A meta-analysis of 47 studies investigating the relationship between family-centered helpgiving practices and parent, family, and child behavior and functioning is reported. The studies included more than 11,000 participants from seven different countries. Data analysis was guided by a practice-based theory of family-centered helpgiving that hypothesized direct effects of relational and participatory helpgiving practices on self-efficacy beliefs and parent, family, and child outcomes. Results showed that the largest majority of outcomes were related to helpgiving practices with the strongest influences on outcomes most proximal and contextual to help giver/help receiver exchanges. Findings are placed in the context of a broader-based social systems framework of early childhood intervention and family support.

The manner in which family-systems intervention practices were related to both parent-child interactions and child development was the focus of the meta-analysis described in this paper. The family-systems model that was investigated has been developed and updated during the past 25 years (Dunst, Trivette, & Deal, 1988;Trivette, Deal, & Dunst, 1986). Each version of the model includes key elements from social systems (Bronfenbrenner, 1979), empowerment (Rappaport, 1981, family strengths (Stinnett & DeFrain, 1985), social support (Cohen & Syme, 1985), and help-giving (Brickman et al., 1982) theories. The most recent version of the model has been modified and changed based on findings from research syntheses of each of the different practices making up the key elements of the model (Dunst & Trivette, 2009a). Figure 1 shows the four components of the family-systems model. The components include capacity-building helpgiving practices, family needs (concerns and priorities), family strengths, and social supports and resources. The model is implemented by practitioners by using capacitybuilding help-giving practices to have family members identify their needs, the supports and resources to meet those needs, the use of family members' existing capabilities (strengths), and the development of new abilities to obtain resources and supports to meet their needs. The hypothesized influences of family-systems intervention practices on parent-child interactions and child behavior are based on Bronfenbrenner's (1979Bronfenbrenner's ( , 1992Bronfenbrenner's ( , 1999 contention that unless parents are provided the necessary supports and resources to have the time and energy to carry out their parenting responsibilities, they cannot interact with their children in development-enhancing ways that promote child development. More specifically, Bronfenbrenner (1979) noted that whether parents can perform effectively in their child-rearing roles within the family depends on the role demands, stresses, and supports emanating from other settings. . . . Parents' evaluation of their own capacity to function, as well as their view of their child, are related to such external factors as flexibility AbstractThe extent to which the influences of family-systems intervention practices could be traced to variations in parent-child interactions and child development was investigated by meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM). MASEM is a procedure for producing a weighted pooled correlation matrix and fitting a structural equation model to the patterns of relationships in the data. The main practices constituting the focus of analysis were capacity-building help-giving practices, social supports and resources, family needs (concerns and priorities), and family strengths. Eight studies were included in the meta-analysis. The participants were 910 infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with and without developmental delays or disabilities and their parents or other primary caregivers involved in different kinds of help-giving programs. Resul...

National surveys of nearly 3300 parents (and other caregivers) of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with or at-risk for developmental delays were conducted to ascertain the sources of naturally occurring learning opportunities afforded young children in the context of family and community life. One group of parents completed a survey about family life as sources of learning opportunities (N = 1723), and another group completed a survey of community life as sources of learning opportunities (N = 1560). Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that both family and community life were each made up of 11 different categories of learning opportunities. Results indicate the 22 categories provide a framework for recognizing and identifying sources of learning opportunities providing children a rich array of experiences constituting natural learning environments.

The relationship between different models of family level interventions and two components of practitioner helpgiving (relational practices and participatory practices) was examined in two studies of parents of young children involved in different kinds of family oriented helpgiving programs. Relational and participatory aspects of helpgiving were found to be practiced less often in professionally centered programs compared to other kinds of family oriented programs. Participatory helpgiving practices that provided parents with (a) choices and options and (b) opportunities to be involved in both solutions to problems and acquisition of knowledge and skills that strengthen functioning were more likely to be found in programs that were family centered. Findings are discussed in terms of the importance of the models used to structure social and human services program practices.

The relationships between several different person and environment characteristics of everyday natural learning opportunities and changes in both child learning opportunities and child behavior and performance were examined in an intervention study lasting 19 to 26 weeks. Participants were 63 parents or other caregivers and their infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with disabilities or delays. Findings showed that learning opportunities that were interesting, engaging, competence-producing, and mastery-oriented were associated with optimal child behavioral change. Implications for early intervention practices are discussed.An ecological perspective of human development and learning views child functioning as multiply determined, where the processes influencing behavior and development emanate from different settings, and relations between the settings, in which children are participating members (Bronfenbrenner, 1979(Bronfenbrenner, , 1999. According to Bronfenbrenner (1992), the aim of an ecological science of human development is the &dquo;systematic understanding of the processes and outcomes of human development&dquo; (p. 188) where &dquo;variations in developmental processes and outcomes are [considered] a joint function of the characteristics of the environment and of a [developing] person&dquo;(p. 197).The study described in this article examined the influences of a number of person and environment (setting) factors on children's everyday learning opportunities and how children performed and functioned in several different behavioral domains. Our main interest was the influence of the development-instigating and development-enhancing characteristics of everyday family and community activity settings (Bronfenbrennerwe examined the influence of other person and environment factors both to test the effects on child behavior and development and to ascertain the relative importance of activity setting characteristics as determinants of child performance and functioning. The importance of both classes of developmental processes was stated in the following way by Bronfenbrenner (1993): Among the personal characteristics likely to be most potent in affecting the cause ... of development ... are those that set in motion, sustain, and encourage processes of interaction between the [developing] person and two aspects of the proximal environment: first, the people present in the setting; and second, the