Study
McDonald, Jouriles, and Skopp (2006) conducted a 24-month follow-up of their 2001 study (Jouriles, McDonald et al. 2001), which evaluated 36 families involved in the Project Support program. In 2001, the researchers used a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the impact of the Project Support program on children’s conduct and the mothers’ parenting skills. The families were randomly assigned to an intervention group and an existing services group, and were assessed every 4 months over 16 months after departure from the battered women’s shelter. The families in the comparison group were contacted monthly over 16 months and encouraged to use existing services; they did not receive any clinical services from Project Support.
In 2006, the researchers were able to locate 30 of the original 36 families that were willing to participate in the follow-up study. Thirteen of these families had participated in the Project Support intervention condition, and 17 had been assigned to the existing services comparison condition. The sample included 21 boys and 9 girls, and the mean age of the children was 5.5 years. If more than one child met the eligibility criteria, the youngest child was targeted. Children with serious mental illnesses were excluded from the study. The mean age of the mothers was 28.7 years, and all of the families could be described as living in poverty. The ethnic composition of participating mothers was 9 white, 11 African-American, 8 Latino, 1 Asian-American, and 1 self-described as other. The follow-up was conducted in the families’ homes by two members of the research staff; one staff member interviewed the mother, while another supervised the child.
In the follow-up study, the researchers looked at several outcomes in addition to children’s conduct, including children’s overall happiness, maternal aggression toward children, the mother’s decision to return to the abusive partner, and the recurrence of physical violence. Empirically based instruments were used to distinguish between clinical and subclinical levels of problems. Clinical levels indicated recognizable signs and symptoms of serious mental illness or conduct issues; while subclinical levels indicated underlying problems with the potential to manifest into serious illness.
Children’s conduct problems/externalizing problems. This was assessed using the mother’s responses to items from the Externalizing Disorder Scale of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), an empirically based assessment tool. The questions asked about the child’s behavior over the time period following shelter departure. Using the CBCL, children’s conduct was classified as falling at either the clinical or subclinical level.
Children’s happiness/internalizing problems. Children’s happiness was assessed using four items from the Children’s Happiness/Social Relationships Scale. Mothers reported perceptions of their children’s happiness on a 5-point scale that rated how well the items described their children; the scores ranged from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very well) on such statements as the child “feels good about himself or herself,” or “is well liked by other children”. Higher scores indicated greater happiness and better social relationships.
Children’s internalizing problems were assessed using the mother’s responses to items from the Internalizing Disorder Scale of the CBCL. Mothers reported their impressions of their children’s feelings, and the instrument was used to distinguish between clinical and subclinical levels of problems.
Maternal aggression toward children. This was assessed using four items from the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales. The mother was asked if certain aggressive acts had taken place over the time period following shelter departure, such as hitting, slapping, pushing, and throwing things. If any of the acts occurred, aggression was coded as “present”; if not, it was coded as “absent.”
Mother’s return to partner. This was assessed using questions about the mothers’ extent of their contact with the abusive partner over the time period following shelter departure. They were asked to describe contacts with their abusive partner since the previous interview, as well as to report all people who lived in the household since the previous interview. If a mother indicated that she was living with her previous partner, she was coded as having returned. The data was coded as “return” or “no return.”
Recurrence of physical violence. This was assessed using items from the 8-item Physical Violence subscale of the Conflict Tactics Scales. The mother was asked to report if she experienced physical violence (by her previous partner or any other partner) over the time period following shelter departure.
