PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Therapy sessions benefit mothers, children in homeless shelter

Pilot study shows reductions in stress symptoms

2023-05-11
(Press-News.org) Short-term therapy sessions with parents and their children in homeless shelters could help improve parenting skills and reduce parental stress and children’s post-traumatic stress symptoms, according to a pilot study published by the American Psychological Association.

Researchers from Florida International University partnered with Lotus House in Miami, one of the largest women’s homeless shelters in the U.S. The study included 144 families (mother and one child) with children from 18 months to 5 years of age. The research was published online in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.

Shelter staff worked daily with the families to build trust with the mothers – many of whom weren’t seeking therapy – and 99% of them agreed to take part in the study, said lead researcher Paulo Graziano, PhD, a professor of psychology at Florida International University.

“We’re excited to find that evidence-based parenting interventions can be implemented within a shelter setting with wonderful benefits to the mothers and children,” he said. “I think more community-university partnerships are essential towards addressing the mental health needs of our most vulnerable families and children in a setting where they normally wouldn’t receive it.”

More than 2 million children in the U.S. experience homelessness every year, and homeless children face heightened challenges from poverty, traumatic experiences, mental illness and behavioral problems. Previous research has also found that homelessness is associated with increased parental frustration and negative parenting behaviors, including aggression. Those issues can be exacerbated by the parents’ chronic medical, mental health or substance use issues and their own histories of trauma.

Graziano and his team trained Lotus House staff to provide two types of evidence-based therapy to the mothers and their children in weekly sessions over three or four months. Half of the participants received Parent-Child Interaction Therapy while the other half received Child-Parent Psychotherapy.  

Parent-Child Interaction Therapy includes positive parenting techniques to reduce critical statements and negative interactions with children during observed play sessions. Child-Parent Psychotherapy uses play and language to help identify and address traumatic triggers, provide emotional support and offer assistance with daily living issues.

Mothers in both therapy groups reported reductions in their stress and their children’s post-traumatic stress symptoms. The mothers also made more positive statements during observed play sessions. Parent-Child Interaction Therapy also helped reduce children's behavior problems so may be more effective in a shelter setting, the study noted.   

With adequate training and supervision, homeless shelter staff may not need mental health degrees to provide effective therapy, Graziano said. His team and Lotus House are working on a larger randomized trial to see if the successes from this pilot study can be replicated at other homeless shelters. He also hopes that other researchers will conduct their own studies.

Constance Collins, president of the Sundari Foundation, which operates Lotus House, said the project has produced dramatic results.

“It was a game changer that transformed homelessness into a window of opportunity for our children," she said. “We’re sharing our experiences with other homeless shelters across the country with hopes that critically needed therapy will become more available to homeless parents and their children.”

Article: “Early Intervention for Families Experiencing Homelessness: A Pilot Randomized Trial Comparing Two Parenting Programs,” Paulo Graziano, PhD, Jamie A. Spiegel, PhD, and Timothy Hayes, PhD, Florida International University; Emily Arcia, PhD, Emily Arcia Consulting Co.; and the Sundari Foundation-Lotus House. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, published online May 11, 2023.

Contact: Paulo Graziano, PhD, may be contacted at pgrazian@fiu.edu. 

END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Sleep apnea associated with increased risk for long COVID

2023-05-11
Sleep apnea may significantly increase the risk for long COVID in adults, according to a study led by the National Institutes of Health’s RECOVER Initiative and supported by NYU Langone Health as home to the effort’s Clinical Science Core (CSC). As of April 2023, more than 100 million Americans had been infected with the virus that causes COVID-19. As of April the U.S. Government’s Household Pulse survey estimated that about 6 percent of U.S. adults are experiencing symptoms associated with long COVID, including brain fog, fatigue, depression, and sleep problems. ...

A dangerous eye infection from tainted eye drops, months before the CDC’s warning

2023-05-11
HIGHLIGHTS  Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a pathogenic and drug-resistant gram-negative bacterium  The CDC advised against using some artificial tear eye drops that were contaminated with the microbe  In November 2022, doctors in Cleveland diagnosed a patient with a corneal ulcer with a P. aeruginosa infection  The patient acquired the infection from tainted eye drops months before the CDC’s February 2023 warning  Washington, DC – In February 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned people against using EzriCare eye drops because bottles of the product had ...

Brigham experts provide insights on how Alzheimer’s drug lecanemab slows cognitive decline

2023-05-11
WHO: Dennis Selkoe, MD, co-director of the Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and corresponding author of the paper in Neuron. Andrew Stern, MD, PhD, of the Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases at BWH and first author of the paper in Neuron WHAT: In a report published in Neuron, a team led by investigators from Brigham and Women’s Hospital reveals the structure of the therapeutic target of lecanemab, a drug approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in January 2023 for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. While the ...

Traditional medicine plant could combat drug-resistant malaria

Traditional medicine plant could combat drug-resistant malaria
2023-05-11
Much of what is now considered modern medicine originated as folk remedies or traditional, Indigenous practices. These customs are still alive today, and they could help address a variety of conditions. Now reporting in ACS Omega, a team of researchers have identified compounds in the leaves of a particular medicinal Labrador tea plant used throughout the First Nations of Nunavik, Canada, and demonstrated that one of them has activity against the parasite responsible for malaria. “Labrador tea” refers to multiple, closely related plants — all members of the genus Rhododendron. ...

ESO telescope reveals hidden views of vast stellar nurseries

ESO telescope reveals hidden views of vast stellar nurseries
2023-05-11
Using ESO’s Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA), astronomers have created a vast infrared atlas of five nearby stellar nurseries by piecing together more than one million images. These large mosaics reveal young stars in the making, embedded in thick clouds of dust. Thanks to these observations, astronomers have a unique tool with which to decipher the complex puzzle of stellar birth. “In these images we can detect even the faintest sources of light, like stars far less massive than the Sun, revealing objects that no one has ever seen before,” says Stefan Meingast, an astronomer at the University of Vienna in Austria and lead author ...

Majority of nurses attribute well-being struggles to staffing shortages

Majority of nurses attribute well-being struggles to staffing shortages
2023-05-11
Cross Country Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ: CCRN), a market-leading, tech-enabled workforce solutions platform and advisory firm, in collaboration with Florida Atlantic University, today announced the results of its annual survey of nursing professionals and students. The study found that although nurses are passionate about doing meaningful work and earning a good income, only one-third of nurses plan to remain in the profession for the foreseeable future, and about one-fourth plan to leave in just one to two years from now. The survey, conducted in collaboration with FAU’s Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, found ...

Researchers uncover how primordial proteins formed on prebiotic earth

Researchers uncover how primordial proteins formed on prebiotic earth
2023-05-11
How did catalytic organic polymers emerge on prebiotic Earth? Answering this essential question will unlock key understandings in the origin of life. A team of scientists at Tohoku University have recently found a potential environment for the reaction that produced catalytic organic polymers. To do so, they dried down amino acid solutions containing boric acid and found that boric acid catalyzes polypeptide synthesis under neutral and acidic conditions. The longest peptides formed in the experiments were 39 monomer-long glycine polypeptides under a neutral condition. Previous studies ...

Women with hardened arteries may need stronger treatment to prevent heart attacks than men

2023-05-11
Barcelona, Spain – 11 May 2023:  Postmenopausal women with clogged arteries are at higher risk of heart attacks than men of similar age, according to research presented at EACVI 2023, a scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC),1 and published in European Heart Journal - Cardiovascular Imaging.2 The study in nearly 25,000 adults used imaging techniques to examine the arteries and followed patients for heart attacks and death. “The study suggests that a given burden of atherosclerosis ...

A potential pathway to improved stroke recovery

A potential pathway to improved stroke recovery
2023-05-11
Osaka, Japan – Ischemic stroke, caused by a blockage of blood flow to the brain, is a common cause of death and disability. Treatments are urgently needed to improve patient outcomes, because recovery currently depends largely on the timely injection of a blood clot-dissolving drug. Priorities for therapy include limiting inflammation at the ischemic site and rebuilding neuronal connections damaged by the stroke. However, a molecule that can achieve these therapeutic effects has remained elusive. In a study to be published in Stroke, researchers from Osaka University provide new hope for patients. They have identified ...

Hidden supermassive black holes brought to life by galaxies on collision course

Hidden supermassive black holes brought to life by galaxies on collision course
2023-05-11
Astronomers have found that supermassive black holes obscured by dust are more likely to grow and release tremendous amounts of energy when they are inside galaxies that are expected to collide with a neighbouring galaxy. The new work, led by researchers from Newcastle University, is published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Galaxies, including our own Milky Way, contain supermassive black holes at their centres. They have masses equivalent to millions, or even billions, times that of our ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

From drops to data: Advancing global precipitation estimates with the LETKF algorithm

SeoulTech researchers propose a novel method to shed light on PFOS-induced neurotoxicity

Large-scale TMIST breast cancer screening trial achieves enrollment goal, paving the way for data that provides a precision approach to screeninge

Study published in NEJM Catalyst finds patients cared for by MedStar Health’s Safe Babies Safe Moms program have better outcomes in pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum

Octopus arms have segmented nervous systems to power extraordinary movements

Protein shapes can help untangle life’s ancient history

Memory systems in the brain drive food cravings that could influence body weight

Indigenous students face cumbersome barriers to attaining post-secondary education

Not all Hot Jupiters orbit solo

Study shows connection between childhood maltreatment and disease in later life

Discovery of two planets sheds new light on the formation of planetary systems

New West Health-Gallup survey finds incoming Trump administration faces high public skepticism over plans to lower healthcare costs

Reading signs: New method improves AI translation of sign language

Over 97 million US residents exposed to unregulated contaminants in their drinking water

New large-scale study suggests no link between common brain malignancy and hormone therapy

AI helps to identify subjective cognitive decline during the menopause transition

Machine learning assisted plasmonic absorbers

Healthy lifestyle changes shown to help low back pain

Waking up is not stressful, study finds

Texas A&M AgriLife Research aims for better control of widespread tomato spotted wilt virus

THE LANCET DIABETES & ENDOCRINOLOGY: Global Commission proposes major overhaul of obesity diagnosis, going beyond BMI to define when obesity is a disease.

Floating solar panels could support US energy goals

Long before the L.A. fires, America’s housing crisis displaced millions

Breaking barriers: Collaborative research studies binge eating disorders in older Hispanic women

UVA receives DURIP grant for cutting-edge ceramic research system

Gene editing extends lifespan in mouse model of prion disease

Putting a lid on excess cholesterol to halt bladder cancer cell growth

Genetic mutation linked to higher SARS-CoV-2 risk

UC Irvine, Columbia University researchers invent soft, bioelectronic sensor implant

Harnessing nature to defend soybean roots

[Press-News.org] Therapy sessions benefit mothers, children in homeless shelter
Pilot study shows reductions in stress symptoms