Research indicates that children often have a variety of problems due to exposure to domestic violence. Four areas have been repeatedly reported as following from an abusive home, and these areas have been targeted for intervention: acting-out behaviors, low self-esteem, depressed mood, and a low sense of self-efficacy. The first goal of the """"""""Moms Helping Kids"""""""" (MHK) program is to develop an integrated intervention addressing these multiple problems experienced by children from violent homes. Units focusing on each of these areas is included in the MHK program. The second goal of the program is to give nonabusive mothers the tools to help their own children deal with the effects of growing up in a family where there was violence. Interested women currently participating in the local Women's Crisis Service's support group will participate in 12-week groups to learn specific strategies which they can use to help their children (ages 6-12 years). Interventions already developed by researchers to address these four areas have been modified to deal with issues unique to situations of domestic violence, and new interventions have been developed. Discussions, group activities, role-plays, and homework assignments are used to teach the mothers how to help their children. Since survivors of domestic violence often lack the financial resources to seek out professional help for their children, the MHK program will be offered free of charge. It is hoped that by educating the women on how they can help their own children, the program will also have the secondary benefit of increasing the mothers' sense of self-efficacy and self-worth. In order to assess the effectiveness of the MHK program, a wait-list group of mothers will participate in an ongoing support group regarding their children where they can discuss difficulties with their children but will not be taught specific interventions. Pre- and post-assessments of both the children and mothers will be conducted to determine how effective the MHK program is compared to the control group, and wait-list mothers will participate in the MHK program following the completion of the three month follow-up period. If effective, the MHK program will be translated into Spanish and other languages and further research will be conducted to determine its efficacy with non-English speaking families.
