Multi-family psychoeducation groups for childhood mood disorders : A program description and preliminary efficacy data

The literature suggests family-based psychoeducation effectively reduces relapse rates, thereby lowering costs and improving quality of life for adults with schizophrenia and major mood disorders, but similar programs for families with impaired children are lacking. Reports on efforts to develop, implement, and test the efficacy of a 6-session, manual-driven multi-family psychoeducation group therapy program for families of children or adolescents with a mood disorder. Provides a clinical description of the program along with pilot data, which suggest consumer satisfaction as well as improvement in family climate following participation in this multifamily psychoeducation program. (Original abstract - amended)