An Examination of Incremental Benefit of Two Parenting Approaches for Enhancing Child Outcomes: Mutual Support and Behavioral Family Intervention

Years: 2013-2014

USC Faculty Involved in Project: Arlene Bowers Andrews, Principal Investigator; Pippin Whitaker, Co-Investigator; Cheri Shapiro, Co-Investigator; Steven Lize, Co-Investigator

Funder: USC Provost Office, Social Sciences Grant Program

Community Partners: Parents Anonymous®-SC, Inc., Pee Dee Coalition, The Parenting Place

Project Summary: This project will lay the foundation for a research study designed to evaluate the separate and combined effects of parent mutual support and behavioral parent intervention in real-world community services settings, with examination of costs of the interventions. Using a randomized design, families presenting for parenting intervention at three community-based organizations will be assigned to parent mutual support alone, behavioral parenting intervention alone, a combined intervention group, or to a wait-list comparison group. Outcomes to be assessed at a family level include parenting style, parent personal functioning, child behavior, parent social connections, and parent social support. Before such a study can occur, the research team needs to solidify the partnerships with community groups with focus on matters of feasibility (e.g. random assignment at community sites, validity of measurement protocol, fidelity monitoring), which is the focus of this preliminary project.

Focus Areas: Strengthening Family Systems; Community Capacity Building