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Pregnant women with history of abuse and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have increased risk of adverse mental health and childbearing outcomes. The Survivor Moms’ Companion (SMC) is a psychoeducation program designed to meet the needs of women abuse survivors affected by PTSD during the childbearing year. This article reports on the feasibility, safety, and acceptability findings of an open pilot. Participants completed 10 self-study modules and structured tutoring sessions, and completed self-report measures, including reports of tutor fidelity to the manual, repeated assessment of PTSD symptoms, Subjective Units of Disturbance (SUD) scores, and evaluation interviews. Results indicate that the intervention can be implemented within low-resource settings with high level of fidelity to the manual. Monitoring of PTSD symptom level and distress indicate that the intervention is safe. Participants report satisfaction with the format and content and appreciation for the tutoring component. The SMC appears to be feasible, safe, and acceptable.

The Survivor Moms’ Companion (SMC) is a fully manualized, 10-module self-study psychoeducation program developed to address the pregnancy-specific needs of traumatic stress-affected abuse survivors. It aims to improve affect regulation, reduce interpersonal reactivity, and support posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom management despite the presence of triggers. An open pilot enrolled “survivor moms” prior to 28 weeks gestation and they completed baseline diagnostic telephone interviews, fidelity measures, pretest and posttest, and self-report measures assessing the efficacy of the proposed mechanisms of intervention effect. Of 57 eligible women invited to participate, 32 took up the intervention, 9 completed at least the core 4 modules, and 18 completed all 10 modules. Participant scores showed improvements in anger expression, interpersonal reactivity, and PTSD symptom management, suggesting that participation in the SMC is beneficial. Results will inform the protocol for a cluster randomized trial of the SMC.

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This study provides a novel contribution by connecting two sets of literature, school engagement and multicultural university centers, in relation to late adolescent development. The aims of this mixed-method study were to: (a) quantitatively explore the relationship between student perceived cultural leadership experience and support within a multicultural center in relation to school engagement and (b) qualitatively address additional facilitators and barriers. Participants consisted of 134 college students, predominantly identifying as Latino/Hispanic (35.1%), Black/African American (34.3%), or Asian-Pacific Islander (23.9%), and first-generation (60.4%). Qualitative focus groups and a photovoice project engaged a subset of participants ( n = 57, n = 7, respectively). Regression analysis indicated youth voice, supportive staff relationships, and peer support were significant positive predictors of students’ perceived engagement within the multicultural center, however, some but not all of these predictors transferred toward sentiments of school engagement. Qualitative sources elucidated additional factors bolstering student engagement. Social, cultural, and resistance capitals were identified as key protective factors in relation to student perseverance. Findings also indicated institutional barriers against student engagement including a lack of cultural and ethnic representation throughout multiple levels of the university. Implications for expanding conceptions of social capital within late adolescent identity development theory are discussed.