A program developed by ASU psychology professors is taking a new approach to mental health treatment by preventing it before it happens rather than treating it afterwards.
The New Beginnings Program, developed by psychology professor Sharlene Wolchik and psychology professor Irwin Sandler, is a 10-session group program that helps families cope with divorce by teaching parents important skills to guide their children in a positive direction.
“The program focuses on teaching parents skills to increase the quality of the parent-child relationship, increase the effectiveness of their discipline strategies and decrease children's exposure to interparental conflict,” Wolchik wrote in an email. “When parents use the skills that are taught in the program, children's adjustment improves.”
Wolchik said in an email that she became interested in the topic of divorce after observing the variety of negative outcomes it can bring about on both an individual and societal level, and she sought to better understand these effects and develop preventative measures.
“Although most children who experience parental divorce do not experience significant problems, about one-fourth to three-fourths develop problems like elevated levels of aggression, anxiety or depression, social difficulties, and health problems,” Wolchik wrote. “Also, children from divorced families are more likely to drop out of school and get pregnant during adolescence than their counterparts in continuously married families.”
By Jacob Stanek
| The State Press
Former New Beginnings participant Sam Coonts, 39, poses for a portrait with his daughters Emma (left) and Ava on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015, at Desert Breeze Park in Chandler. Coonts participated in the ten-week course in 2014.
Research to counteract these effects has been going on at ASU for more than 15 years, and the results have been successful so far.
Sandler said their research shows that the program works and that it improves outcomes with children up to 15 years later.
The most recent trial saw nearly 1,000 families and 15,000 children, and while results are still being analyzed on this massive scale, studies based on six- and 15-year checkups on the program participants in prior experimental trials show that the program has vastly reduced mental health issues, reduced instances of substance abuse and improved academic functioning, Sandler said.
Furthermore, Sandler said that the program has proved to be cost-beneficial, saving divorced families approximately $1,600 on counseling services and the like.
“Following that research, we conducted another trial...that tested whether we could disseminate the program so that it could be altered as a part of normal services received by divorced families, and we did that across four counties,” Sandler said.
This dissemination of the program was accomplished through a large-scale evaluation of the program in partnership with four family courts and four mental health agencies throughout Arizona.
A key innovator in the concept of preventative mental health research, Sandler said that he has long been interested in the effects of child resilience and the effects of stress.
“Parental divorce is one of the most common, major stressors that children experience in this country and many countries around the world,” Sandler said. “It was a strong interest of mine to figure out a way to make a difference for children who experience this major stressor.”
Sandler has also studied prevention measures for the effects of poverty and bereavement on children.
“One of the really encouraging stories from research over the past 20 years is that the field of prevention science is able to demonstrate that mental health and substance abuse problems are preventable,” he said.
New Beginnings participant Sam Coonts agreed that prevention programs see results.
“Both of them have become more responsible... more, kind of, independently responsible,” Coonts said of his daughters, Ava, 7, and Emma, 9. “They know what needs to be done and how to behave... all that was unintentional, maybe, but because we now have open lines of communication and they understand that I need help and they need help, and we can help each other mutually.”
Coonts attributes this behavior to the parenting skills he learned and reinforced in the New Beginnings Program he attended six months into his own divorce proceedings.
“It just gave you a lot of tools to deal with kids in general, and deal with them effectively,” Coonts said.
Coonts said that class discussions with the counselor and other fathers participating in New Beginnings helped him learn how to discipline his children and break the cycle of bad habits while developing a more willing attitude in them to follow direction.
“It was about how to listen and respond so your kids know you’re listening," he said. "Kids are very perceptive and they’re feeling that when you’re not giving them your full attention."
Coonts expressed his satisfaction with the program and described his daughters as sweet, considerate and curious.
“They’re sort of a handful, but there’s nothing wrong with that," he said.
Related Links:
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