Is the Egokitzen post-divorce intervention program effective in the community context?

Abstract Background Evidence-based postdivorce intervention programs, aimed at promoting childrens psychological adjustment, are scarce internationally. In Spain, the Egokitzen program has been established its effectiveness in the context of a university laboratory, but there is no evidence of its effectiveness when implemented from a community context. Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of the Egokitzen program in the perception of externalizing and internalizing child symptomatology, when delivered by community-based agencies. Method 372 parents with children under the age of 12 participated in a quasi-experimental pre-post intervention approach with a wait-list comparison group and two follow-up measures at 6 and 12 months. 270 were part of the experimental group (EG) and 112 of the control group (CG). The postdivorce intervention consisted of the Egokitzen program. The following variables were measured through the information provided by the parents: childhood symptomatology (somatization, aggressiveness, anxiety/depression; Child Behavior Checklist, CBCL), parental mental health symptomatology (anxiety, depression, and interpersonal sensitivity; Symptoms Checklist SCL-90), and parenting (inductive, indulgent, and rigid styles; Scale of Rules and Demands. Parents's version, ENE-P). Results The intervention program had an indirect effect on childhood symptomatology and a direct effect on parental symptomatology and parenting. The mediating role of parental symptomatology on childhood symptomatology was confirmed through the direct effect of the program on parental symptomatology. Despite the effect on parental patterns, they did not play a mediating role in childhood symptomatology. Conclusions The Egokitzen program seems to be effective in the community context and, according to the parents, could reduce their children's symptomatology indirectly through the reduction of parental symptomatology. At longitudinal level, in the intervention group, it is observed that the results obtained after participation in the Egokitzen program were maintained and even increased at 6 and 12 months.