Children of Divorced Parents

Grace HaglundBall State University CPSY 644Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Mission StatementsPERSONAL

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

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.

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 occur

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).

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).

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).

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) .

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

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

Group Information

•Students whose parents have divorced/separated (parent referral)

•8-10 students •Elementary school setting•Grades 3-5•All races/ethnicities, genders•Five, 45 minute weekly sessions, the final

session will be 60 minutes •Held after school•Individual counseling available as well

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 Two▫ What 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 counseling

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?

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)

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

development

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 3rd, May 1st

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.

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.

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.