As our fourth year of Project CONTACT has come to a close, we took the opportunity to analyze all the data we had collected to date. The results demonstrate that our program is having a positive impact on the families we serve. Below are some of our findings.
Caregiver’s assessments of their children’s trauma symptoms reduced significantly from pre- to post-therapy. On average, their initial ratings were 22.61 and this dropped to 15.89 after the completion of therapy. This is a significant reduction {F(1,131) = 24.541, p<.001, η2 = .158}.
Similarly, children’s ratings of their own trauma symptoms fell from 31.97 before therapy to 20.04 after completing treatment. This is also significant {F(1,131) = 81.146, p<.001, η2 =.383}.
Although caregiver’s ratings of their children’s resilience were not significantly different pre- to post-therapy, their children’s self-ratings of resiliency were significantly improved {pre = 70.17; post = 74.07, F(1,132) = 18.346, p < .001, η2 = .122}. Even more pronounced, however, were children’s ratings of their self-efficacy. Initially, their scores were 77.17, but this improved to 88.29 after participating in treatment {F(1,57) = 27.817, p < .001, η2 = .328}.
One of the key aims of the CFTSI model is to increase caregiver/child communication. Our data demonstrate that we had considerable success achieving this goal as indicated by the improvement in congruence between caregiver and child ratings of trauma symptoms pre- to post-therapy. On average, the initial difference between caregiver and child scores was 10.17, and this dropped to 4.85 after treatment {F(1,126) = 9.873, p = .002, η2 = .072}.
Finally, although not specifically a target of the treatment model, we found that caregivers’ ratings of their own trauma symptoms also fell significantly during the course of treatment {pre = 29.1; post = 15.18; F(1,76) = 51.103, p < .001, η2 = .402}.
