These studies clearly reflect some of the emerging health topics of concern in other developed Western countries. In brief, the studies presented here illustrate how family therapy research and practice may constitute an effective tool to address important psychosocial LCZ696 molecular weight variables

in a variety of relational and medical contexts. The lead article, “Congruence of the Marital Relationship during Transition to Parenthood: A Study with Couples who Conceived Spontaneously or through Assisted Reproductive Technologies” by Sofia Gameiro, Mariana Moura-Ramos, Maria Cristina Canavarro, Teresa Almeida-Santos and Frank Dattilio, addresses the marital relationship and satisfaction in couples conceiving through assisted technologies. This is a very recent medical procedure that was legislated in Portugal in 2006, and has been, or will be soon available in most developed Western countries. The second article, “Ecological Contexts in Adolescent Pregnancy: The Role of Individual, Sociodemographic, Familial and Relational Variables in Understanding Risk of Occurrence and Adjustment” by Anabela Pedrosa, Raquel Pires, Paula Carvalho, Maria Cristina Canavarro and Frank

Dattilio, addresses selleck chemical the adjustment of adolescent mothers in relation to their family and social contexts. Portugal has systematically reported elevated rates of teenage pregnancy, which are also

observable (though in much higher incidences) in the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as in some of the most recently created European nations (i.e., Slovakia, Estonia, Hungary). This is followed by the article titled “Amniocentesis Due to Advanced Maternal Age: The Role of Marital Intimacy in Couples Decision-Making Process” by Bárbara Nazaré, Ana Fonseca, Sofia Gameiro, Maria Cristina Canavarro and Frank Dattilio, which focuses on couple functioning in situations of Oxalosuccinic acid late pregnancy, whose GDC-0994 mouse prevalence tends to increase in modern societies where financial achievement and work production assume significant proportions. An additional study, “Couple-Focused Interventions for HIV-Serodiscordant Couples during Transition to Motherhood” by Marco Pereira, Frank Dattilio, Maria Cristina Canavarro and Isabel Narciso, addresses therapeutic couple-focused strategies that may be outlined for serodiscordant spouses facing immediate reproductive decisions and a number of future uncertainties following the diagnosis of HIV infection in women during prenatal examinations. This is one of the most common situations in contemporary society in which a woman becomes aware of an HIV condition.