More than 500 families with child welfare involvement were randomly divided among three interventions: a fathers-only group, a couples group, and an information-only (control) session. The fathers and couples groups received 32 hours of group training and discussion over 16 weeks, facilitated by a clinically trained couple using the Supporting Father Involvement curriculum. Before the intervention and 2 and 11 months after the intervention, parents were assessed for mental health and well-being, quality of the couple's relationship, quality of the parent-child relationship, generational transmission of expectations and behaviors, and balance of life stresses and social supports.
Results show the interventions' success in reducing risk factors and increasing protective factors:
- Parents in the couples group showed increased father involvement and decreased personal and parenting distress compared to the control condition.
- Fathers-only participants made slightly fewer gains than the couples participants but showed significant and positive effects on father involvement.
- Children of parents who participated in one of the groups had no increases in problem behaviors, unlike children in the control condition.
The authors note that this ongoing program is still learning how to best provide parents with the skills and supports that are needed to eradicate old patterns and improve family relationships.
Read more online at: http://cbexpress.acf.hhs.gov/index.cfm?event=website.viewPrinterFriendly&issueid=117
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