Prior research has suggested that children exposed to domestic violence are at increased risk for numerous and psychological problems. However, children's resilience has been found to be positively affected by a number of variables, including mother's well-being, the presence of a mentor in their lives, and participation in domestic violence support and education groups. Therefore, the proposed study was designed to examine the effectiveness of an intensive, community-based intervention, provided to half the randomly assigned study participants. The experimental intervention is based on two prior successful interventions of the principal investigator's, one with abused women, and one with abused women and their children. The intervention will be provided to families free of charge, will last four months, and involves three major components: (1) advocacy and support for mothers and the children; (3) developing or enhancing a positive, mentoring relationship between each child and a significant adult in their lives; and (4) providing a 12-week support and education group for the children. Multi-method, multi-source strategies will be used to measure the variables of interest. The following hypotheses are posed to guide the research agenda. (a) Children who with paraprofessional advocates will show 1) improved psychological and behavioral adjustment--increased self-competence, reduced depression, fewer problem behavior; 2) greater ability to cope with domestic violence-- reduced self-blame, clearer safety plans, awareness of domestic violence warning signs, less use of violence as a coping strategy, less acceptance of violence from others; 3) improved school attendance and academic achievement, and 4) increased quantity and quality of contact with positive adult mentors. (b) Mothers in the experimental condition will show 1) increased access to community resources and increased ability to continue to access needed resources; 2) increased social support; and 3) an increased repertoire of positive parenting skills. Further, it is anticipated that 4) improvements in these concrete resources will lead to improvements in mothers' psychological well-being (improved quality of life, decreased depression, and reduced parenting stress). (c) Improvements in mothers' outcomes (e.g., resources, social support, parenting skills, psychological well-being) will partially mediate the effects of the advocacy intervention on the children's psychological and behavioral adjustment (increased self-competence, reduced depression, fewer problem behaviors). All intervention effects are expected to persist over time. In addition to the central hypotheses about the intervention, we will examine the impact on children's outcomes of several variales thought to moderate children's adjustment and resilience over time.
| Greeson, Megan R; Kennedy, Angie C; Bybee, Deborah I et al. (2014) Beyond deficits: intimate partner violence, maternal parenting, and child behavior over time. Am J Community Psychol 54:46-58 |
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| Kennedy, Angie C; Bybee, Deborah; Sullivan, Cris M et al. (2009) The effects of community and family violence exposure on anxiety trajectories during middle childhood: the role of family social support as a moderator. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol 38:365-79 |
