Research Project List
| Project Detail |
|---|
| Title: Evaluation of an In-shelter, Brief Therapy Intervention at the Domestic Abuse Women's Network |
| SSW Investigator(s): Taryn Lindhorst, PI. Emiko Tajima, Co-PI. |
| Non-SSW Investigator(s): |
| Description: The proposed study is a quasi-experimental pilot study of an in-shelter therapeutic intervention for victims of domestic violence and their children. The study consists of two conditions, a theoretically based mother and child therapeutic intervention and a no-treatment “control” condition. The intervention is designed to enhance parent-child communication, build positive parenting skills, and enable children to recognize and express their feelings appropriately. The study addresses the folloing objectives: 1. To provide 4 sessions of a domestic violence shelter-based therapeutic intervention for mothers and children designed to improve children’s mental health outcomes through: a.) Improving parent-child communication, positive parenting skills, and maternal warmth; and b.) Enhancing children’s appropriate identification and expression of feelings, improving self-concept, and reducing internalizing and externalizing behavior problems 2. To evaluate the effectiveness of a mother-child therapeutic intervention by testing two hypotheses based on the conceptual model visually represented below: 1) The brief therapeutic intervention will improve child mental health outcomes; 2) Changes in child mental health outcomes may be mediated by changes in parenting characteristics and strength of mother-child attachment. This study is significant in its potential to enhance understanding of effective interventions for children exposed to domestic violence. The literature underscores the harmful effects of childhood exposure to domestic violence, yet data regarding tested-effective interventions are limited. Even less is known about brief interventions targeted to victims of domestic violence housed in emergency shelters. Set in a naturalistic environment, this empirical test of a brief therapeutic intervention is thus poised to contribute greatly to the field. |
| Funding Sources: Domestic Abuse Women’s Network |
| Start/End Dates: February 2004 through |
