Effects of a prevention program for divorced families on youth cortisol reactivity 15 years later
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVE: We examined whether an empirically based, randomised controlled trial of a preventive intervention for divorced mothers and children had a long-term impact on offspring cortisol regulation. DESIGN: Divorced mothers and children (age 9-12) were randomly assigned to a literature control condition or the 11-week New Beginnings Program, a family-focused group preventive intervention for mothers and children in newly divorced families. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Fifteen years after the trial, offspring salivary cortisol (n = 161) was measured before and after a social stress task. RESULTS: Multilevel mixed models were used to predict cortisol from internalizing symptoms, externalizing symptoms, group assignment and potential moderators of intervention effects. Across the sample, higher externalizing symptoms were associated with lower cortisol reactivity. There was a significant group-by-age interaction such that older offspring in the control group had higher reactivity relative to the intervention group, and younger offspring in the control group exhibited a decline across the task relative to younger offspring in the intervention group. CONCLUSIONS: Preventive interventions for youth from divorced families may have a long-term impact on cortisol reactivity to stress. Results highlight the importance of examining moderators of program effects.
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The New Beginnings Program affected biological measures of stress regulation for older participants.
“The NBP also affected biological measures of stress regulation for older participants (26).”
From Long-term effects of parenting-focused preventive interventions to promote resilience of children and adolescents (2015) · cites this paper as [26]
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References 80 · Cited by 17
Research works printed but not linked: 4
- Dawson-McClure S Sandler IN Wolchik SA Millsap RE Prediction and reduction of risk for children of divorce: A six-year longitudinal study Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 2004 32 175 190 15164859
- Sauer B Brookhart MA Roy JA Vanderweele TJ Venentgas P Dreyer NA Nourjah P Smith SR Torchia MM Covariate selection Developing a Protocol for Observational Comparitive Effectiveness Research: A User's Guide 2013 Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Rockville, MD 23469377
- Wolchik SA Sandler IN Millsap RE Plummer BA Greene SM Anderson ER Six-year followup of preventive interventions for children of divorce Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 2002 68 843 856
- Wolchik S Sandler IN Tein JY Mahrer NE Millsap RE Winslow E Velez C Porter MM Luecken LJ Reed A Prevention of mental and substance abuse disorders in young adults who experienced parental divorce fifteen years earlier: Results of a randomized trial Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 2013 81 660 673 23750466 PMC3805366
- Authors
- Luecken, L. J., Hagan, M. J., Mahrer, N. E., Wolchik, S. A., Sandler, I. N., & Tein, J.-Y.
- Affiliations
- Arizona State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Luecken, Linda J.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Psychology & Health
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2014-12-03
- Volume
- 30
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 751-769
- ISSN
- 0887-0446 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-8321
- PMC
- PMC4667557
- OpenAlex
- W2029351636
- Cited by
- 17
- References
- 80
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 3 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 1
- FWCI
- 2.36
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Psychology and Health (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- This research was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (5R01MH071707, 5P30MH068685, 5P30MH039246)
- Trial Registration: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier (NCT01407120)
- The funding source had no role in study design, collection, analysis, interpretation or writing of the report, or in the decision to submit the article for publication. The authors have no financial interest in the application of this research
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Social Sciences › Demography › Family Dynamics and Relationships
- Keywords
- parental divorce, salivary cortisol, cortisol response, stress response, children of divorce, internalizing problems, externalizing problems, long-term intervention effects, age differences
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Mental Disorders, Child, Divorce, Family Therapy, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Male, Mothers, Saliva, Stress, Psychological, Program Evaluation
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