PY3FIP-Family influences on Psychopathology: Research and Therapeutic Perspectives

Module Provider: Psychology
Number of credits: 10 [5 ECTS credits]
Level:6
Terms in which taught: Spring term module
Pre-requisites: PY2RM Research Methods and Data Analysis
Non-modular pre-requisites:
Co-requisites:
Modules excluded:
Current from: 2021/2

Module Convenor: Prof Jonathan Hill
Email: j.hill@reading.ac.uk

Type of module:

Summary module description:

PY3FIP: Family influences on Psychopathology: Research and Therapeutic Perspectives

Aims:

The course will provide students with an understanding of the ways the family environment may influence child development, both to promote resilience and to increase risk of psychopathology.

It will give students an appreciation of considerations in linking parental and child behaviours, such as that that there are common genetic influences on both parents and children, and influences between parents and children run both ways. They will acquire a perspective on key topics such as, are early influences more important than later, and do specific aspects of parenting affect different aspects of child development? The course will provide insights into developmental pathways to psychopathology involving an interplay between children’s personalities and ways of seeing the world, and family characteristics. Students will acquire an understanding of how these insights can inform clinical practice and provide a basis for critical reading of the research evidence.

Assessable learning outcomes:

By the end of the module, the student will be able to:

1. Given an account of the ways parents and children influence each other and how the concept of person-environment interactions is applied in relation to parenting.


2. Summarise the evidence on family influences, including child maltreatment, on at least one area of psychopathology, such as conduct disorders young children and adolescent depression.


3. Summarise available cross-cult ural perspectives on parenting and evaluate whether current research is skewed by research from Westernised societies.


4. Describe current theories of family therapy, and parent training as currently applied in clinical practice.

Describe the application of developmental research in the domains of attachment, discipline and parent-child sharing, in clinical practice, and provide a family domains analysis to an example of parent-child interaction in c linical practice.

 

Additional outcomes:

Collaboration with others in formulating research questions and designing research projects to test hypotheses regarding family processes and development and psychopathology. Particular emphasis on how to evaluate processes in typical families with potential clinical application. Analysis and synthesis of complex literature relating to family influences in development. Ability to critically evaluate research and theory independently and as part of a small discussion group.

Outline content:

The module comprises seven 2-hour seminars.

 

The period of human immaturity, known as childhood, is longer than that of any other living creatures which means that there is a prolonged period over which  children are reliant on, can benefit from, and may be vulnerable to family, and particularly parental influences. This could lead to the conclusion that parental influences in humans are particularly strong, but as we will discuss, establishing this is complex because parents and children also share genes, and family characteristics are also correlated with influences from outside of the family. We therefore need to be equipped with a critical approach to interpreting findings in this area. We will summarise the two main contributions to our understanding of family influences from the 20th Century, psychoanalysis and learning theory, emphasised different aspects of development, and show how each needs to be integrated into an understanding of how children develop and are influenced by their environments. Psychoanalysis gave priority to early experiences with parents, and saw the child as an active shaper and interpreter of their experiences, while learning theory placed more emphasis on recent experiences and did not take much account of individual differences. Current perspectives see all developmental processes as interactional between the child and their environment, and envisage long term and short term effects of experiences, including family experiences. While parenting is often described as ‘good’ or ‘poor’ global characterisations may be less valuable than specific descriptions such as sensitive, intrusive, warm, or critical, with the possibility that each dimension of parenting has different origins and different developmental implications, including implications for different kinds of psychopathology. Many of the descriptions of these dimensions are explicitly or implicitly evaluative, a nd their evaluations may differ across cultures. The course will review evidence on the role of specific aspects of parenting across the normal range and their relevance to specific kinds of psychopathology, and at  specific periods of developmental. By contrast we will review the evidence that there are probably general effects of child maltreatment across different types of psychopathology. Equally children vary substantially in how they are affected by their environments giving rise to c oncepts such as resilience and differential susceptibility, which will be discussed. We will review the evidence from different areas of research that tell us about the range of needs of children, to be kept safe, to be comforted when distressed (attachment), to be guided into acceptable behaviours (discipline) and to be understood and be provided with rewarding experiences, and the different ways parents behave in order to meet these needs. The remarkable way in which families encompass these p rocesses is summarised in the Family Domains hypothesis will be discussed. Drawing on the research literature in each of these domains allows us to analyse family interactions in the clinical setting. More generally, all of the topics to be discussed during the course have potential clinical applications which will be reviewed.

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:

Seminars involve lectures, interactive discussions, practical activities and student presentations. During the course of the module, students will prepare a research grant proposal on a relevant topic.

Contact hours:

	Autumn	Spring	Summer
Lectures		14	1
Guided independent study:
Wider reading (independent)		85
Total hours by term	0	99	1
Total hours for module	100

Summative Assessment Methods:

Method	Percentage
Written exam	75
Written assignment including essay	25

Summative assessment- Examinations:

1.5 hours 

The 1.5-hour Summer Exam will require students to answer 1 essay question on topics covered in the module.

Summative assessment- Coursework and in-class tests:

This module is assessed through coursework (25%) and a final exam (75%). 



Coursework will comprise a 2000-word research proposal. 

 

Formative assessment methods:

Students will be provided with feedback on their collaborative grant proposal activities. This feedback will help students prepare for the final exam.

Penalties for late submission:

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of five working days;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than five working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: http://www.reading.ac.uk/web/FILES/qualitysupport/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf
You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Assessment requirements for a pass:

Overall mark of 40%

Reassessment arrangements:

Re-examination in August / September.

Additional Costs (specified where applicable):

1) Required text books: None

2) Specialist equipment or materials: None

3) Specialist clothing, footwear or headgear: None

4) Printing and binding: None

5) Computers and devices with a particular specification: None

6) Travel, accommodation and subsistence: None

Last updated: 16 September 2021