A03

• What are the strengths of family therapy?

  1. Evidence for effectiveness
  2. Economic benefits
  3. Impact on family members
• What are the limitations of family therapy?

  1. Unlikely to work on its own
• Strength = evidence for effectiveness?

  • Pharoah et al. (2010) carried out a meta-analysis on studies investigating the effectiveness of family therapy
  • Showed family therapy significantly reduces hospital readmissions over the course of a year and improves quality of life for patients and their families compared to standard care (antipsychotic medication)
  • HOWEVER - methodological limitations as raters were not blinded to the condition to which participants had been allocated
• Strength = economic benefits

  • The NICE review of family therapy studies revealed that family therapy is associated with significant cost savings when offered to people with schizophrenia
  • The extra cost of family therapy is offset by a reduction in costs of hospitalisation because of the lower relapse rates associated with family therapy
• Strength = impact on family members

  • Family therapy not only improves outcomes for the patient but also has a positive impact on family members
  • Lobban et al. (2013) carried out a meta-analysis on family therapy studies which has included an intervention to support relatives
  • 60% of these studies reported a significant positive impact of the intervention on at least one outcome category for relatives e.g. coping and problem-solving skills
• Limitation = unlikely to work on its own

  • Family therapy would probably not be successful on its own, but needs to be used in conjunction with drug therapy
  • Therefore, it is hard to determine the extent to which improvements are due to family therapy as opposed to the drug therapy