The evidence base for Multiple Family

Therapy in psychiatric disorders: a

review (part 1)
Zoé Gelin, Solange Cook-Darzens, Stéphan Hendrick

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-6427.12178#:~:text=First%20published
%3A,10.1111/1467%2D6427.12178

This article provides an updated and comprehensive overview of the empirical literature regarding
Multiple Family Therapy (MFT)'s applications to major psychiatric disorders. It shows that MFT's
strongest evidence base is for schizophrenia and chronic psychoses, making its psychoeducational
model one of the best available practices for these disorders. There is also a growing body of
evidence regarding the usefulness of MFT for mood disorders (particularly in children), eating
disorders and alcohol-substance abuse, but more controlled research is needed for these
conditions. Other disorders such as anxiety disorders, autism and attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder have been studied in a more anecdotal fashion and require more rigorous investigations.
Future research efforts should focus on: (1) the specific advantage of MFT over other active
treatment modalities, (2) the comparative efficacy of various MFT models for a given population,
and (3) MFT's change processes.

Practitioner points

McFarlane's psychoeducational MFT model is considered best practice for schizophrenia and other
psychoses (and possibly mood disorders), facilitated by its manual-based approach

The Maudsley model is a valuable treatment for adolescent anorexia nervosa. Family therapists
who are less ED-focused in their interventions can also use more generic MFT models

MFT practitioners should attempt to operationalize their MFT model and include an evaluation
component in their therapeutic implementation

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nd their subjective experiences

Joyce L. C. Ma, Kelly Y. C. Lai, E. S. F. Wan, Lily L. L. Xia
First published: 09 September 2018
https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6427.12240
Citations: 6
Multiple family therapy for Chinese families of children with attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): treatment efficacy from the
children’s perspective and their subjective experiences

his paper reports the results of our study that assessed the treatment efficacy of multiple family
therapy (MFT) from the perspective of participating Chinese children with attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and identified their subjective experiences. Forty-three children
with ADHD in the experimental group (EG) completed a forty-two-hour MFT, whilst forty-five
children with ADHD in the control group (CG) had attended two writing classes scheduled three
months apart that were similar to those of the MFT. Data from the outcome study were gathered
using standardized questionnaires and data from the qualitative study were drawn from thirteen
children with ADHD who had completed the MFT and attended the focus group interviews (n = 5)
or individual interviews (n = 8) conducted in the post-treatment phase. The results of the Paired
sample t-test and MANOVA indicated no significant changes on the scores for the four measures
adopted (perception of competence, hopefulness, parent-child relationship and perceived social
support) in the pre- and post-treatment for the EG and the CG. Five themes emerged from the
narratives of children with ADHD, which revealed the children’s subjective experiences with the
MFT: (a) full of fun; (b) building friendships through common experiences; (c) a happy family
time; (d) safe space; and (e) positive parental responses and communications.