CURRICULUM BASED ON THEORY AND EVIDENCE

THERE ARE 5 DOMAINS OF FAMILY LIFE THAT AFFECT FAMILY MEMBERS’ WELL-BEING

OUR CURRICULUM ADDRESSES ALL 5 ASPECTS OF FAMILY LIFE (It’s not just a parenting class or communication skills training.)

1. PARENTS AS INDIVIDUALS

2. The COUPLE RELATIONSHIP

3. PARENT-CHILDRELATIONSHIPS

4. FAMILY OF ORIGIN PATTERNS

5. STRESSORS and SUPPORTS

Culture

Economic forces

FAMILY SYSTEMS PERSPECTIVE MISSING

Work

School

Peers

Friends

Social support and Life Stress

Social support and Life Stress

Development and Evaluation Team

Philip Cowan and Carolyn Pape Cowan,

University of California, Berkeley

Marsha Kline Pruett, Smith College

Kyle Pruett, Yale University

Peter Gillette, University of California Berkeley

Data Manager

Supporting Father Involvement

Informational

session*

16 week

Fathers

groups*

16 week

Couples

groups*

*A Case Manager for every study family

• Post-intervention assessments 9 months after baseline

• Follow-up assessments 18 months after baseline

• Pre-intervention (baseline) assessments

Bi-monthly consultation for site staff

SUPPORTING FATHER INVOLVEMENT

Random Assignment to:

Participants

289 families completed pre and posttests

67% Mexican American (an African American sample added later)

75% married 20% cohabiting 5% not living together

Supporting Father Involvement PHASE I

Results (2-1/2 yr followup)

PARENTS FROM CONTROL GROUP One 3-hour group meeting• Stayed the same or got worse over time (no change in father involvement, couple satisfaction down, symptoms up)• Reported more behavior problems in their children than they had on entering study.

PARENTS FROM FATHERS AND COUPLES GROUPS

• Mothers and fathers reported more father involvement in caring for children.• Parents reported no change in child behavior problems since entry to project.

Met weekly for 16 weeks/32 hrs

PARENTS FROM COUPLES GROUPS

Showed additional benefits:

• Their parenting stress declined• They showed no decline in couple relationship satisfaction – which we found in couples in both the control group and the fathers groups.

Positive Benefits Endure Over Time

Baseline 9 months

2 months after groups end

18 months

11 months after groups end

2.5 years

22 months after groups end

These intervention results have now been replicated with another 280 low-income families – Hispanic and Caucasian – and more recently at a site with 40 African American families.

Dissemination throughout California by Strategies

Danny Molina (and others)www.SupportingFatherInvolvement.org/strategies

• Information

• Agency father-friendliness• Technical assistance to run SFI groups

NEW PHASE IV

50% CWS FAMILIES-- referred by Child Welfare staff-- couples assessed as safe to work with together; child not being abused now

50% NON-CWS FAMILIES-- recruited as in previous phases

Random assignment to:

COUPLES FATHERS GROUP (2/3) GROUP (1/3)

NOW(2/3) DELAY(1/3) NOW(2/3) DELAY(1/3)

Intervention effect? Intervention effect?

CAUTIONARY NOTE

• Only first third of families = 100/300

• Only to first posttest (intervention results often better at second posttest)

• Almost all data from couples groups (90 vs 10)

• No data on some important measures (Child Abuse Potential, Danger Assessment)

COMPLEXITIES

Effects can be found for Non-CWS, CWS, or BOTH;

Effects can be found for MOMS, DADS, or BOTH

HERE COME THE ARROWS

= MOMS and DADS

= MOMS only

= DADS only

Positive effects of participation in group can occur in different ways

DELAY NOW

No effect

No effect

Positive effect

Positive effect

SO……………

Just relax

And enjoy the story……….

INDIVIDUAL ADJUSTMENT

Anxiety symptoms

DELAY NOW

NON-

CWS

CWS

Frequency of drug use

DELAY NOW

NON-

CWS

CWS

Frequency of alcohol use

DELAY NOW

NON-

CWS

CWS

COUPLE RELATIONSHIP

Conflict between parents

DELAY NOW

NON-

CWS

CWS

Violent problem solving

DELAY NOW

NON-

CWS

CWS

Collaborative problem solving

DELAY NOW

NON-

CWS

CWS

PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP

FATHER INVOLVEMENT

DELAY NOW

NON-

CWS

CWS

Harsh parenting

DELAY NOW

NON-

CWS

CWS

CHILD BEHAVIOR

Hyperactive AND Anxious/depressed

DELAY NOW

NON-

CWS

CWS

COMPARISON OF NOW AND DELAY

Non-CWS CWS

INDIVIDUAL

Anxiety √

Drug use √ √ √ √

Alcohol use √ √

COUPLE

Conflict √√

Violent ProbSolving

√√

Collaborative Prob.Solving

√√

COMPARISON OF NOW AND DELAY

Non-CWS CWS

PARENTING

Father involvement

√

Harsh parenting √ √ √ √

CHILD

Hyperactivity √√

Anxiety/depression √√

Remember:

These results are PRELIMINARY