for health and well being of young people and their families and continues to be an area of major concern for health workers. Eighteen parents of drug abusing young people were recruited into this qualitative study that aimed to develop understandings into the effects of adolescent drug use on family life. Findings revealed that the experience of having a drug abusing adolescent family member had a profound effect on other members of the immediate family. Family relationships were fractured and split as a result of the ongoing destructive and damaging behaviour of the drug abusing young person. Five themes were identified that captured the concept of fractured families: betrayal and loss of trust; abuse, threats and violence; sibling anger and resentment; isolated, disgraced and humiliated; feeling blamed. Implications for practice and further research are drawn from the findings. (Journal abstract, edited)
Influence of perceived family environment
on adolescent leisure participation. (2004).
Garton, A., Harvey, R., & Price, C.
Australian Journal of Psychology, 56(1),
18-24.
The purpose of the present study was to examine if, and to what extent, the family environment can influence adolescent leisure participation. Measures of leisure participation, leisure satisfaction and with whom adolescents participate during leisure activities plus the Family Environment Scale (FES) Form R were administered to 313 high school students between 13 and 16 years of age. The results demonstrated a relationship between leisure activity and with whom adolescents participated, that the time spent in leisure activities and the amount of satisfaction gained was linked to the activities that gender predicted the types of leisure activities preferred, and that the satisfaction of the adolescent's leisure needs is related to the type of perceived family environment. (Journal abstract)
Just
accept us how we are more: Experiences of young
pakeha with their families in Aotearoa New Zealand. (2006).
McCreanor, T., Watson, P., & Denny, S.
Social Policy Journal of New Zealand, (27),
156-170, and Online.
Families are widely recognised as among the most influential contributors to the environments experienced by young people as they mature. This paper brings together two independent studies - one quantitative, one qualitative - conducted concurrently within the same districts of urban Auckland in Aotearoa New Zealand. Survey data and life story accounts are used to create a composite representation of the complexity and richness of the young participants' experiences. The importance of parents, siblings and more distant relations is discussed in terms of sample trends and case experience. The implications of the findings for health promotion, positive youth development and social equity are considered, with the conclusion that families remain a crucial site for interventions to enhance the well being of young people. (Journal abstract)
Kids
Help Line 2006 overview: Issues concerning children and young
people. (2007).
Kids Help Line.
Milton, Qld: Kids Help
Line.
Kids Help Line counsellors responded to 307,813 telephone and online contacts from young people during 2006. This overview presents a statistical breakdown of Kids Help Line clients and activities, and an analysis of the trends and main themes that emerged during counselling. Most issues concerned the client's relationship with their family. These themes are illustrated by brief case studies.
Life
stories of young adults who experienced parental
divorce as children and adolescents. (2005).
Cartwright, C.
In: Families Matter: 9th Australian Institute of
Family Studies Conference, Melbourne, February 2005
- Proceedings.
Melbourne, Vic: Australian Institute
of Family Studies, Online only.
This paper presents results from the Life Stories and Family Transitions Study. This study includes life-story interviews with 40 young adults living in New Zealand who have experienced the separation/divorce of their parents during childhood or adolescence. The participants are between the ages of 18 and 30 years and from a range of different cultural backgrounds, including European, Maori and Pacific Islanders. The study aims to develop insight into how young adults understand the impact of parental divorce on their lives, as children and adolescents, and in their current lives as adults. This paper presents an overview of the findings from this study. It examines the experiences that were considered supportive or helpful by the participants and those that were associated with most difficulty. It also investigates the relationships, (for example, parental, peer, other adult, relatives) that were seen as most significant by the participants within their life stories. Finally, it examines the participants' perceptions of current areas of personal strength and difficulty. (Author abstract, edited)
Lifelines: Young New Zealanders imagine family, friends and relationships
across their life-course. (2007).
Patterson, L., Peace,
R., Campbell, B., et al.
Wellington, NZ: Families
Commission, (Blue skies report no.20/07), and Online.
In LifeLines - stories written by 100 New Zealand Year 13 students - the writers describe themselves now, as they imagine themselves at the age of 80, and in four intervening time periods. A narrative analysis of the LifeLines identified the ways in which young people make sense of family, friendship and intimacy and how they imagine they might live their lives in the context of these meanings. The key finding of the research is that young people's imagined futures are structured by the dominant narrative of a happy, stable and contented life. Narrative variations on the happy, stable and contented life were identified, notably career family narratives that are clearly gendered. A small number of LifeLines did not include the formation of a life long relationship or having children.
Resilient
Families: A program to promote health and wellbeing
in adolescents and their families. (2005).
Shortt, A., & Toumbourou, J.
In: Families Matter: 9th Australian Institute of
Family Studies Conference, Melbourne, February 2005
- Proceedings.
Melbourne, Vic: Australian Institute
of Family Studies, Online only.
This paper describes Resilient Families - a program designed to improve adolescent health and wellbeing by building positive relationships between young people, their parents, and other adults in the first two years of secondary school. The paper also provides information about a randomised controlled trial of this program, which is currently being conducted in partnership with twenty-four secondary schools in Melbourne and surrounding areas.
Snapshots of Australian families with
adolescents. (2006).
Australian Institute of Family Studies.
Melbourne, Vic: Australian Institute of Family Studies, and
Online.
To support the 2006 National Families Week, the Australian Institute of Family Studies has prepared this Facts Sheet about families with adolescent children aged 12 to 18 years - the group given special emphasis in this year's celebrations. Statistics are included on family types and the numbers of adolescents in Australia, and the value young people place on family relationships and life decisions.
Snapshots of Australian families with
adolescents. (2006).
Weston, R., Qu, L., & Soriano, G.
Family Matters, (74), 48-51.
Over the last few generations the composition of families and the roles and responsibilities of parents have changed substantially. Despite these transformations, the family unit remains the foundation of society and the place in which children are nurtured as they grow to maturity. This article provides a snapshot of Australian families with adolescent children and is based on statistics drawn from the 2001 Census, Wave 4 of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey (2004) and several publications from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. In particular the authors provide information on family type, parents' employment circumstances, residential location and country of birth of parents, education and employment of adolescents, and issues seen as important by adolescents.
Successful
outcomes for families with dependent children:
a qualitative study. (2005).
UMR Research.
Wellington, NZ: UMR Research, Online.
This report contains the views of families collected in focus groups for a New Zealand project that investigated successful outcomes for families with dependent children. The following themes are explored: family form; satisfaction with family life; family decision making; financial decisions; children and decision making; characteristics of a strong family, including love, communication, support, shared values, and time together and apart; children and young people's perspectives; the place of money; culture, religion and tradition; language; measures of success; the concept of success; supports for strong families; parenting skills; challenges faced by families; services, facilities and the community; government and non government agencies; society; challenges for migrant families, same sex parents, parents of pre schoolers and single parents; grandparents as caregivers; financial help and support; education; organisation; employment and work life balance; and childcare.
Supporting the families of young people with problematic drug
use: Investigating support options. (2008).
Frye, S., Dawe,
S., Harnett, P., et al.
Canberra,
ACT: Australian National Council on Drugs, (ANCD research
paper no.15), and Online.
This report investigates the support needs of families of young people with substance abuse problems. It begins by examining the scope of the problem - the prevalence of drug and alcohol use among children, adolescents, and youth, and the impact of problematic or experimental substance use on family members and household functioning. The report then considers current support and treatment options, including family-based interventions, helplines, internet sites, and their efficacy. A section is also included on kinship care and the support needs of grandparents and other family members caring for the children of young parents affected by drug use.
The BEST Plus approach to assisting families
recover from youth substance problems. (2006).
Bamberg, J., Findley, S., & Toumbourou, J.
Youth Studies Australia, 25(2), 25-32.
The BEST Plus program is a whole of family therapy option for families to address not only youth substance abuse issues, but also challenging and antisocial adolescent behaviours. It uses an evidence based strategy that can be implemented widely in the community, and is proving to be a popular and relevant framework for professionals to engage and assist families in reducing adolescent problem behaviours. Evaluations indicate that the program is an effective forum for parents and siblings of adolescent drug abusers to redevelop positive family environments that encourage responsible behaviour and recovery from drug abuse. This article describes BEST Plus program sessions and includes case examples. (Journal abstract, edited)
The relationship between perceived marital
conflict, attitudes towards parents, and parenting
styles experienced by adolescents. (2005).
Tritt, A., & Pryor, J.
Journal of Family Studies, 11(2), 284-296.
This study investigated the relationships among marital conflict, perceptions of parents, and parenting styles perceived by adolescents. Subjects were 172 high school and university students aged 16 to 19 years. Subjects were given a questionnaire containing The Conflict Scale, Parenting Styles Scale, and Perceptions of Parents Scale. Results indicated that total marital conflict scores correlated with negative perceptions of mothers and fathers and with authoritarian, neglectful, and permissive parenting. Marital conflict correlated positively with negative perceptions of mothers and fathers and negatively with positive perceptions of parents. Mediational analyses revealed that neglectful parenting was a partial and sometimes full mediator in the relationships between perceived marital conflict and perceptions of parents. Neglect was a full mediator in the relationship between perceived marital conflict and both positive and negative perceptions of mothers. Neglect was a partial mediator in the relationship between perceived marital conflict and positive perceptions of fathers. This suggests that marital conflict may be consuming parents' emotional resources, leading to neglectful parenting and low support, which in turn contributes to adolescents holding negative perceptions of parents. These findings might contribute to education programs for addressing the negative effects of marital conflict and its impact on the perceptions children hold of their parents. Awareness of these influences may minimise the harmful family relationship effects of marital conflict. (Journal abstract)
Young people and their parents: Supporting families through changes that
occur in adolescence. (2006).
Robinson, E.
Melbourne,
Vic: Australian Family Relationships Clearinghouse, Australian Institute
of Family Studies, (AFRC briefing no.1), Online.
Over the past decade, research has highlighted the importance of close and caring relationships between young people and their parents. Strong relationships were shown to be protective against a range of behaviours that affect health and wellbeing in adolescence, including substance use, violence and early initiation of sexual behaviours. Since then, the importance of family connectedness in adolescence has been a central component of research, program and service delivery in adolescent health, particularly in the area of prevention and early intervention in engagement in health risk behaviours. Yet adolescence is seen as a time when the relationship between parents and their children is under significant pressure. This article explores the changes that young people and their families experience during the adolescent period, and ways that practitioners can help facilitate or strengthen bonds between the two. Strategies for encouraging parents to be effectively involved in their young person's life, even in difficult times, are discussed.