COPING presents a child-centred research strategy covering four European countries, which will identify the characteristics of children with imprisoned parents, their resilience and their vulnerability to mental health problems. The project will commission surveys of 200 children in each country aged 11 to 16 with an imprisoned parent, using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, to ascertain coping strategies and mental health problems for these young people, which will be compared with normative population samples. Impacts of the COPING research will include improvements in information about this group of children; step changes in government and public awareness about their plight; potential new legislation; and improvements in prison regimes to enable effective contact and visits for children to the imprisoned.

Coordinator:
Mrs Jacqueline Pybus
The University of Huddersfield
Research and Enterprise
Huddersfield, United Kingdom
j.pybus@hud.ac.uk
EC contribution: EUR 2 682 813
Duration: 36 months
Starting date: 01/01/2010
Project web-site: http://www.coping-project.eu/