Guide to Effective Programs
for Children and Youth

NEW BEGINNINGS

OVERVIEW

The New Beginnings program is a group therapy intervention developed for custodial mothers of children ages 9-12 who have recently experienced a divorce. In one variant of the program, parents attend group and individual sessions with clinicians which focus on mother-child relationships, dealing with the problems of divorce, and reducing interparental conflict. A second variant added group sessions for children to the program for mothers. An experimental evaluation of the New Beginnings program found that, at six year follow-up, the mother-only treatment had no impacts overall, but had impacts for children with mental health problems. The mother and child treatment was effective in reducing the development of mental disorders and disorders in general. Likewise, the program was also found to reduce the number of children’s sexual partners.

DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM

Target population: children ages 9-12 whose parents have recently experienced a divorce

The New Beginnings program was designed to protect children against the negative stress and effects of divorce. The program focuses on helping parents, specifically mothers, cope with divorce. It also seeks to improve parent-child relationships through behavior change. Parents attend 11 sessions led by trained clinicians, each of which last approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes.

EVALUATION(S) OF PROGRAM

Wolchick, S. A., Sandler, I. N., Millsap, R. E., Plummer, B. A., Greene, S. M., Anderson, E. R., Dawson-McClure, S. R., Hipke, K., & Haine, R. A. (2002). Six-year follow-up of preventative interventions for children of divorce. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 288(15), 1874-1881.

Evaluated population: Participants were families of children between the ages of 9 and 12 who had recently experienced divorce. 240 families participated in the program and at the six year follow-up 218 of these families were recontacted and interviewed. 108 of children at follow-up were female and the children had a mean age of 17 years. 80% of children still lived with their mothers, 11% lived with their fathers, and 9% lived independently. The racial breakdown of residential parents was 82-89% white, 6-18% Hispanic, 0-1% black, and 0-1% Asian. The mean income of households in the study was between $50,760 and $79,264 depending on the sex of the residential parent at the time of follow-up.

Approach: To be included in the study, each family had to fulfill the following criteria: residential parent was female, neither mother nor any child was being treated for mental health problems, the mother had not remarried and did not have a live-in boyfriend, custody was predicted to remain stable, family resided within 1 hour drive of program site, mother and child spoke English, child was not mentally handicapped or learning disabled, children with ADHD were taking medication, children had to score lower than 17 on the Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI), children could not have any suicidal ideation, and children had to score lower than the 97^th percentile on the Externalizing Subscale of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBC).

After parents and children took a pretest and attended an orientation session, they were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: mother program, mother and child program, and a control. The mother program (MP) consisted of 11 group sessions lasting 1.75 hours each and focused on improving mother-child relationships, effective discipline, increasing father’s access to the child, and reducing interparental conflict. The mother and child program (MPCP) also consisted of 11 group sessions lasting 1.75 hours each and focused on improving effective coping, reducing negative thoughts about divorce, and improving mother-child relationships. Children participated in 11 group sessions. Parents in the control condition received books on adjusting to divorce and a prepared schedule to guide in reading of the materials.

At the 6-year follow-up, children were assessed by parent and self-report on measures of mental disorder, drug abuse and dependence, externalizing problems, internalizing problems, alcohol and drug abuse, and number of sexual partners.

Results: Outcomes were better for both treatment groups, compared with the control group, though they were not all statistically significant. At the 6-year follow-up, adolescents in the MPCP program were less likely to be diagnosed with any disorder (15.1%) and also less likely to be diagnosed with a mental disorder (11.0% than adolescents in the control group (23.5% any disorder, 23.5% mental disorder). Adolescents in the MPCP group also had fewer sexual partners (0.68) compared with those in the control group (1.65). There was no difference found between the MPCP group and the control group with respect to drug abuse or dependency. The MP group overall did not differ from the control group on any measures; however, children in the MP group with mental health problems at baseline had less substance abuse and externalizing behavior, and fewer symptoms of mental disorder.

SOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATION

References

Website: http://www.asu.edu/clas/asuprc/nbfp.html

Program categorized in this guide according to the following:

Evaluated participant ages: 9-12 / Program age ranges in the Guide: middle childhood

Program components: counseling/therapy; parent or family component

Measured outcomes: social and emotional health and development; physical health; behavioral problems; mental health

Program information last updated 11/9/07