Bipolar Disorders-Psychology Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Bipolar Disorders-Psychology - Lab Report Example The researchers created two psychosocial treatment trials. The first study was to determine "the effectiveness of a multi-family psychoeducation group therapy program" (481). The first group was comprised of 135 families, with children 8-11 years of age, who were bipolar or had depressive spectrum disorder. In this group, 45% came from two biological parent families, 55% came from blended, single parent, adopted parent and lesbian parent families. Socioeconomic background for families ranged between $20,000 and $100,000. The majority of children were Caucasian (90%), with 10% African American. This group participated in group therapy and 25% were from rural areas. The second group was the same in terms of demographics, but it consisted of only 20 families with children 8-11 years old, and they were seen individually. In this group 40% came from rural and/or geographically remote areas. Families in both groups were encouraged to continue their regular treatment options throughout the course of the study. Detailed information about all the services families received was collected four times over the 18 months of the study (481). All information was gathered through interviews with the families. This study set out to show what parents experienced as they took their children through the mental health system. What they found was that parents had similar experiences. Most felt guilty about having a child with this disorder. They felt that their children were often misdiagnosed, they were given a treatment plan to use, and when it didnt work, the clinicians blamed them (the parents) for not parenting correctly or not following a behavior plan properly. "Without understanding the childs full diagnostic profile, treatment plans are often not helpful and sometimes harmful." (482). To help clinicians, they presented the "dos" and "donts" list in hopes that clinicians will be more aware of how to work better with families. Although this study will probably be