Interpersonal relationships assessing

Besides the intake interview, which can help gather information, there are a number of assessment measures for determining the quality of an important interpersonal relationship. The questions on these measures generally ask about things like communication styles, satisfaction in the relationship, joint decision making, and in some cases, abusive behavior. Two of the most well-known measures are the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (Spanier, 1976) and the Marital Satisfaction Inventory (Snyder, 1979). Therapists and counselors also may choose to interview couples together (with the consent of client and partner), and some therapists may recommend couples therapy (see Chapter 5) as part of the overall approach to treatment if deemed appropriate to help the client. Relationship assessments can yield important information that may be useful when working with couples. 

The principles of autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice form a foundation for analysis of ethical quandaries. In addition, a comprehensive ethical analysis will include considerations of cultural and reh-gious diversity of patient-subjects, health care providers and interpersonal relationships an assessment of the profession-based duties and obligations of the health care professionals, including an examination of relevant professional oaths and codes and an analysis of relevantly similar previous bioethical dilemmas. 

A personal opinion (RD) Most people have dedication and want to do good work, but the process of successful innovation requires more than that. In the author s opinion, it requires an enormous amount of personal involvement, time away from families, career risks, good timing, development of interpersonal relationships, and perhaps most importantly Luck Regrettably, Risk-Aversion wins out nearly every time. It is not the author s goal to deprecate other people s contribution, but rather a desire to present an honest assessment of the ups and downs of seeing an innovative program reach its ultimate success. 

Weissman and Paykel (1974) revised a previously developed questionnaire to assess the performance of individuals in different roles, called the social adjustment scale (SAS-R). These roles included (1) work, (2) housework, (3) parental role, (4) social leisure activities, (5) extended family relationships, (6) marital relationship, and (7) family unit. Functioning in the last four roles is an important indicator of interpersonal functioning. Having deep relationships outside the immediate family helps an individual to draw more social support. Furthermore, the success of relationships outside the family indicates that the person possesses competent social skills and is able to form and maintain meaningful relationships with others. Marital and familial relationships were the resources most easily accessible to the individuals. However, broken marital and familial relationships might generate stress and lead to the development of depression (Weissman, 1997). 

A comprehensive assessment includes a description of psychiatric symptoms, physical findings, frequency and severity of binge/purge episodes, laxative and ipecac use, exercise patterns, and laboratory and ECG abnormalities. Interpersonal and relationship problems should also be evaluated. Some findings indicating a more chronic course of illness, such as salivary gland inflammation or erosion of dental enamel, may take months to reverse or may never normalize, hence these are not sensitive indicators of early treatment... 

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