Effects of Family Interventions on Social Capital: The Role of Nuclear Family Orientation

Evidence stresses that family interventions mostly involve members of the nuclear family unit and therefore exclude other potentially significant individuals. This study hypothesizes that such a nuclear family orientation has unintended consequences for the development of family-based social capital in family interventions. This study was based on a sample of 48 parents enrolled in a family intervention program in Switzerland. Data were collected and analyzed at two time points using egocentric network analysis. The results showed that practitioners mainly involved parents and their children in the intervention. This nuclear family orientation was found to be associated with a significant decrease in network size and centrality of parents and an increase in network density. The results indicate that nuclear family orientation is detrimental to family-based social capital. Based on these results, practitioners should be aware of important family relationships beyond the household and more systematically involve them in family interventions.