Healthy child development has been identified as one of the key determinants of health and resiliency in adulthood. This article reports on the results of two pilot studies of randomized controlled trials of parent support interventions aimed at improving the parent-child relationship and indirectly enhancing the resilience capacity among at-risk children. Participating children were at risk for mental health problems due to poverty and/or their parents' lack of educational attainment, inexperience, and young age. The interventions were composed of parenting skills training and social support. Eighteen families participated in Supportive Intervention I, and 34 families participated in Supportive Intervention II. Results suggested that parent-child relationships were enhanced in both pilot studies. These promising findings offer direction for future research and for nurses and other interventionists providing support to young at-risk families.
Adaptive problem solving contributes to individual and family health and development. In this article, the effect of the cooperative family learning approach (CFLA) on group family problem solving and on cooperative parenting communication is described. A pretest or posttest experimental design was used. Participant families were recruited from Head Start programs and exhibited two or more risk factors. Participant preschool children were screened to have two or more developmental delays. Direct behavioral observation measures were used to determine group family problem solving and cooperative parenting communication outcomes. Few group family problem-solving behaviors were coded, and they displayed little variability. However, intervention parents increased the length of time they played and extended the cooperative parent-child interactions. The evidence shows that CFLA has the potential to enhance parental-modeling of cooperative behavior while engaged in play activities with preschoolers. Direct measurement of group family problem solving was difficult. Solutions are suggested.
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