TY - JOUR
T1 - Symptoms of Internalizing and Externalizing Problems. Modeling Recovery Curves After the Death of a Parent
AU - Schmiege, Sarah J.
AU - Khoo, Siek Toon
AU - Sandler, Irwin
AU - Ayers, Tim S.
AU - Wolchik, Sharlene
N1 - Funding Information:
Support for this research was provided by National Institute of Mental Health grants no. P30 M439246-15 and no. 1P30 MH068685 to establish a Preventive Intervention Research Center at Arizona State University, grant no. R01 MH49155-05 to evaluate a preventive intervention for bereaved families, and the NIMH Training Grant T32 MH18389, which supported the first author as a predoctoral NRSA.
PY - 2006/12
Y1 - 2006/12
N2 - Background: The death of a parent is a major family disruption that can place children at risk for later depression and other mental health problems. Design: Theoretically based randomized controlled trial for parentally bereaved children. Setting/Participants: Two-hundred and forty-four children and adolescents and their caregivers from 156 families were randomly assigned to the Family Bereavement Program (FBP) intervention condition (90 families; 135 children) or to a control condition (66 families; 109 children). Data collection occurred from 1996 to 1998. Intervention: Children and caregivers in the intervention condition met separately for 12 two-hour weekly sessions. Skills targeted by the program for children included positive coping, stress appraisals, control beliefs, and self-esteem. The caregiver program targeted caregiver mental health, life stressors, and improved discipline in the home. Both child and caregiver programs focused on improved quality of the caregiver-child relationship. Main Outcome Measures: Child and caregiver reports of internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Results: Longitudinal growth curve modeling was performed to model symptoms over time from the point of parental death. The rate of recovery for girls in the program condition was significantly different from that of girls in the control condition across all outcomes. Boys in both conditions showed reduced symptoms over time. Conclusions: The methodology offers a conceptually unique way of assessing recovery in terms of reduced mental health problems over time after an event and has contributed to further understanding of FBP intervention effects. The intervention program facilitated recovery among girls, who did not show reduction in behavior problems without the program, while boys demonstrated decreased symptoms even without intervention.
AB - Background: The death of a parent is a major family disruption that can place children at risk for later depression and other mental health problems. Design: Theoretically based randomized controlled trial for parentally bereaved children. Setting/Participants: Two-hundred and forty-four children and adolescents and their caregivers from 156 families were randomly assigned to the Family Bereavement Program (FBP) intervention condition (90 families; 135 children) or to a control condition (66 families; 109 children). Data collection occurred from 1996 to 1998. Intervention: Children and caregivers in the intervention condition met separately for 12 two-hour weekly sessions. Skills targeted by the program for children included positive coping, stress appraisals, control beliefs, and self-esteem. The caregiver program targeted caregiver mental health, life stressors, and improved discipline in the home. Both child and caregiver programs focused on improved quality of the caregiver-child relationship. Main Outcome Measures: Child and caregiver reports of internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Results: Longitudinal growth curve modeling was performed to model symptoms over time from the point of parental death. The rate of recovery for girls in the program condition was significantly different from that of girls in the control condition across all outcomes. Boys in both conditions showed reduced symptoms over time. Conclusions: The methodology offers a conceptually unique way of assessing recovery in terms of reduced mental health problems over time after an event and has contributed to further understanding of FBP intervention effects. The intervention program facilitated recovery among girls, who did not show reduction in behavior problems without the program, while boys demonstrated decreased symptoms even without intervention.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.amepre.2006.07.004
DO - 10.1016/j.amepre.2006.07.004
M3 - Article
C2 - 17175410
AN - SCOPUS:33845395074
SN - 0749-3797
VL - 31
SP - 152
EP - 160
JO - American journal of preventive medicine
JF - American journal of preventive medicine
IS - 6 SUPPL. 1
ER -