Volume 22, Issue 3
USING FAMILIY FUNCTIONIG STYLE SCALE IN FAMILIES WITH ONE MEMBER DIAGNOSED WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER: A VIEW FROM THE PATIENT AND FAMILY
Abstract
The present study describes and compares the family functioning style of families that are characterized to have a member diagnosed with a Bipolar Disorder, from the perspective of the patient as well as his family members, giving information about the family identity, the information that is shared between the members of the family, and the capacity to use there resources and copying strategies in different difficulties. To achieve the objectives we therefore did a explorative research with quantitative methods, incorporating a comparative descriptive design. The sample was conformed by 20 patients diagnosed with a Bipolar Disorder and 21 members of there families making a total of 41 persons.The instrument used to recollect the information was a translation and adaptation of the ""Family Functioning Style Scale"" from Dunst, Trivette and Deal (1988). The study shows that there are important differences between the group of patients and the group of family members, referring to the three dimensions that conform the Family Functioning Style, observing that the patients tend to make a more critical evaluation of the families reality comparing to the family members.
Keywords
family functioning, bipolar disorder, family, systemic perspective