A Population-Level, Randomized Effectiveness Trial of Recruitment Strategies for Parenting Programs in Elementary Schools.

Objective: A population-level, randomized controlled trial was conducted to test the effectiveness of a parent recruitment package for increasing initial engagement into a school-based parenting program and to identify strategies responsible for effects.Method: Participants were caregivers of kindergarten- to third-grade students (N = 1,276) attending one of five schools serving ethnically diverse families living in mostly low-income, urban conditions. First, families were randomly assigned to be recruited for research surveys or not, and then to a parenting program recruitment condition: 1) Engagement-as-usual (EAU) informational flyer; 2) EAU + testimonial booklet; 3) EAU + teacher endorsement; 4) EAU + recruitment call; or 5) all strategies (full package). Caregivers were offered a free parenting program at their child's school. Primary dependent variables were parenting program enrollment and attending at least one session (initiation). Exploratory analyses were conducted on program completion, attendance across sessions, homework completion, and in-session participation.Results: In the population-level sample, enrollment and initiation were higher for the full package compared to all other conditions except the recruitment call condition. Enrollment, initiation, and program completion were higher for the recruitment call and full package conditions compared to the EAU condition. In the subsample of initiators, parents in the full package condition attended fewer parenting sessions than in the EAU condition. Controlling for attendance across sessions, there were no condition effects on homework completion or in-session participation.Conclusions: The recruitment call can increase the public health impact of evidence-based parenting programs by improving enrollment, initiation, and program completion.

Predictors of Caregiver Participation in an Engagement Strategy to Increase Initiation into a Family-Based Preventive Intervention.

Previous studies have shown that engagement strategies can help increase enrollment and initiation of families in evidence-based preventive programs under natural service delivery settings. However, little is known about factors that predict completion of these engagement strategies. This study aimed to examine predictors (i.e., perceived need, perceived barriers, and sociocultural context) of caregiver participation in an evidence-based engagement call strategy. This call was expected to increase initiation into a school-based, family-focused prevention program. In addition, this study examined engagement call completion as a predictor of program initiation among already enrolled families. Participants included ethnically diverse families recruited from three Title I schools (n = 413) who were randomized to receive the prevention program. Results showed that interparental conflict-an indicator of perceived need-was associated with an increased likelihood of completing the engagement call. Furthermore, caregivers from low-socioeconomic status (SES), foreign-born, Spanish-speaking, Hispanic families were more likely to complete the call relative to those from low- and mid-SES, US born, English-speaking, ethnically diverse families. Importantly, engagement call completion was associated with an increased likelihood of program initiation. These findings provide limited support that families with higher perceived needs are more likely to participate in an evidence-based engagement call strategy. Results suggested that the call strategy provides a promising way to reduce attrition from family prevention programs, which is commonly observed between enrollment and initiation. Project Number: R01 DA035855; Date of Registration: 06/15/2014.

Video-Based Approach to Engaging Parents into a Preventive Parenting Intervention for Divorcing Families: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial.

The public health impact of evidence-based, preventive parenting interventions has been severely constrained by low rates of participation when interventions are delivered under natural conditions. It is critical that prevention scientists develop effective and feasible parent engagement methods. This study tested video-based methods for engaging parents into an evidence-based program for divorcing parents. Three alternative versions of a video were created to test the incremental effectiveness of different theory-based engagement strategies based on social influence and health behavior models. A randomized controlled trial was conducted to compare the three experimental videos versus two control conditions, an information-only brochure and an information-only video. Participants were attendees at brief, court-mandated parent information programs (PIPs) for divorcing or never married, litigating parents. Of the 1123 eligible parents, 61% were female and 13% were never married to the child's other parent. Randomization to one of five conditions was conducted at the PIP class level, blocking on facilitator. All participants completed a 15-item, empirically validated risk index and an invitation form. Results of regression analyses indicated that the most streamlined version, the core principles video, significantly increased parents' interest in participating in the parenting intervention, enrollment during a follow-up call, and initiation (i.e., attending at least one session) compared to one or the other control conditions. Findings suggest that videos based on social influence and health behavior theories could provide an effective and feasible method for increasing parent engagement, which would help maximize the public health benefits of evidence-based parenting interventions.

Early Childhood Predictors of Severe Youth Violence in Low-Income Male Adolescents.

Using a cohort of 310 low-income male adolescents living in an urban community and followed prospectively from 18 months through adolescence (ages 15-18 years), the current study examined whether individual, family, and community risk factors from ages 18 to 42 months were associated with adolescents' violent behavior, as indexed by juvenile petitions. Results of multivariate analyses indicated that although family income was the only factor to discriminate those with no arrest record from those with nonviolent arrests, rejecting parenting, child oppositional behavior, emotion regulation, and minority status during the toddler period contributed unique variance in distinguishing male adolescents arrested for violent behavior compared to those never arrested and those arrested for nonviolent behavior. Implications for prevention efforts are discussed.

Predictors of enrollment and retention in a preventive parenting intervention for divorced families.

Participation rates in parenting programs are typically low, severely limiting the public health significance of these interventions. We examined predictors of parenting program enrollment and retention in a sample of 325 divorced mothers. Predictors included intervention timing and maternal reports of child, parent, family, and sociocultural risk factors. In multivariate analyses, child maladjustment and family income-to-needs positively predicted enrollment, and higher maternal education and recruitment near the time of the divorce predicted retention. Findings have implications for the optimal timing of preventive parenting programs for divorcing families and point to the importance of examining predictors of enrollment and retention simultaneously. Editors' Strategic Implications: parent education researchers and practitioners may find the authors' application of the Health Belief Model to be a useful organizing framework for improving engagement and retention.

Impact of neighborhood disadvantage on overt behavior problems during early childhood.

Researchers have yet to examine the impact of neighborhood disadvantage on early child behavior problems (BPs) longitudinally. We examined the impact of neighborhood disadvantage on overt BPs in a low-income, urban sample of 281 African American and European American boys followed longitudinally from toddlerhood to school entry. Measures included census data and maternal report of BPs, sociocultural factors, parental criminality, and maternal depressive symptomatology. After controlling for age 2 overt BPs, family selection variables, and residential instability, neighborhood effects on boys' behavior emerged, but only at age 6 and only at the extreme of neighborhood disadvantage (i.e., underclass). Findings suggest boys in underclass neighborhoods are at risk for overt BPs as they make the transition to elementary school.

A randomized trial of methods to engage Mexican American parents into a school-based parenting intervention.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the efficacy of motivational strategies for increasing engagement into evidence-based, parenting interventions delivered through schools. METHOD: Participants were 122 mothers of kindergarten and third grade students attending an urban school that predominantly served Mexican American families living in low-income conditions. At pretest, mothers reported sociocultural characteristics, and teachers rated children's behavior. Mothers randomly assigned to the experimental condition received a multicomponent engagement package; mothers assigned to the control condition received a brochure plus a nonengagement survey interview. All families were offered a free parenting program delivered at their child's school. Dependent variables included parenting program enrollment, initiation (i.e., attending at least 1 session), and attendance. RESULTS: Parents in the experimental condition were more likely to initiate compared with those in the control condition if their children had high baseline concentration problems (OR = 8.98, p < .001, 95% CI [2.55, 31.57]). Parents in the experimental condition attended more sessions than did those in the control condition if their children had high baseline concentration problems (p < .01, d = .49, 95% CI [.35, 2.26]) or conduct problems (p < .01, d = .54, 95% CI [.51, 2.56]). Highly acculturated parents attended more sessions if assigned to the experimental condition than the control condition (p < .01, d = .66, 95% CI [.28, 2.57]). CONCLUSIONS: The motivational engagement package increased parenting program initiation and attendance for parents of students at-risk for behavior problems. (PsycINFO Database Record