Children Exposed To Violence

The program is an intensive case management model for providing services to youths simultaneously involved in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, with the goal of reducing recidivism. The program is rated No Effects. There was no statistically significant difference in youth arrests between youths who participated in the Wraparound Program, compared with youths in the treatment-as-usual condition.

The goal of this exposure-based, integrative intervention was to reduce substance use and mental health problems in adolescents who have experienced trauma. The program is rated Promising. The program had a statistically significant impact on depressive and internalizing symptoms, family cohesion, and family conflict. There were mixed results for PTSD symptoms and substance use. There was no statistically significant impact on externalizing symptoms.

This program was designed to reduce violence risk behaviors as well as PTSD and depressive symptoms by providing adolescents with a variety of services following a traumatic injury. The program is rated No Effects. There were no statistically significant differences between the intervention and control groups in substance use problems, or PTSD and depressive symptoms, though intervention group patients reported a statistically significant reduction in weapons carrying.

This was a parenting and family skills intervention for displaced Burmese migrant families in Thailand. The program is rated Promising. There was a statistically significant impact on child externalizing problems, family cohesion, family communication and positive parent-child interactions in the treatment group, compared with the control group. However, there was no statistically significant effect on child attention problems, or child internalizing problems.

This is an at-home parent and child therapy program for young children with behavioral and emotional problems who have experienced trauma and live in poverty. The program is rated Effective. Treatment group children had statistically significant reductions in challenging behaviors and anxious/withdrawn and fearful symptoms of trauma, compared with children on a waitlist. The quality of caregiver–child relationships also had statistically significant improved.

This is a home-visiting program for first-time mothers in high-risk families that promotes positive parenting to prevent child maltreatment and out-of-home placements. The program is rated No Effects. Treatment group families had a statistically significant lower number of substantiated child maltreatment and neglect cases, compared with the comparison group, but there was no statistically significant effect on out-of-home placements, and substantiated physical abuse.

This is an anti-bullying program for adolescents in Spain, which is designed to decrease bullying and cyberbullying perpetration and victimization both in the classroom and virtual environments. The program is rated Promising. There was a statistically significant decrease in bullying and victimization and cyberbullying and cybervictimization for the treatment group, compared with the control group.

This is a model that uses a conceptual plan and organizational framework to strengthen collaborations between child welfare and juvenile justice system professionals and partners to prevent or reduce youths’ involvement in the juvenile justice system or related systems of care. The program is rated Promising. Treatment group youth showed a statistically significant reduction in recidivism rates, compared with youth in the comparison groups.

This program is designed to find and engage kin and fictive kin to support the needs of foster care youth. The program is rated Promising. There was a statistically significant greater number of kin and fictive kin found and positive attachment figures identified for the intervention group, compared with the comparison group. However, there was no significant difference in proportion of relative placements to total placements, reunification rates, or externalizing and internalizing behaviors.

This program was designed to improve well-being and permanency outcomes for children with complex trauma in state care. The program is rated No Effects. Overall, findings were mixed. There were statistically significant findings favoring the treatment group, including increased likelihood of adoption; however, there were also statistically significant findings favoring the control group. Overall, the preponderance of evidence suggests the program did not have the intended effects on children.

A free, interactive online program for adults designed to educate the public about the effects of childhood exposure to domestic violence (DV) and improve adults’ self-efficacy in helping children exposed to DV. The program is rated Promising. There was a statistically significant increase in knowledge about DV exposure for both community and university samples, compared with the control groups. There was a statistically significant increase in self-efficacy for only the community sample.

This is a universal, school-based intervention for Jewish-Israeli students who are exposed to the ongoing Israeli–Palestinian conflict. It combines the original ERASE-Stress program with six additional modules focused on topics related to prosocial orientation, and aims to reduce PTSD, enhance resiliency, and develop prosocial skills. The program is rated Promising. The program was shown to statistically significant reduce PTSD severity, functional problems, anxiety, and somatic complaints.

This intervention is a universal, school-based intervention for Jewish-Israeli students who are exposed to the ongoing violence of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The program aims to reduce participants’ posttraumatic stress symptoms. The program is rated Promising. The program was shown to be statistically significant in reducing PTSD severity, functional problems, anxiety, and somatic complaints.

This program provides support for mothers who have experienced intimate partner violence (IPV). The goal of the program is to assist mothers and ultimately improve their children’s adjustment. The program was rated Promising. Results showed a statistically significant improvement in children’s externalizing behaviors and attitudes about family violence, although there was no effect on children’s internalizing behaviors. Mothers in the program also experienced greater reductions in IPV over time.

This is a cognitive-behavioral intervention for children who have been exposed to traumatic events, and for their parents. The goal is to help children improve their symptoms of posttraumatic stress, depression, and anxiety. The program is rated Promising. Children who received the treatment demonstrated statistically significant improvements on measures of posttraumatic stress, anxiety symptoms, and emotional regulation; however, there was no impact on measures of depression or coping efficacy.

This was a school-based intervention targeting at-risk, seventh-grade students. The intervention included either a standard expressive-writing condition or an enhanced expressive-writing condition. The program is rated No Effects. There were no statistically significant differences between the standard writing treatment condition, the enhanced writing treatment condition, and the control condition on self- and teacher-reported measures of aggression and teacher-reported emotion regulation.

This is a 12-session program for adolescent females with a history of exposure to violence/abuse and involvement in the child welfare system. The goal of the program was to reduce re-victimization in teen dating situations. The program used a health-promotion approach to help girls develop healthy relationships. The program is rated Promising. The intervention had a statistically significant impact on reducing physical re-victimization, but not sexual re-victimization.

This was a community-based prevention program that targeted youth at risk of becoming involved in abusive relationships. The program was rated Promising. Treatment group youth demonstrated statistically significant reductions in physical abuse perpetration and trauma symptoms and a lower likelihood of emotional abuse and threatening behavior victimization, compared with control group youth. However, there were no differences between groups in threatening behavior perpetration or hostility.

This is a cognitive therapeutic program that is intended to assist female victims of sexual assault with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The overall goal is to restructure unbalanced thoughts directly related to the trauma. The program is rated Effective. Women in the treatment group demonstrated reduced symptoms of both PTSD and depression, compared with women in the control group. These differences were statistically significant.

This is a high school-based, relationship abuse prevention program. The goal of the program was to identify students’ knowledge of abusive behaviors and teach them about relationship abuse and resources for its prevention. The program was rated No Effects. There was no statistically significant impact on recognition, use, and knowledge of adolescent relationship abuse resources, and intentions to intervene, but participants had greater increases in recognition of sexual coercion.

This is a positive youth development program for preadolescent children (ages 9-11) who have current or previous child welfare involvement due to one or more adverse childhood experiences. The program is rated Promising. Children who participated in the program displayed statistically significant reductions in posttraumatic stress symptoms, dissociation symptoms, and scores on key mental health outcomes, compared with children in the control group.

This is a child sexual abuse (CSA) prevention training program to educate adults, such as childcare professionals, to prevent, recognize, and react to CSA. The program is rated Promising. Participants who received the in-person and web-based training demonstrated a statistically significant higher level of CSA knowledge and a greater number of preventative behaviors, compared with the wait-list control group. There was no statistically significant difference found between groups in CSA attitudes.

This is an antiviolence program designed to prevent child maltreatment by providing education, resources, and support to parents to improve their parenting skills. The program is rated Promising. Treatment group parents reported a statistically significant reduction in using harsh discipline strategies and increase in appropriate developmental expectations, compared with control group parents at the 3-month follow up. However, there was no statistically significant difference in nurturing.

This is a school-based program designed to improve conflict resolution in children. The program is rated Promising. Participants had a statistically significant lower level of aggressive interpersonal negotiation strategies, conduct problems, aggressive behavior, hostile attribution bias, and depressive symptoms, and a higher level of competent negotiation strategies and prosocial behavior, compared with nonparticipants. There was no statistically significant difference in aggressive fantasies.

This early childhood program sought to promote child and family functioning, and social, cognitive, and language skills of children, through home visitation, parent training, and child-care beginning from birth to age 5. The program is rated Promising. Intervention children reported statistically significant higher perceptions about themselves and school, compared with control children. There were no statistically significant effects on disliked attributes and liked personal attributes.

This is a school-based program designed to improve students’ school attitudes and reduce delinquency. The program is rated Promising. The program showed a statistically significant positive effect on participants’ attainment of higher rates of supportive behavior and spontaneous prosocial behavior, compared with students who did not participate. There were no statistically significant effects on negative behavior, harmoniousness, substance/alcohol use, property damage, theft, or victimization.

This is a comprehensive, multiyear program designed to reduce youth gang crime and violence. The program is rated Promising. The target area demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in calls for shots fired and gang-related incidents compared with the comparison area. However, there were no statistically significant impacts on calls for vandalism, incidents of serious violence, gang-related incidents of serious violence, or student attendance.

This is an early childhood curriculum designed to increase social-emotional competence and coping skills in young children. The program is rated Promising. Children in the intervention group demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in social-emotional competence and positive coping skills and fewer problem behaviors, compared with children in the control group.

This is a condensed Aggression Replacement Training curriculum is targeted at adolescents temporarily living in a short-term residential facility (a runaway shelter) and had exhibited signs of antisocial behavior. The program is rated Promising. Participants exhibited a statistically significant decrease in antisocial behavior incidents following implementation of the program.

This is a family drug court program designed to serve families involved with child welfare as a result of parental substance use. The program is rated Promising. Treatment group parents had a statistically significant higher percentage of experiencing family reunification, compared with comparison group parents. Children of treatment group parents also had a statistically significant fewer number of days in non-kinship or long-term foster care compared with children of comparison group parents.

This dual intervention aims to reduce peer violence and sexual harassment in middle schoolers by emphasizing consequences and increasing surveillance of unsafe areas. The program is rated Promising. The intervention group had statistically significant reductions in sexual victimization and in violence victimization and perpetration compared with those in the control group. There were no statistically significant effects on sexual harassment perpetration, or knowledge, attitudes, or intentions.

This program consists of a structured interview protocol for professionals conducting forensic interviews with children in sexual abuse investigations. The program is rated Promising. Cases that followed the protocol showed a statistically significant greater likelihood of resulting in charges being filed, compared with cases that were handled prior to the protocol being implemented.

This is an in-home, family preservation service and reunification program for families with children returning from or at risk for out-of-home placement. The program is rated Effective. The treatment group had a statistically significant greater number of reunifications and reduced rates of out-of-home placement, compared with the control group. However, there were no significant differences between groups in successful reunification (i.e., whether the children returned to foster care).

This is a community-based program that provides sexual abuse–specific assessment, treatment, consultation, and long-term support to adolescents who were convicted of sexual abuse and to their families. This program is rated Promising. Intervention participants showed a statistically significant lower likelihood of being charged with a sexual reoffense, nonsexual violent reoffense, nonviolent reoffense, or any reoffense, compared with control participants, at the 20-year follow up.

This is a home-visitation program for expectant and new parents, which was designed to prevent child abuse or neglect. The program is rated No Effects. Treatment group mothers showed statistically significant improvements on some outcomes, such as parental stress and discipline strategies, compared with control group mothers. However, there were no statistically significant differences between the groups in neglect, foster care placement, or substantiated child protective services reports.

This is a therapy program for children who were victims of traumatic life events (such as sexual abuse) and their parents. The program is rated Effective. Treatment group children had a statistically significant lower number of PTSD and depressive symptoms and problematic behaviors, compared with children in the control group. Parents in the treatment group also had a statistically significant lower number of depressive symptoms, compared with parents in the control group.

This prevention program promotes emotional and social competencies and reduces aggression and behavior problems in children. The program is rated Effective. Statistically significant findings included lower peer-ratings for aggressive, hyperactive, or disruptive behavior for intervention children, compared with control children. Further, intervention classrooms showed higher quality climate, levels of interest and enthusiasm, and ability to stay focused, compared with control classrooms.

This program addresses family functioning and parental behavior to reduce child abuse, neglect, and external placement. The program is rated Promising. Compared with the control group, treatment parents and children showed statistically significant improvements in functioning, treatment parents showed significant improvements in social support, and treatment children had a lower likelihood of receiving external placement. However, there were no significant differences between groups on abuse.

This is a home visitation program for low-income, first-time mothers designed to improve family functioning. The program is rated Effective. Treatment families reported statistically significant decreases in child abuse/neglect and domestic violence and improvements in home learning environments, compared with control families. Treatment children reported statistically significant decreases in substance use, compared with control children, but there were no differences in behavior problems.

This is a cognitive–behavioral treatment program for assault survivors who have posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The program is rated Effective. Women in the treatment group experienced statistically significant reductions in the severity of PTSD, depression, and anxiety symptoms and a statistically significant improvement in social functioning, compared with women in the control group, at follow up.

This is a decision-support system designed to reduce subsequent abuse and neglect of children and expedite permanency for children who have been removed from home. The program is rated Promising. At the 12-month follow up, treatment group children experienced statistically significant higher rates of permanency status, compared with control group children. However, there were no differences between groups on rates of reentry to the foster care system after reunification.

A multicomponent approach designed to improve behavioral and mental health in children exposed to intimate partner violence by targeting their knowledge and attitudes about family violence, their emotional adjustment, and their social behavior. The program is rated No Effects. There was no statistically significant improvement for the treatment group in measures of children’s internalizing or externalizing problems or their attitudes about family violence, compared with the control group.

This is a therapeutic approach designed to treat individuals who are dealing with the aftermath of a traumatic life event. The goal is to help those who have experienced traumatic stress to reprocess and store traumatic memories adaptively. The program is rated Promising. Program participants reported statistically significant improvements in posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, self-concept, avoidance, and intrusive thoughts, compared with control group participants.

This is a brief early intervention and secondary prevention model, designed to prevent the development of chronic posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), for children aged 7–18 years who have recently experienced a potentially traumatic event. The program is rated Promising. Compared with the comparison group, the intervention group was statistically significantly less likely to have a PTSD diagnosis or receive a partial/full PTSD diagnosis; they also showed a lower severity of PTSD symptoms.

This program provides high-quality education for disadvantaged preschoolers. The program is rated Effective. Participants showed statistically significant reductions in lifetime convictions, compared with the control group, but no significant effects on their use of rehabilitation services or lifetime earnings. Participants’ children also showed a statistically significant greater likelihood of completing high school without suspension and being employed, compared with control group children.

This program is designed to provide support to battered mothers and reduce conduct problems in their children. The program is rated Promising. There were statistically significant effects in favor of the treatment group on measures of children’s conduct problems, happiness, and mothers’ aggression toward children. However, there were no statistically significant effects on children’s internalizing behaviors, mothers’ return to abusive partners, or recurrence of physical violence.

This is a dyadic, relationship-based therapy intended for maltreating parents (who had neglectful experiences in their childhood) and their infants. This program is rated Effective. Families in the treatment group experienced a statistically significant higher rate of secure attachment and a higher likelihood of change from insecure to secure attachment from baseline to follow up, as well as a lower rate of stable disorganized attachment, compared with families in the control group.

This is a dyadic, relationship-based treatment for parents and young children designed to help restore normal developmental functioning in the wake of violence and trauma. The program is rated Promising. The treatment group had statistically significant reductions in the number of child traumatic stress disorder symptoms, child co-occurring diagnoses, child problem behaviors, maternal symptoms, and maternal depression, compared with the comparison group, at the posttest and 6-month follow ups.

This is an individual-level, psychosocial treatment that seeks to reduce posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in traumatized refugee youth living in exile. The program is rated Promising. At the 6-month follow up, treatment participants showed statistically significant improvement in symptoms of PTSD and cognitive functioning, compared with control group youth. However, no significant differences were found between the two groups for comorbid disorders.

This school-based program delivered to elementary school students to reduce bullying and victimization was designed for national use in the Finnish comprehensive schools. This program is rated Promising. There were statistically significant reductions for self-reported bullying and victimization and peer-reported victimization for KiVa schools compared with control schools; however, there were no significant differences between treatment and comparison schools on peer-reported bullying.

This is a family therapy program designed to reduce the effects of child abuse. The program is rated Promising. There were statistically significant reductions in family conflict, parent-child violence, physical punishment, and child abuse risk, and improvements in discipline, cohesion, and child acceptance. There were also statistically significant reductions in child internalizing and externalizing symptoms. However, there were no significant differences between groups in re-abuse rates.

This is a trauma-focused psychotherapy program for those suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The program is rated Effective. Treated adults showed statistically significant lower PTSD symptoms, depression, and anxiety than comparison group adults. Treated youth showed statistically significant higher levels of hope and lower levels of the PTSD criterion of intrusive re-experiencing than comparison group youth, but there were no impacts in other mental health outcomes.

This is a comprehensive parent-training program designed to enhance parental competence and prevent or alter dysfunctional parenting practices. By enhancing parenting practices, the program seeks to reduce family risk factors for child maltreatment and children’s behavioral and emotional problems. The program is rated Effective. There were statistically significant reductions in substantiated child maltreatment cases, out-of-home placements, and child maltreatment injuries.

This program teaches parents new interaction and discipline skills to reduce children’s problem behaviors and parental physical child abuse by improving parent-child relationships and parental responses to difficult child behavior. The program is rated Effective. Treatment group parents showed statistically significant improvements in both parent and child behavior and a reduction in re-reports of child physical abuse, compared with control group parents, at the follow up.

This program is for parents whose children are wards of the state. The program is rated Effective. Intervention parents had statistically significant improvements in treatment outcomes and lower rates of rearrest, compared with control parents. Children of intervention parents experienced statistically significant improvements in child welfare outcomes, compared with children of control group participants. There were no significant differences between groups for placement stability.

This is a prevention program for middle and high school students, which is designed to stop or prevent dating violence perpetration and victimization. This program is rated Effective. The intervention group showed statistically significant reductions in psychological, physical, and sexual abuse perpetration, and physical abuse victimization, compared with the control group at the 4-year follow up; however, there were no significant differences between groups on sexual abuse victimization.

This is a cognitive-behavioral therapy group intervention designed to reduce children’s symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression caused by exposure to violence. The program is rated Effective. Intervention group participants showed statistically significant reductions in depressive and PTSD symptoms, compared with control group participants, at the 3-month follow up. However, there were no statistically significant impacts on classroom behavior problems.