Children's psychophysiological reactions to family conflicts : impact on hope

Abstract

Families with children in residential foster-care settings are characterized by chronic family conflict, verbal abuse, and neglect. Previous research has supported increased risks in mental health psychopathology and heightened physiological reactivity among these children and youths. Recent research in family therapy has further hinted that debriefing of the children’s physiological arousals induced by family disputes can motivate the families to resolve their conflicts. The present study investigated whether the proposed intervention, which includes using the biofeedback equipment and debriefing of children’s physiological arousals, can increase the sense of hope in the families. Twenty Hong Kong parent-child dyads, with children in the residential child-care setting, participated in the study. Children’s physiological arousals were measured through skin conductance, heart rate and peripheral temperature.

The present findings revealed that parents and children who went through the intervention procedure reported greater increase in hope than those did not receive the intervention. Amongst the variables that correlated with the changes in hope, higher level of behavioral engagement among the children was associated with increased insight and plans disclosed by the parents. Negative parent-child interactional pattern was also found to associate with higher changes in the hope among the parents. The results identified that negative interactional patterns in form of responsiveness and participation from the children could be powerful in giving insights to the parents, which in turn could foster increased hope. These findings have significant clinical implications to family intervention strategies with these at-risk families.