Reducing the Biological and Psychological Toxicity of Poverty‐Related Stress: Initial Efficacy of the BaSICS Intervention for Early Adolescents

Publication Date

6-2020

Document Type

Article

Organizational Units

College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, Psychology

Keywords

Selective prevention, Poverty, Adolescents, Coping, Internalizing

Abstract

This proof‐of‐concept study tests the initial efficacy of the Building a Strong Identity and Coping Skills (BaSICS) intervention, a selective prevention of internalizing problems program for early adolescents exposed to high levels of poverty‐related stress. Eighty‐four early adolescents (Mage = 11.36 years) residing in very low‐income neighborhoods were randomized to receive the 16‐session intervention (n = 44) or to an assessment‐only control condition (n = 40). BaSICS teaches coping skills, social identity development, and collective social action to empower youth with the ability to connect with members of their communities and cope with poverty‐related stress in positive and collaborative ways. Pretest–posttest analyses showed that intervention adolescents acquired problem‐solving and cognitive‐restructuring skills and reduced their reliance on avoidant coping. In addition, HPA reactivity was significantly reduced in the intervention youth, but not controls. Finally, intervention youth's internalizing and somatic symptoms as reported by both youth and their parents, showed significant reductions over time, whereas control youth had no such changes. Results provide strong support for this approach to strength‐building and symptom reduction in a population of early adolescents exposed to poverty‐related stress.

Copyright Date

10-11-2019

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

All Rights Reserved
All Rights Reserved.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the Society for Community Research and Action. User is responsible for all copyright compliance. This article was originally published as:

Wadsworth, M. E., McDonald, A., Joos, C. M., Ahlkvist, J. A., Perzow, S. E. D., Tilghman‐Osborne, E. M., ..., & Brelsford, G. M. (2020). Reducing the biological and psychological toxicity of poverty‐related stress: Initial efficacy of the BaSICS intervention for early adolescents. American Journal of Community Psychology, 65(3-4), 305-319. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12400

Accepted Manuscript is openly available through the "Link to Full Text" button.

The published Version of Record is available at libraries through Compass or Worldcat.

Rights Holder

Society for Community Research and Action

Provenance

Received from CHORUS

Language

English (eng)

Publication Title

American Journal of Community Psychology

Volume

65

Issue

3-4

First Page

305

Last Page

319

ISSN

1573-2770

PubMed ID

31602689

Link to Full Text

Find in Compass

Find in WorldCat

Share

COinS