No

Topic

Objective

Wang, J., Zhao, X.

(2012).
Comparison of
family functioning
and social support
between families
with a member
who has
obsessivecompulsive
disorder and
control families in
Shanghai.
Shanghai
Archives of
Psychiatry, Vol.24,
No.1.
doi:
10.3969/j.issn.100
20829.2012.01.003

the current
study compares
the family
functioning and
perceived level
of social
support in
family members
of Chinese
families that do
and do not
have a member
with OCD

Conceptual
framework
No conceptual
framework

Research
design
Quantitative
research
(Crosssectional study;
the study used
T-test, paired ttest and
regression
analysis)

Sample

Instrument

Main result

Limitation

Thirty-two
psychiatric
outpatients at
the Affiliated
East Hospital of
Tongji
University (in
Shanghai) who
met DSM-IV
criteria for OCD
and one of their
co-resident
parents and 31
community
controls
matched for
age and years
of education
with the
patients and
one of their coresident
parents

The Chinese
versions of the selfadministered
McMaster Family
Assessment Device
(FAD), which
assesses seven
dimensions of family
functioning; Each of
the items is scored
on a 1-4 Likert scale
with higher scores
representing worse
functioning.

All of the FAD

dimension scores for
both patients and their
parents were in the
unhealthy range (based
on cut-off scores used
in the Western version
of the scale). With the
exception of the
Affective Involvement
dimension of the FAD,
patients with OCD and
their parents reported
significantly more poor
family functioning and
more poor social
support than community
controls and their
parents. The
concordance of patients
FAD scores and their
parents scores was
significantly stronger
than that of controls
and their parents for the
Problem Solving,
Communication and
Affective Involvement
dimensions (all
p<0.001) but
significantly weaker for
the Behavioral Control
dimension (p=0.009)

Only a very small

proportion of OCD
patients receive
treatment so it is
not clear how
representative our
sample is of all
individuals with
OCD in China.
This is a crosssectional study so
it is impossible to
be certain whether
the poorer family
functioning and
social support
found in the
patient group were
the cause of OCD
or the effect of
OCD (or both). We
did not include a
measure of the
severity of OCD
symptoms so we
do not know
whether or not the
reported results for
family functioning
and social support
would change
during different
phases of the
illness (i.e., acute
exacerbations and
remission); The
range of variables
considered was
quite limited;

The
Multidimensional
Scale of Perceived
Social Support
(MSPSS), which
assesses perceived
support from family
members, from
friends and from
other associates;
The responses
scored on a sevenpoint Likert scale
(from 1=strongly
disagree to
7=strongly agree)

The four measures of

perceived social
support were all
positively correlated
with each of the seven
measures of family
functioning, though

Remark
The study was
approved by
local institution
Review Abroad.
It gave
recommendation
for future
research and
implication in
clinical
practices.

No

Topic

Ochieng, B. M.
(2011). The effect
of kin, social
network and
neighbourhood
support on
individual
well-being. Health
and Social Care in
the Community,
19(4), 429437.
doi:
10.1111/j.13652524.2011.00992.
x

Objective

The study
explored the
effects of kin,
social network
and the
neighbourhood
on an
individuals
well-being

Conceptual
framework

No conceptual
framework

Research
design

Qualitatuve
research

Sample

10
AfricanCaribbean
households
units
comprising 24
adolescents
(1218 years of
age) and 18
adults (2260
years of age)
participated in
the study with
interviews
conducted in
their homes

Instrument

An in-depth
interview
schedule (Heyl
2007) is schedule
consisted
of several sections
covering
demography; health
perceptions and
beliefs; healthy
lifestyles; health
behaviours
including health
compromising
behaviours and
prevention; barriers
to health and
healthy lifestyles;
factors facilitating
and inhibiting good
health and
healthy lifestyles
and a number of
open-ended and
closed trigger
questions for each
section.

Main result
several of the
correlation coefficients
did not reach statistical
significance.
participants
believed that being a
member of a kin
network enhanced
ones
well-being, with such
networks described as
capable of providing
protective
support for ones health
and well-being.
Participants preferred
to live in
neighbourhoods with a
high concentration of
people of
the same ethnicity,
despite the effects of
neighbourhood
deprivation
such as poor housing
and lack of services.
However, participants
believed that ethnic
segregation leads to
marginalisation and
further
deprivation.

Limitation

Remark

it was based
on a small sample
of purposively
selected
participants

The study was

approved by the
regions National
Health Service
(NHS) ethics
committee