Children of Divorced Parents - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Children of Divorced Parents

Grace Haglund

Ball State University

CPSY 644

Tuesday, March 26, 2013Slide2

Mission Statements

PERSONAL

MUNCIE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS

I will strive to improve the quality of life for every student I come into contact with, while working collaboratively with faculty, parents, and the school corporation

…

to provide a quality educational environment that allows every student to maximize his or her potential and upon graduation, possess the basic skills necessary to be a positive, productive, contributing member of society Slide3

Beliefs and Philosophy

We agree that students with divorced parents are more likely to decline in academics, following the divorce

We agree that students with divorced parents are more likely to develop behavioral or emotional issues

Our overall goal is for this program to improve the students’ academics and relationships by improving their coping

skills and self-esteem. Slide4

RATIONALE

Students’ sense of worth is connected with effective learning

Low academic achievement is correlated to low levels of self-esteem, low social interactions with peers (

Kaniuka

, 2010). Students’ ability to cope effectively impacts them mentally, emotionally, and socially (

Frydenberg, Lewis, Bugalski, Cotta, McCarthy, Luscombe-Smith, & Poole, 2004). By improving self-esteem and coping skills, academic and behavior improvement can occurSlide5

Current Research: Effects on Children

Children aged 6–7 living with both parents generally had better emotional

well-being

than similar aged children living with one parent (Baxter, Weston, & Qu,2011).

The experience of parental divorce raises rates of adolescent delinquency (Burt, Barnes, McGue

, & Iacono, 2008).Students who are younger when their parents divorce have higher rates of internalizing and externalizing problems; students who are older when divorce occurs have lower grades (Lansford, Malone, Castellino, Dodge, Pettit, & Bates, 2006). Slide6

Current Research: Effects on Children

Father-child relationships suffer more than mother-child relationships after divorce. Depending on the continued level of parent conflict post-divorce, social support and relationship anxiety levels vary (

Riggio

, 2004).

Separation, family conflict, and negative parental representations are linked with children’s behavioral/emotional problems (

Stadelmann, Perren, Groeben, & von Klitzing, 2010). Slide7

Current Research: Possible Interventions

Programs that teach students coping responses, such as optimism and problem-solving skills were shown to be effective in helping both self-esteem and every day stressors. These programs also need to dismiss ineffective coping skills. (

Frydenberg

, et. al, 2004).

Parenting programs which aimed to reduce externalizing/ internalizing problems through improvement in mother– child relationships through improving methods of discipline and communication were shown effective (

Tein, Sandler, MacKinnon, & Wolchik, 2004).Slide8

Current Research: Possible Interventions- New Beginnings Program (NBP)

Divorce increases risk for mental health, physical health, and social adaptation problems. A way to prevent these issues is to educate the parents on how to have healthy relationships with their ex and their children and appropriate discipline methods. (

Wolchik

,

Schenck

, & Sandler, 2009). After parents completed this program, their children had higher GPAs over the span of 6 years. Children’s ability to adjust to change and accept/cope with difficult situations improved after their parents completed NBP (Zhou, Sandler, Millsap, Wolchik, & Dawson-McClure, 2008) . Slide9

ASCA National Standards

Personal/Social Development

Standard A: Students will acquire the knowledge, attitudes and interpersonal skills to help them understand and respect self and others.

PS: A1 Acquire Self-knowledge

PS: A1.5- Identify and express feelings

PS: A1.12- Identify and recognize changing family roles Slide10

ASCA National Standards

Personal/Social Development

Standard B: Students will make decisions, set goals and take necessary action to achieve goals

PS: B1 Self-knowledge Application

PS: B1. 4- Develop effective coping skills for dealing with problems Slide11

Group Information

Students whose parents have divorced/separated (parent referral)

8-10 students

Elementary school setting

Grades 3-5All races/ethnicities, gendersFive, 45 minute weekly

sessions, the final session will be 60 minutes Held after schoolIndividual counseling available as well Slide12

Overview of Sessions

Session One

What does having divorced parents mean to you?

Have students share their feelings, thoughts, reactions to having divorced parents

Have students share how they have grown or changed since the divorce

Session TwoWhat are coping skills? Define and give examples of coping skills

Have students identify skills they think they already possess

Session Three

What does your family look like now?

Have students identify ways that their families have changed since the divorce

Have students write a letter to each family member sharing how they view them before and after the divorce

Session

Four

What is self-esteem?

Have students write out what they think it means to have good self-esteem

Have students write out ways they think they may not have self-esteem and how it can change

Session Five (60 min)

Put it all together!

Have students reflect on what they have learned about themselves, coping skills, and self-esteem over the past four weeks

Share resources that are available to them, discuss further individual counselingSlide13

Data Collected

Pre/post tests for students

Administered at beginning of first session and beginning of the last session

1.

How do you deal with your feelings about the divorce? 2.

Who do you talk to about these feelings? 3. When you get upset, sad, or angry about the divorce what do you do?4. What are three things you are good at doing?

5

.

When you make a mistake, how do you deal with it?

6

. When do you feel the happiest about yourself?Slide14

Data Collected-Parents/Teachers

Pre/post tests for

parents/teachers

Administered

before the first session and before the last

session 1. How do you cope with the divorce? (parent only)2. How often does your student see their other parent? (parent only) 3. Do you talk with your student about how he/she is feeling? If so, how often?

4

. How does your student act at home/school?

5

. How has your student changed since the divorce? (pre-intervention)

5

. How has your student changed since the weekly sessions? (post-intervention) Slide15

Action Plan

School

Counselor (s)

ASCA

domain standard and student competency

Outline

of groups sessions to be delivered

Resources

needed

Process data (projected # of students affected)

Perception

data (type of survey to be used)

Outcome

data

(achievement

attendance and/or behavior data to be collected)

Project

start/

project end

Grace Haglund

Personal/

social

develop

ment

Standard A:

A: A1.5; A1.12 

Personal/

Social Development:

Standard B:

PS: B1.4

Small group sessions of 8-10, one session per week, 45 minutes, four weeks,

60 minutes one week

Blank paper,

Markers,

Pencils,

Crayons

Eight

to ten students in grades 3-5,

Repeated with new groups when necessary

Pre/post student tests; pre/post teacher/

parent tests

Improvement

in grades, attendance, behavior reports from teachers and parents

April 3

rd

,

May

1

st

Slide16

References

Baxter, J., Weston, R., &

Qu

, L. (2011). Family structure, co-parental relationship quality, post-separation paternal involvement and children's emotional wellbeing.

Journal Of Family Studies, 17(2), 86-109.

Burt, S., Barnes, A. R., McGue, M., & Iacono, W. G. (2008). Parental divorce and adolescent delinquency: Ruling out the impact of common genes. Developmental Psychology

,

44(6),

1668-1677.

Frydenberg

, E., Lewis, R.,

Bugalski

, K., Cotta, A., McCarthy, C.,

Luscombe

-Smith, N., & Poole, C. (2004). Prevention is better than cure: Coping skills training for adolescents at school.

Educational Psychology In Practice

,

20

(2), 117-134.

Kaniuka

, T. S. (2010). Reading achievement, attitude toward reading, and reading self-esteem of historically low achieving students.

Journal Of Instructional Psychology

,

37(2),

184-188.Slide17

References

Lansford, J. E., Malone, P. S.,

Castellino

, D. R., Dodge, K. A., Pettit, G. S., & Bates, J. E. (2006). Trajectories of internalizing, externalizing, and grades for children who have and have not experienced their parents' divorce or separation.

Journal Of Family Psychology,

20(2), 292-301.Riggio, H. R. (2004). Parental marital conflict and divorce, parent-child relationships, social support, and relationship anxiety in young adulthood. Personal Relationships, 11(1)

, 99-114.

Stadelmann

, S.,

Perren

, S.,

Groeben

, M., & von Klitzing, K. (2010). Parental separation and children's behavioral/emotional problems: The impact of parental representations and family conflict.

Family Process

,

49(1),

92-108.Slide18

References

Tein

, J., Sandler, I. N., MacKinnon, D. P., &

Wolchik

, S. A. (2004). How did it work? Who did it work for? Mediation in the context of a moderated prevention effect for children of divorce. Journal Of Consulting And Clinical Psychology

, 72(4), 617-624.Wolchik, S. A., Schenck, C. E., & Sandler, I. N. (2009). Promoting resilience in youth from divorced families: Lessons learned from experimental trials of the new beginnings program.

Journal Of Personality

,

77(6),

1833-1868.

Zhou, Q., Sandler, I. N., Millsap, R. E.,

Wolchik

, S. A., & Dawson-McClure, S. R. (2008). Mother-child relationship quality and effective discipline as mediators of the 6-year effects of the New Beginnings Program for children from divorced families.

Journal Of Consulting And Clinical Psychology

,

76(4),

579-594.