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Guide
to Effective Programs
for Children and Youth |
PROJECT TALC
FOR PARENTS WITH AIDS AND THEIR ADOLESCENT CHILDREN
OVERVIEW:
Project TALC is an intervention designed to improve behavior and mental health outcomes among parents with AIDS and their adolescent children. In a random assignment study, families assigned to take part in Project TALC were compared with families assigned to a control group. Over the two-year follow-up period, adolescents assigned to take part in the intervention reported significantly and substantially lower levels of emotional distress, conduct problems, and family-related stressors and higher levels of self-esteem than did control group adolescents.
Target population: parents with AIDS and their adolescent children
Evaluated population: 307 financially-needy, AIDS-infected parents and 412 adolescent children constituted the study sample for this investigation. The majority (80%) of the parents were mothers. Approximately one-half of the study participants were Latino and over one-third were African American.
Approach: The Division of AIDS Services in New York City provided researchers with a list of financially needy persons with AIDS. Persons on this list who were parents of adolescent children were recruited to participate in the study. Families (parent and all adolescent children) who consented to participate were randomly assigned to either the treatment group or the control group. Families assigned to the treatment group were given the opportunity to participate in Project TALC. Project TALC sessions were led by social workers and graduate students in clinical psychology who had completed a 5-day training program and received ongoing supervision. Families assigned to the control group did not receive an intervention. Among parents in the treatment group, three-quarters attended at least one session.
All study participants were interviewed at baseline. Interviews assessed emotional well-being, problem behaviors, and self-esteem. Follow-up interviews occurred every three months for a period of two years.
Over the course of the two-year follow-up period, 134 of the AIDS-infected parents died – 62 from the intervention group and 52 from the control group.
Results: During the first 15 months after baseline, adolescents assigned to the treatment group experienced a reduction in emotional distress that was significantly greater than that experienced by adolescents assigned to the control group. Treatment adolescents also experienced a significantly greater decrease in anxiety. Reductions in emotional distress and anxiety did not differ significantly between groups after the 15-month follow-up, however.
Over the two-year follow-up period, adolescents assigned to the treatment group decreased their problem behaviors and conduct problems to a greater extent than did adolescents assigned to the control group. Specifically, adolescents in the treatment group had four times fewer behavior problems and 2.4 fewer conduct problems. Treatment adolescents also experienced significantly fewer family life stressors and experienced significant gains in self-esteem.
Parents also benefited from Project TALC. Compared with control parents, treatment parents reported lower levels of emotional distress and problem behaviors. Three-quarters of parents had disclosed their health status to their children before the program; however, the intervention did not have an impact on parents’ willingness to disclose their HIV-positive status to their children or on their formation of custody plans for their children.
Program categorized in this guide according to the following:
Evaluated participant ages: 11-18
Program age ranges in the guide: Middle Childhood, Adolescence, Youth
Program components: Parent or Family Component, Counseling/Therapy
Measured outcomes: Social and Emotional Health, Mental Health, Behavioral Problems
Program information last updated on 9/18/07.
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© Child Trends 2003 |