Effects of NBP for Children of Divorce 15 Years Later

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed project is a 15-year follow-up of 240 young adults whose families participated in an experimental evaluation of the New Beginnings Program (NBP), a preventive intervention for divorced families. The NBP was provided in late childhood; the follow-up will occur in young adulthood. Families were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: mother program (MP), dual-component mother and child program (MPCP), or literature-control (LC) condition. Programs were designed to change several putative mediators of children's post-divorce mental health problems using empirically-supported change strategies. The program was implemented with very high fidelity and multi-method, multi-reporter assessments were used. Intent-to-treat analyses showed program effects on externalizing problems at posttest and 6-month follow-up. The MPCP did not have additive effects. The 6-year follow-up, which included 91% of families assigned to condition, found multiple benefits of program participation, including a 53% reduction in one-year prevalence of diagnosed mental disorder; reduced levels of externalizing and internalizing problems, alcohol use, and marijuana use; fewer sexual partners; and increased competence and grade point average. Additive effects of the MPCP did not occur. Moderational analyses showed that children who entered NBP with higher levels of risk for later problems showed greater program benefits. Program effects on adolescent outcomes were mediated by improvements in parenting and internalizing and externalizing problems in childhood. This application has four specific aims: (1) Examine the efficacy of NBP on young adults' (YA) mental health and substance use problems and disorders, success in key developmental tasks, relationships with their parents, physical health outcomes and competencies, as well as on the mental health problems of YAs' mothers; (2) Examine whether the program effects in young adulthood are mediated by program- induced changes in adolescence; (3) Examine whether the program effects are moderated by baseline level of risk and parental education and occupation; and (4) Conduct an economic analysis of NBP. Analysis of covariance, mixed-model analysis of variance, logistic regression and latent growth curve modeling will be used to test the aims. The proposed research has important public health significance and is consistent with NIMH priorities to support long-term follow-up of prevention programs (NIMH, 1998).