Design and evaluation of a programme to assist children cope with divorce
Date
2014-05-19
Authors
Leibrandt, Cicily
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
The primary purpose of the study was the design and assessment of an intervention
programme that seeks to help children cope with the crisis of divorce. The
intervention was named the Kids in Divorce (KID) programme and is a short-term,
developmentally appropriate intervention, consisting o f 10 sessions, aimed primarily
at helping the pre-adolescent child.
The aim of the study was to evaluate whether children receiving the intervention
showed significant improvements in their emotional and attitudinal coping responses
to divorce, as meausuredby the Family1 Story Test (FST) and the Kids in Divorce
(KID) questionnaire (a self-designed measure).
A pilot study was done on the KID questionnaire in order to, make the necessary
changes, before using the questionnaire'for the study. 3
A total of 42 pupils, from schools in th | Eldoradopark 'coloured' community
participated in the study. A pre and post test experimental-iBontrol research design
was used in the study, The experimental and control groups consisted of 21 children
\ each. \
. J r .
Results of the study reflected significant improvements measures for the
experimental group, which provides strong'cm pirical^nd^^.for'S'ie usefulness of a
short-,erm,
children cope with parental divorce.