Family Functioning and Social Capital of Families Participating in Intensive In-Home Services : A North Carolina Study

Abstract

Family functioning and social capital are two important realities for families receiving Intensive In-Home Services in North Carolina. Intensive In-Home Services provide a time limited treatment approach for families who have a child or adolescent with a clinical diagnosis such as ADHD, Anti-Social Disorders, Anxiety Disorders, or Mood Disorders; and having difficulty functioning with life domains such as the home, school, and community. This study seeks to determine if there is a relationship between social capital and family functioning. Participants (n=7) were the legal guardians of children and adolescents currently receiving Intensive In-Home Services within North Carolina. It was hypothesized that higher perceptions of social capital would be related to higher family functioning scores. Six of the seven participants' scores revealed a pattern between social capital and family functioning supporting the hypothesis suggesting that lower social capital scores would be associated with lower family functioning scores and higher social capital scores positively associated with higher family functioning. However, one participant had a high social capital score, but a low family functioning score. This may be an implication of other psychosocial factors to consider such as SES, employment status, area of residence, or age. The small size requires precaution in making generalizations and future studies with larger sample sizes will be needed.