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Biomedical subjects

T M Gehring

Publications and source records attributed to T M Gehring.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Is there a relationship between children's mental disorders and their ideal family constructs?

Psychiatric outpatients (N = 72) and nonclinical children (N = 72) from 1st to 12th grades portrayed their families as they wished they were (ideal representation), using the Family System Test (FAST), a figure placement technique that focuses on cohesion and hierarchy. Results showed that constructs of ideal family relations were related to age group (1st to 3rd graders versus 4th to 12th graders) and to clinical status (clinical versus nonclinical) but not to the type of mental disorder. First, younger children portrayed less cohesion than did older ones. Second, clinical respondents were less likely to represent cohesive family patterns and were more likely to report ideal family situations as special events. Results are discussed from a developmental as well as from a family systems perspective.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Changing perceptions of family cohesion and power across adolescence.

Adolescents' perceptions of family relationships were studied using the FAST, a spatial technique in which wooden figures were placed on a board to represent cohesion and power. 150 subjects, drawn equally from sixth, ninth, and twelfth grades, portrayed the family in 2 representations: as perceived typically and ideally. Father-mother, father-child, and mother-child dyads were analyzed. Perceptions were strongly influenced by age, type of representation, and dyad. In accord with a developmental perspective, older adolescents portrayed less cohesion in parent-child dyads and smaller power differences in all dyads than did younger adolescents. In accord with family systems theory, the father-mother dyad was depicted as the most cohesive and as near egalitarian in power. At all ages and in both representations, parents were perceived as more powerful than their children. The family was generally portrayed as cohesive, significantly more so in the ideal than typical representation. Furthermore, in the ideal representation there were no significant power differences between the parents but moderate power differences in the parent-child dyads. Results were interpreted from both developmental and family systems perspectives.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[The Family System Test: a 3-dimensional method for analyzing social relation structures].

The Family System Test (FAST) is a clinically-derived figure placement technique designed for a three-dimensional representation of cohesion and power in the family. The FAST measures individual and group perceptions in typical, ideal and conflict situations. The flexibility of family structures is assessed by comparing representations of these situations. Scoring procedures as well as validity and reliability of the FAST are described. The relevance of the FAST is discussed from a systemic, developmental and clinical perspective.

Child↗