Evaluation of a family-centered prevention intervention for military children and families facing wartime deployments.
OBJECTIVE
We evaluated the Families OverComing Under Stress program, which provides resiliency training designed to enhance family psychological health in US military families affected by combat- and deployment-related stress.


METHODS
We performed a secondary analysis of Families OverComing Under Stress program evaluation data that was collected between July 2008 and February 2010 at 11 military installations in the United States and Japan. We present data at baseline for 488 unique families (742 parents and 873 children) and pre-post outcomes for 331 families.


RESULTS
Family members reported high levels of satisfaction with the program and positive impact on parent-child indicators. Psychological distress levels were elevated for service members, civilian parents, and children at program entry compared with community norms. Change scores showed significant improvements across all measures for service member and civilian parents and their children (P < .001).


CONCLUSIONS
Evaluation data provided preliminary support for a strength-based, trauma-informed military family prevention program to promote resiliency and mitigate the impact of wartime deployment stress.
Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90024-6502, USA. plester@mednet.ucla.edu
Patricia
P
Lester
William R
WR
Saltzman
Kirsten
K
Woodward
Dorie
D
Glover
Gregory A
GA
Leskin
Brenda
B
Bursch
Robert
R
Pynoos
William
W
Beardslee
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D057189:Checklist; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D007564:Japan; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States; D014857:Warfare