Page 31 - 2024_AMIkids Annual Impact Report

SOCIAL & EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING,

BEHAVIOR & SKILLS

The AMIkids Way and PGM™ are anchored in positive youth development approaches that promote
a safe, trauma-responsive environment for team members to teach youth how to overcome stressful
situations and build healthy, supportive relationships. Developing skills, identifying positive coping
strategies, and learning how to build and maintain relationships are essential for lifelong social and
emotional wellness.
As one of the three critical components of the AMIkids PGM™, positive reinforcement techniques
are used to help youth develop and strengthen prosocial behaviors and learn how to manage their
emotional and physical responses to difficult situations or as a result of trauma.

Resilience & Coping Skills
11
This scale assesses the use of both positive (adaptive) and negative (maladaptive) coping strategies
(14 total), including how much each strategy has helped during recent stressful situations (1 being
“not at all” and 3 being “a lot”). Increased use of positive coping skills (e.g., “reaching out to others
to find a solution to a problem”) is directly related to a higher likelihood of navigating challenging
situations successfully and improved resilience. In 2024, AMIkids youth reported a significant
increase in the use of positive coping strategies from pre- to post-survey and found them more
effective during the most recent use of each strategy. Over 93% of youth reported using at least one
positive coping skill during a recent challenge.
Youth continued to engage in, or in some cases increased, their use of negative coping strategies
from pre- to post-survey; however, when they utilized maladaptive coping behaviors, they did
not find them more helpful. The top three negative coping strategies used by youth were: 1) “I did
something like watch TV or played a game to forget it”, 2) “I wished I could make things different”,
and 3) “I wished the problem never happened.”

MEASURE AVERAGE PRE-SCORE (RANGE) AVERAGE POST-SCORE (RANGE)
Coping Strategies (Total Sum - #) 3.31 (0-4) 3.41 (0-4)*
Coping Strategies (Effectiveness) 2.29 (1-3) 2.37 (1-3)*

Maladaptive Strategies (Total Sum - #) 6.78 (0-10) 7.02 (0-10)*
Maladaptive Strategies (Effectiveness) 2.01 (1-3) 2.01 (1-3)
*P<.05

11 Adapted from KidCope (Spirito, Stark, & Williams, 1988).

30 AMIKIDS 202 4 ANNUAL IMPACT REPORT 31