Multi-family psychoeducation groups for childhood mood disorders: A program description and preliminary efficacy data

Existing literature suggests family-based psychoeducation effectively reduces relapse rates, thereby lowering costs and improving quality of life for adults with schizophrenia and major mood disorders. However, similar programs for families with impaired children are lacking. This paper reports on efforts to develop, implement, and test the efficacy of a six-session, manual-driven multi-family psychoeducation group therapy program for families of-children or adolescents with a mood disorder. In this paper we provide a clinical description of the program along with pilot data, which suggest consumer satisfaction as well as improvement in family climate following participation in this multifamily psychoeducation program.