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This article details experiences of grandmothers from marginalized communities caring for grandchildren outside the formal kinship care system. It begins with my journey into the field of grandparent caregiving as a doctoral student, then details findings from a study of low-income, African American grandmothers who were sole providers of their grandchildren's care. It explores factors affecting their capacity to help grandchildren overcome early adversity and what interfered with their ability to thrive on the margins. Findings revealed structural inequalities: destabilizing forces of drugs, community violence, and negative economic and social environmental disparities. Coping responses were influenced by resource availability. Grandmother caregivers minimized their mental and emotional health needs to care for grandchildren.and emotional health needs to care for grandchildren.

Objective This study examined family dynamics that are common in families experiencing elder family financial exploitation (EFFE) using an innovative analytical protocol, qualitative genogram analysis. Background EFFE is a form of elder abuse that affects many older adults and their families. Individual factors associated with EFFE have been examined, but what is missing is a greater focus on the complex family dynamics that contribute to this violation of older family members. Method Using qualitative genogram analysis (QGA), a three‐step analytical protocol using family systems theory as a foundation, this study identified key relationship patterns commonly found in families where exploitation had occurred. Family genograms generated from 20 interviewees representing 20 families that reportedly experienced EFFE were used to identify common family dynamic themes. Results Using QGA, we identified four relational dynamic themes across families: distance and closeness, triangulation, power and dominance, and partner influence. Conclusion These themes illustrate that families experiencing EFFE have several similar relational dynamics, which may have contributed to creating contexts that made older family members more vulnerable to financial exploitation. Implications The findings of this study provide important indicators for practitioners (e.g., family therapists, family life educators, family attorneys) and policymakers in supporting older family members in making better financial decisions later in life.

Research Framework: The socio-legal context of Quebec allows access to different modalities of egg donation to conceive a child through assisted reproduction. The present qualitative empirical research focuses on directed egg donation in which the donor is known to the recipient couple (RC).Objectives: This article aims to provide a better understanding of each person’s place in this new family reality and to study the impact of the use of egg donation regarding maternal identity and filiation.Methodology: Semi-structured interviews accompanied by a free genogram (FG) were conducted with eight donors and eight RCs. An inductive and iterative logic guided the collection and analysis of data by conceptualizing categories. Results: The analysis made it possible to highlight the development of an emotional and relational history between donors and RCs as a backdrop to the specific issues at stake for each of them. If there is indeed an encounter between both parties, the psychic work they go through, and which appears in the course of the FG reveals different universes.Conclusions: Thus, it is an opportunity for the donor to develop a meaning to her donation in the light of her personal and family history, laying the foundations for a narrative of donation, allowing for a work of historicization and re-subjectivation. As the parents, they construct the story that enabled them to give birth to their child, questioning the place of the donor and the link with her, as well as the maternal identity. Contribution: As a basis for the psychic birth of the parents and in particular of the mother, such a conception narrative is combined with the donation narrative to think about the origins of the child. This article contributes to the reflection on becoming a parent by means of directed egg donation. It raises the importance of offering support to both the RC and the donor to enable each to develop a narrative that is in continuity with their own story.

Background Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia is an autosomal dominant vascular disorder with clinical features of recurrent epistaxis, mucocutaneous telangiectasias, or visceral arteriovenous malformations, yet its early signs may be overlooked in children. Case presentation We report a family in which a fifteen-year-old boy and his mother presented for genetic evaluation of recurrent epistaxis, after his previously well seven-year-old sister demised suddenly from likely spontaneous atraumatic intracranial hemorrhage (diagnosed clinically without confirmatory post-mortem imaging), following a brief history of headache and vomiting. The mother had a background of infrequent nosebleeds and a family history of recurrent epistaxis in multiple maternal relatives. Genetic testing identified heterozygosity for NM_001114753.3(ENG): c.1134G > A (p.Ala378=) , a ClinVar classified pathogenic variant, confirming the diagnosis of hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia. Cascade testing for her two surviving children was done. Her fifteen-year-old son tested positive and was found on subsequent screening to have intracranial vascular malformations which were treated presymptomatically with gamma knife surgery. Her other son tested negative. Conclusion This case emphasizes the importance of prompt recognition of hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia in children presenting with recurrent epistaxis and highlights the need for thorough family history. Pediatricians play a crucial role in early diagnosis and referral for genetic testing with subsequent surveillance imaging. Early identification may possibly reduce the risk of unfavorable outcomes such as intracranial hemorrhage. This case emphasizes the need for heightened awareness of hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia in pediatric practice and supports the value of integrating genetic cascade testing and organ-specific screening in at-risk children, even before symptoms appear.

This work investigates the influence of the transgenerational phenomenon on the family life cycle of couples with small children. As of collection of data from genograms, it was possible to obtain a systemic reading on the family origin of each spouse, as well as the nuclear family constituted by them. During the couple’s therapy sessions, they worked on the concept of self-differentiation, allowing the couple to understand the origin of their marital problems, which emerged after the birth of their daughters. As a consequence, the couple may experience evolutionary changes in their marital relationship, confirming what the Bowenian Therapy says about understanding as to the vehicle of healing.

When individuals have biological children with more than one partner (multipartner fertility [MPF]), they, on average, experience less ability to care for their children and work with coparents (compared with those with children from a single partner or fewer partners). These problems can be further exacerbated when one partner is incarcerated. Under such conditions, service agencies are particularly crucial for these families. For services to be more effective, additional information on the prevalence and impact of MPF in incarcerated populations is needed. Furthermore, tools are needed that capture the entirety of incarcerated fathers’ family relationships. The current study presents genograms as a method to measure family complexity and its impact. Researchers interviewed 124 jailed fathers and 38 partners of jailed fathers, with genograms used to capture their family structures. Half of the jailed men as well as the caregivers of their children had biological children with more than one partner. Having biological children with more (compared with fewer) partners was associated with less father–child contact prior to incarceration and less coparenting support. During incarceration, having children with more partners was associated with more phone contact but fewer visits. Implications for research and intervention are discussed.

An increase in extreme self-destructive and aggressive behaviors in adolescents has been observed in recent years. Therapeutic effectiveness seems to depend on an adequate recognition of factors that might increase the risk of extreme destructive behaviors. The aim of this study was to identify the family patterns that should draw therapeutic attention due to their importance for suicidal or violent behaviors in adolescent girls. The study involved 140 participants, aged 13–17, including 40 girls after suicide attempts, 40 girls using violence, and 60 girls without destructive behavior at all. The Genograms were used to assess the family structure, relationships between family members, and family projections. The data was analyzed by polynomial logistic regression, analysis of variance, and discriminant analysis. Emotional distance and hidden projections (related to diseases) were the most significant predictors of suicidal behaviors in the studied adolescent girls. Alcohol abuse by significant family members, especially by male family members, and a lesser role of hidden projections, were the most significant predictors of violent behaviors. Interventions designed to reduce risk of destructive behaviors among adolescents need to take account of the specific family patterns.

Background A lack of perceived social support influences women’s infant feeding behaviours. The Infant Feeding Genogram is a visual co-constructed diagram which details people/services that can provide support to women and can facilitate a connection between mothers and their existing assets landscape. The aim of this study is to explore women’s and infant feeding helpers’ experiences and use of an infant feeding genogram delivered to the intervention group of the “Assets-based infant feeding help Before and After birth (ABA)” randomised feasibility trial. Methods 103 primiparous mothers aged 16+ years were recruited to the trial (trial registration number) in two sites (Site A and Site B) with low breastfeeding prevalence in the UK. Infant feeding helpers (IFHs) co-constructed a genogram at the first antenatal meeting for the intervention group ( n  = 50), and then provided proactive, woman-centered support from ~ 32 weeks gestation to up to 5 months postnatal. Infant feeding helpers' and women’s experiences of the infant feeding genogram were collected via interviews or focus groups. Completed genograms were shared with researchers. Content analysis of the genograms and qualitative data from the interviews and focus groups were analysed thematically. Results Data comprised 32 completed genograms, and qualitative insights from all 13 infant feeding helpers (two focus groups; 4 interviews) and interviews with a purposive sample of 21 of 50 intervention group women between 4 and 21 weeks after birth. Content analysis of the genograms highlighted variations, with more personal, individualised genograms completed at Site B compared to Site A. The perceived impact of the genogram was related to the IFHs’ application of the tool. The genogram was either used as intended to raise women’s awareness of available assets and motivate help-seeking behaviour, or as a data collection tool with limited perceived utility. Negative and positive unintended consequences of genogram use were highlighted. Conclusions The genogram has the potential to offer a woman, family and community-centred approach that focusses on building assets for infant feeding. However, variations in genogram application indicate that revised training is required to clarify the purpose and ensure it is used as intended. Trial registration ISRCTN ISRCTN14760978 ; Registered 30 January 2017.

ObjectiveTo determine the presence and predictors of depression and anxiety in pet owners after a diagnosis of cancer in their pets.DesignCross-sectional study.SettingA veterinary medical centre specialised in oncology for dogs and cats and two primary veterinary clinics in Japan.ParticipantsThe participants for analysis were 99 owners of a pet with cancer diagnosis received in the past 1–3 weeks and 94 owners of a healthy pet.Main outcome measuresSelf-reported questionnaires were used to assess depression and anxiety. Depression was assessed using the Center of Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, and anxiety was measured by using the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory-Form JYZ.ResultsDepression scores were significantly higher in owners of a pet with cancer than owners of a healthy pet, even after adjustment for potential confounders (p<0.001). Within the owners of a pet with cancer, depression was significantly more common in those who were employed than those who were unemployed (p=0.048). State anxiety scores were significantly higher in owners of a pet with cancer than owners of a healthy pet, even after adjustment for potential confounders, including trait–anxiety scores (p<0.001). Furthermore, in owners of a pet with cancer, state anxiety was higher in owners with high trait anxiety (p<0.001) and in owners whose pets had a poor prognosis (p=0.027).ConclusionThe results indicate that some owners tended to become depressed and anxious after their pets had received a diagnosis of cancer. Employment may be a predictor of depression. High trait anxiety and a pet with a poor prognosis may increase owners’ state anxiety. Including the pet in a family genogram and attention to the pet’s health condition may be important considerations for family practice.