Language transmission in the family in Wales: an example of innovative language planning.

This paper examines the achievements to date of Twf (“Growth”) — a project initiated as part of language planning efforts in Wales to encourage families to bring up their children to be bilingual. Evidence is presented of the ways in which the project has succeeded in raising awareness of the advantages of bilingualism amongst parents, prospective parents and the public at large by working strategically with health professionals and Early Years organizations, and by developing a range of highly innovative promotional materials. Given the central importance of the family as a site of intergenerational language transmission, the achievements of this project are likely to be of interest to those concerned with language planning in other minority communities in many other parts of the world. The lessons for language planning both in Wales and in other settings are discussed.

Cloacibacterium normanense gen. nov., sp nov., a novel bacterium in the family Flavobacteriaceae isolated from municipal wastewater

Phenotypic and phylogenetic studies were performed on three isolates of an unknown Gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic, non-motile, yellow-pigmented, rod-shaped organism isolated from raw sewage. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that these strains were members of the Bergeyella-Chryseobacterium-Riemerella branch of the family Flavobacteriaceae. The unknown bacterium was readily distinguished from reference strains by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and biochemical tests. The organism contained menaquinone MK-6 as the predominant respiratory quinone and had a DNA G + C content of 31 mol%. A most probable number-PCR approach was developed to detect, and estimate the numbers of, this organism. Untreated wastewater from one plant yielded an estimated count of 1.4 x 10(5) cells ml(-1), and untreated wastewater from a second plant yielded an estimated count of 1.4 x 10(4) cells ml(-1). Signal was not detected from treated effluent or from human stool specimens. On the basis of the results of the study presented, it is proposed that the unknown bacterium be classified in a novel genus Cloacibacterium, as Cloacibacterium normanense gen. nov., sp. nov., which is also the type species. The type strain of Cloacibacterium normanense is strain NRS1(T) (=CCUG 46293(T)=CIP 108613(T) =ATCC BAA-825(T) = DSM 15886(T)).

Children's representation of family mealtime in the context of maternal eating disorders

Background Recent research provides evidence for specific disturbance in feeding and growth in children of mothers with eating disorders. Aim To investigate the impact of maternal eating disorders during the post-natal year on the internal world of children, as expressed in children's representations of self and their mother in pretend mealtime play at 5 years of age. Methods Children of mothers with eating disorders (n = 33) and a comparison group (n = 24) were videotaped enacting a family mealtime in pretend play. Specific classes of children's play representations were coded blind to group membership. Univariate analyses compared the groups on representations of mother and self. Logistic regression explored factors predicting pretend play representations. Results Positive representations of the mother expressed as feeding, eating or body shape themes were more frequent in the index group. There were no other significant group differences in representations. In a logistic regression analysis, current maternal eating psychopathology was the principal predictor of these positive maternal representations. Marital criticism was associated with negative representations of the mother. Conclusions These findings suggest that maternal eating disorders may influence the development of a child's internal world, such that they are more preoccupied with maternal eating concerns. However, more extensive research on larger samples is required to replicate these preliminary findings.

Family interventions in psychosis: a scale to measure therapist adherence

The efficacy of family interventions in psychosis is well documented. UK and USA schizophrenia treatment guidelines advocate the practice of family interventions within routine clinical services. However, less attention has been paid to the study of treatment fidelity and the tools used in its assessment. This study reports the inter-rater reliability of a new scale: Family Intervention in Psychosis-Adherence Scale (FIPAS). This measure is designed to assess therapist adherence to the Kuipers et al. (2002) family intervention in psychosis treatment manual. Reliability ratings were based on a sample of thirteen audiotapes drawn from a randomized controlled trial of family intervention. The results indicated that the majority of items of the FIPAS had acceptable levels of inter-rater reliability. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the training and monitoring of the effectiveness of practitioners for family interventions in psychosis.

Conversations around homework: links to parental mental health, family characteristics and child psychological functioning

Parents are increasingly expected to supplement their children's school-based learning by providing support for children's homework. However, parents' capacities to provide such support may vary and may be limited by the experience of depression. This may have implications for child development. In the course of a prospective, longitudinal study of children of postnatally depressed and healthy mothers, we observed mothers (N = 88) and fathers (N = 78) at home during maths homework interactions with their 8-year-old children. The quality of parental communication was rated and analysed in relation to child functioning. The quality of communication of each of the parents was related to their mental state, social class and IQ. While postnatal depression was not directly related to child development, there was some evidence of the influence of maternal depression occurring in the child's school years. Different aspects of parental communication with the child showed specific associations with different child outcomes, over and above the influence of family characteristics. In particular, child school attainment and IQ were associated with parental strategies to encourage representational thinking and mastery motivation, whereas child behavioural adjustment at school and self-esteem were linked to the degree of parental emotional support and low levels of coercion. Notably, the influence of maternal homework support was more strongly related to child outcome than was paternal support, a pattern reflected in mothers' greater involvement in children's schools and school-related activities. Some parents may need guidance in how to support their children's homework if it is to be of benefit to child functioning.

Family treatment of child anxiety: outcomes, limitations and future directions

Anxiety of childhood is a common and serious condition. The past decade has seen an increase in treatment-focussed research, with recent trials tending to give greater attention to parents in the treatment process. This review examines the efficacy of family-based cognitive behaviour therapy and attempts to delineate some of the factors that might have an impact on its efficacy. The choice and timing of outcome measure, age and gender of the child, level of parental anxiety, severity and type of child anxiety and treatment format and content are scrutinised. The main conclusions are necessarily tentative, but it seems likely that Family Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (FCBT) is superior to no treatment, and, for some outcome measures, also superior to Child Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CCBT). Where FCBT is successful, the results are consistently maintained at follow-up. It appears that where a parent is anxious, and this is not addressed, outcomes are less good. However, for children of anxious parents, FCBT is probably more effective than CCBT. What is most clear is that large, well-designed studies, examining these factors alone and in combination, are now needed.

A family study of co-morbidity between generalized social phobia and generalized anxiety disorder in a non-clinic sample

Background: High rates of co-morbidity between Generalized Social Phobia (GSP) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) have been documented. The reason for this is unclear. Family studies are one means of clarifying the nature of co-morbidity between two disorders. Methods: Six models of co-morbidity between GSP and GAD were investigated in a family aggregation study of 403 first-degree relatives of non-clinical probands: 37 with GSP, 22 with GAD, 15 with co-morbid GSP/GAD, and 41 controls with no history of GSP or GAD. Psychiatric data were collected for probands and relatives. Mixed methods (direct and family history interviews) were utilised. Results: Primary contrasts (against controls) found an increased rate of pure GSP in the relatives of both GSP probands and co-morbid GSP/GAD probands, and found relatives of co-morbid GSP/GAD probands to have an increased rate of both pure GAD and comorbid GSP/GAD. Secondary contrasts found (i) increased GSP in the relatives of GSP only probands compared to the relatives of GAD only probands; and (ii) increased GAD in the relatives of co-morbid GSP/GAD probands compared to the relatives of GSP only probands. Limitations: The study did not directly interview all relatives, although the reliability of family history data was assessed. The study was based on an all-female proband sample. The implications of both these limitations are discussed. Conclusions: The results were most consistent with a co-morbidity model indicating independent familial transmission of GSP and GAD. This has clinical implications for the treatment of patients with both disorders. (C) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All fights reserved.