Effects of communication skills training on parents and young adolescents from extreme family types.

PROBLEM What were the effects of a communication skills training intervention among a sample of young adolescents and parents who scored in the "extreme" range of the Circumplex Model of Family Systems? METHODS Thirty-seven young adolescents and a parent (intervention group) participated in communication skills training 2 hours/week for 6 weeks. Their responses on measures of satisfaction with the family system and perceptions of communication were compared with those of 47 young adolescents and a parent who scored in the extreme range but did not participate in the training (control group). FINDINGS Fathers and young adolescents demonstrated no change as a result of the program. Mothers who participated in skills training perceived communication with their young adolescent as more open than control mothers, but became increasingly dissatisfied with the family system. CONCLUSION This universal, community-based, family-focused intervention may not be indicated for extreme families.