Mirisse Foroughe

INTRODUCTION Family systems theory emphasizes the interconnectedness of individuals and relational subsystems within the family unit (e.g., between parents, the parent-child relationship, and sibling dynamics; Browne et al., 2015; Cox & Paley, 1997, 2003). In this way, children and caregivers are connected in their experiences of psychological distress, as their affective states emerge and ‘spillover’ across these relational levels (Nelson et al., 2009; Staccini et al., 2014).

Families, and especially parents, are critical resources in the promotion of positive coping (PC) in children (Clark et al. 2002; Ren et al. 2018). This principle lies at the center of family-based therapeutic intervention for children with mental health problems and their caregivers. Emotion-focused family therapy (EFFT) is an approach that involves family members in treatment to support youth with various mental health challenges (Foroughe et al. 2019).