Online programs as tools to improve parenting: A meta-analytic review

Background

A number of parenting programs, aimed at improving parenting competencies, have recently been adapted or designed with the use of online technologies. Although web-based services have been claimed to hold promise for parent support, a meta-analytic review of online parenting interventions is lacking.

Method

A systematic review was undertaken of studies (n = 19), published between 2000 and 2010, that describe parenting programs of which the primary components were delivered online. Seven programs were adaptations of traditional, mostly evidence-based, parenting interventions, using the unique opportunities of internet technology. Twelve studies (with in total 54 outcomes, N_tot parents = 1615 and N_tot children = 740) were included in a meta-analysis.

Results

The meta-analysis showed a statistically significant medium effect across parents outcomes (ES = 0.67; se = 0.25) and child outcomes (ES = 0.42; se = 0.15).

Conclusions

The results of this review show that web-based parenting programs with new technologies offer opportunities for sharing social support, consulting professionals and training parental competencies. The meta-analytic results show that guided and self-guided online interventions can make a significant positive contribution for parents and children. The relation with other meta-analyses in the domains of parent education and web-based interventions is discussed.     

Are the voices of parents heard? A scoping review of satisfaction in parenting programs

Parenting programs are an effective approach to promote positive parenting. In evidence-based practice, client’s values and preferences contribute to promoting quality, and are a crucial component of service evaluation. The current scoping review summarizes quantitative research that examines parental satisfaction with parent training for families with child conduct problems. We aimed to know how much research had been undertaken; what measures have been used; and what were the findings related to parental satisfaction. A scoping review was conducted to retrieve peer-reviewed original articles.Out of 420 papers 5.5 % obtained data on parental satisfaction. Seven different measures were used, mainly Therapy Attitude Inventory and Client Satisfaction Questionnaire. Out of 23 papers, ten studies reported Cronbach's alpha coefficients on the assessment that was used to evaluate parental satisfaction. All of the 23 included studies found that parents are very satisfied with the parenting program they have received.The findings indicate that only a few studies included parents’ values and preferences in quantitative evaluation studies on parental programs. In addition, there is a limited arsenal of assessment tools to measure what matters to parents. There is a need to develop measures with high psychometric quality, which will promote more quality in service evaluation.     

The added impact of parenting education in early childhood education programs: A meta-analysis

Many early childhood education (ECE) programs seek to enhance parents' capacities to support their children's development. Using a meta-analytic database of 46 studies of ECE programs that served children age three to five-years-old, we examine the benefits to children's cognitive and pre-academic skills of adding parenting education to ECE programs for children and consider the differential impacts of: 1) parenting education programs of any type; 2) parenting education programs that provided parents with modeling of or opportunities to practice stimulating behaviors and 3) parenting education programs that were delivered through intensive home visiting. The results of the study call into question some general longstanding assertions regarding the benefits of including parenting education in early childhood programs. We find no differences in program impacts between ECE programs that did and did not provide some form of parenting education. We find some suggestive evidence that among ECE programs that provided parenting education, those that provided parents with opportunities to practice parenting skills were associated with greater short-term impacts on children's pre-academic skills. Among ECE programs that provided parenting education, those that did so through one or more home visits a month yielded effect sizes for cognitive outcomes that were significantly larger than programs that provided lower dosages of home visits.     

The link between parenting approaches and health behavior: A systematic review

The familial home environment, where parenting takes place, plays an important role in the health behaviors that children and adolescents engage in and has implications on health and well-being in later life. Lifestyle-related behaviors predispose children and adolescents to the global burden of non-communicable and other lifestyle-related diseases. This review therefore examined and described previous studies looking at the associations between health behaviors and parenting approaches. It suggests that engagement in health behaviors, which promotes overall health and well-being, was associated with autonomy, supportive parenting, parental encouragement, behavior control, parental nurturance, warmth and responsiveness, and parental involvement. The review highlights the gap in literature focusing on the health behavior of children and adolescents as well as on parenting. In addition, the review also provides an overview of the continents where fewer studies have examined the presented associations. The findings presented also serve as a guide for program development and implementation to address the increase in non-communicable and other lifestyle-related diseases.     

Towards a sociology of risk work: A narrative review and synthesis

In this article, we define the concept of “risk work,” which aims to make visible working practices to assess or manage risk, in order to subject these practices to sociological critique. This article reviews and synthesizes existing published literature to identify components of risk work: (a) translating risk into different contexts, (b) minimizing risks in practice, and (c) caring in the context of risk. We argue that these three components of risk work raise important tensions for workers that have been inadequately explored in the literature to date. We propose that future research should additionally focus on practitioner subjectivity and identity in risk work. In addition, we argue that comparative research—across type of risk and different contexts—and methodological and theoretical diversity would enhance this emerging field of research.     

Recruiting fathers to parenting programs: Advice from dads and fatherhood program providers

The benefits of high-quality father–child relationships for fathers and children alike are well documented. While evidence suggests parenting programs can improve the quality of father–child relationships, few fathers participate in such programs. This qualitative study aims to fill the gap in knowledge on best practices for recruiting urban African American fathers, a group of fathers with unique parenting challenges, to parenting programs. Focus groups were conducted with 29 fathers to gain their perspectives on recruitment strategies. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with a nationwide sample of 19 fatherhood program providers to learn about their most successful recruitment strategies. Recruitment strategies based on emergent themes from the focus groups and interviews are presented here. Themes included using word-of-mouth recruitment, increasing advertising, targeting advertising specifically to urban African American fathers, providing transportation and incentives, recruiting through the courts, collaborating with other community agencies, and offering parenting programming along with other programming valued by fathers such as employment assistance. Implications for developing strategies for recruiting urban African American fathers to parenting programs are discussed.     

Intergenerational continuity in parenting: a review and theoretical integration

Abstract

Objective: This review evaluates literature on how parenting behaviors are passed from one generation to the next in families by providing a new definitional framework to organize existing work, utilizing this framework to review literature on intergenerational continuity in parenting behaviors, and proposing a new developmental framework for understanding the etiology of intergenerational continuity in parenting behaviors.

Design: The present review examines 31 studies of intergenerational continuity in parenting, summarizes the findings offered by these studies, and integrates this existing literature in a theoretical framework for considering the etiology of intergenerational continuity in parenting behaviors.

Results: Results indicate that parental warmth, hostility, and behavioral control each demonstrate intergenerational continuity, and that internalizing and externalizing behavior serve as potential mediators of intergenerational continuity across all three types of parenting behaviors.

Conclusions: Parenting behaviors falling in the warmth, hostility, and behavioral control domains each demonstrate modest continuity across generations. Internalizing and externalizing behaviors developed by children in response to parenting in their family of origin may persist and cause similar patterns of parenting when these children grow up and start their own families. Partner psychopathology and parenting styles may moderate these externalizing and internalizing pathways to intergenerational continuity in parenting.     

Foster parenting: A developmental model

This paper proposes a developmental framework for foster parents and outlines four distinct growth stages. Such a framework can be of value to program administrators who are required to assess foster parent development during the crucial matching process. To draw a distinction between each developmental stage, specific instrumental tasks and indicators are outlined.     

Implementing a short-term family support group

1. Although family involvement has been increasingly recognized as a vital component in the treatment and care of the mentally ill, little has been written about efforts to provide education and support to the families of patients hospitalized for short-term evaluation and treatment. 2. The family education and support group provided emotional support and critical information to increase family members' coping and problem solving abilities, and enabled them to return to a pre-crisis or higher level of functioning. 3. The family education and support group not only enhances the assessment and planning phases of the nursing process, but it also can serve as a useful intervention for strengthening the patient's major support system.     

A review of the chance to grow project: A care project for pregnant and parenting adolescents

This paper reports on the process and outcome of an innovative program for pregnant and parenting adolescents, the Chance to Grow Project. One hundred sixty-one pregnant adolescents were exposed to intensive decision-making counseling and case management services. These young women were followed for 24 months, as were 87 pregnant teens who served as a comparison group. The results of the analysis suggest a number of important findings. These include a much higher placement for adoption of the babies of the program participants, higher levels of school retention, economic self-sufficiency, and more responsible sexual behavior on the part of the participants. This article describes the Chance to Grow Project in detail and suggests some important practice implications which can be drawn from this analysis.The Chance to Grow Project and its associated evaluation was funded by Office of Adolescent Pregnancy Programs, Office of Population Affairs, Department of Health and Human Services (Federal Grant Number APH 000128-05); Robert H. Brethen Foundation; Christ Child Society; Louise Kramer Foundation; Mathile Family Foundation; Charles McNamee Foundation; Gerald and Carole Miller Family Foundation; Montgomery County Community Human Services; United Way of Dayton; and the University of Dayton.     

Special foster care for exceptional children:: A review of programs and policies

This article reviews programs and policies regarding alternative home care for exceptional and special-needs foster children. While some focus is placed on program evaluation and efficacy of these specialized foster homes, the major thrust of the review is to identify major procedural underpinnings of successful programs for special needs foster children. These include: (a) appropriate selection of qualified therapeutic parents; (b) preservice training of parents; (c) matching of child to abilities of parents; (d) high-intensity and high-frequency casework and consultation; and (e) professional status for the specialized foster parents. Special foster care programs which have been evaluated offer generally high levels of success and goal attainment at much lower per diem rates than institutional care. Summary policies and recommendations are forwarded.     

Implementing media literacy training for social work programs at HBCUs: A literary analysis of barriers and opportunities

ABSTRACT

The image of the social work profession in the media is problematic for many reasons. Social work and its practitioners are often depicted as incompetent, ineffective, and unnecessary. Despite the necessity of the services provided to the public by social workers, public opinion of the profession remains low. To reverse the current trend, social work programs, particularly those at historically Black colleges and universities, can begin to provide media literacy training and media awareness within the curriculum to assist future social workers in stemming the tide of negative coverage and portrayals of the profession in the media. Using the media diffusion of information theory as an overview, this literary analysis provides a historical view of the profession and highlights current trends in social work practice, education, and media training.     

Single motherhood by choice: A parenting alternative

The experience of single motherhood by choice has become more prevalent in the last twenty years and yet the literature reveals a dirth of information about this parenting style. This article delineates the experience of choosing single motherhood utilizing artificial insemination by donor. Several issues are examined: (a) emotional factors and personality characteristics of the mother, (b) physiological factors related to artificial insemination, (c) ethical and legal considerations of artificial insemination and single motherhood, and (d) various economic concerns related to single motherhood.Ann Potter completed her Ph.D. in counseling psychology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and is Assistant Professor of Nursing at Clarkson College of Nursing, 333 South 44th Street, Omaha, NE 68131. Her current research interests are children and families of alcoholics, nontraditional families including single motherhood by choice, and incest survivors.Patricia Knaub is Associate Dean of the College of Home Economics and Associate Professor of Human Development and the Family at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her address is 105 Home Economics, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583-0800. She completed her Ph.D. at Nebraska and current research interests include stress and coping strategies of farm families, successful remarriages, and issues related to conception, including transference of myths and artificial insemination.     

Implementing condom distribution programs in the United States: Qualitative insights from program planners

With the growing number of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among young people (15–24) in the US, condom distribution programs (CDP) remain an integral part of prevention strategies. The objective of the study was to gather qualitative insights from CDP planners to inform effective CDP implementation. Ten semi-structured interviews with program planners were conducted via telephone (response rate of 58.8%). Condom distribution channels included site-based distribution (n = 6), web-based distribution (n = 4), and distribution via Uber (n = 1). Site-based distribution programs had distribution networks ranging from 100 to 3500 sites in a given jurisdiction. Planners of site-based CDPs experienced challenges with ensuring quality control at sites and supplying condoms to sites. Web-based CDPs allow individuals to order free condoms online. These CDP planners reported growing demand for this discreet service, particularly among young people. Web-based CDPs leveraged e-mail surveys to collect data on sexual behavior and behavior change, yielding response rates as high as 63%. All CDPs emphasized the importance of supplying a variety of products. Total supplies distributed (male condoms, internal condoms, lubricant sachets) ranged from 16,000 to 45 million per year. Novel channels of distribution should be explored to ensure reach to adolescents and young adults.     

Implementing the ecological approach in tobacco control programs: results of a case study

The ‘new public health’ has stimulated calls to adopt an ecological approach for action aimed at improving population health. However, the implementation of ecological programs has often remained a challenge. The objective of this study was to identify factors facilitating the implementation of ecological tobacco control programming in two Public Health Departments in Québec (Canada) using Scheirer's model of program implementation as a conceptual framework and an exemplary case study design. Analysis revealed two distinct configurations of environmental, organizational and professional characteristics that were related to equally successful implementations of the framework. Key roles for factors such as provincial ministerial guidelines and financial resources, human resources, and relationships and alliances with other organizations, were highlighted. These results replicate findings from quantitative surveys and allow better understanding of the conditions required for planning ecological programming.     

Evaluations of utility residential conservation programs in the Pacific Northwest: A critical review

Pacific Northwest utilities have sponsored the nation's earliest and most thorough residential conservation programs. The Northwest region also leads in the quality, quantity, and usefulness of utility-sponsored program evaluations. This article critically reviews the methods and findings of four major Northwest utility program evaluations. Recommendations for future evaluation and program management efforts also are discussed.     

Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) needs assessment of parenting support programs for fathers

This study reports the results of a Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) needs assessment of programs, services, and support systems for fathers in the City of Detroit, Michigan. The goal of this needs assessment was to assess the availability of parenting support services to men through multiple perspectives. To enact a CBPR approach, the research team collected qualitative data through interviews with service providers and community dialogues with fathers and consulted a community advisory board for further guidance on the research efforts. The research team engaged in member checking to improve the accuracy and credibility of study findings. Results indicated that both service providers and fathers agreed that very few parenting support services are available to fathers, particularly young African American fathers, and they also largely agreed in establishing priorities to address community fathers' parenting needs. Practice implications include the need for greater collaboration across service sectors and for greater outreach, possibly through technology, to young fathers.     

The efficacy of early intervention programs for children with organic impairment: A quantitative review

The results of studies examining the effectiveness of early intervention for infants and children with organic impairment and developmental delay were reviewed using recently developed quantitative methods that treat the literature review process as a unique type of scientific inquiry. Thirty-eight studies meeting certain predetermined criteria were included in the review. The 38 studies contained a total of 118 statistical hypothesis tests that evaluated the effectiveness of early intervention. An analysis of these tests based on the calculation of effect sizes revealed that subjects receiving early intervention performed better on a wide range of dependent measures than subjects not receiving intervention. The outcomes were found to be related to several design and study characteristics. Larger effect sizes were associated with preexperimental designs, and also with studies in which the internal validity was rated as poor. Several other design variables such as how subjects were assigned to conditions and how the dependent measure was recorded were related to study outcome as measured by effect size. The conclusion was made that an accurate interpretation of the early intervention research literature cannot be made without consideration of specific design variables and study characteristics.