How was ADAPT developed?
The ADAPT research team, led by Dr. Abigail Gewirtz, has tested the effectiveness of the ADAPT program with more than one thousand military families, including National Guard and Reserve families in Minnesota and Michigan, and Active Duty families in North Carolina, Virginia, and Kentucky. The team has published a significant body of work on the topic and continues to investigate how the program can improve the lives of military families.
PTSD symptoms play a significant role in the post-deployment period for National Guard and Reserve families, negatively impacting parenting behaviors and child adjustment.
Compared to the control group, families who were invited to participate in the ADAPT intervention (first effectiveness study) showed:
Improvements in self-efficacy of parents as a result of the program led to reductions in:
Some parents at high risk for difficulties showed other benefits. For example, ADAPT resulted in greatly lowered rates of alcohol use among combat deployed fathers with a genetic vulnerability linked to alcohol abuse. Similarly, fathers with certain types of symptoms such as experiential avoidance or difficulties in inhibitory control (often related to PTSD and TBI symptoms) particularly benefited from ADAPT, showing improvements in parenting relative to lower risk fathers.
Comparing Web, Group, and Tele-health Formats of a Military Parenting Program (ADAPT4U): This study with 360 military families in Minnesota and Michigan compares the effectiveness of three different delivery formats for ADAPT: in-person groups, telehealth (video conferencing), and through an online video curriculum. The study was funded by the U.S. Department of Defense. This study is currently in the data analysis phase.
SMART optimization of a parenting program for active-duty families: Using an innovative study design known as SMART (sequential, multiple assignment, randomized trial), this study with 525 active duty military families uses personalization techniques to test multiple formats, “doses” and sequences of the ADAPT program. Active duty families were recruited from Fort Bragg, NC, Fort Campbell, KY and Fort Belvoir/Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, VA. This study was funded by the U.S. Department of Defense and is officially done. If you have any questions or comments regarding the study, you may direct them to ADAPT Assistant Project Manager of Research, Shauna Tiede, at stiede@asu.edu.
Stress Wearables: A study on parenting and stress reduction: This study uses a wrist-based device to monitor the real time stress of frontline healthcare professionals (or their partners) working in COVID environments who are also parenting a 4-13 year old. Researchers seek to understand how new mobile digital technologies have the potential to help families measure and manage this stress. This study is closed and under data analysis.
First Responder Stress wearables study opportunity at Arizona State University (IRB STUDY00017540): First responders (i.e. police, firefighter, EMT, paramedic, etc.), who are parents of children ages 4-13 and work in KY or TN, are invited to participate in this time limited study of stress and health using a wearable device. To learn more, follow this link or contact the Study Coordinator, Amberlee Martin, at wearables@asu.edu or 602-543-3102.
Click through to see our team’s full list of publications. You can also contact us if you would like to cite our work.
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