Predicting engagement in a transition to parenthood program for couples

Abstract

Fostering participant engagement is a challenging but essential component of effective prevention programs. To better understand which factors influence engagement, this study examines several predictors of couple engagement in Family Foundations (FF), a preventive intervention for first-time parents shown to enhance parent mental health, couple relations, parenting quality, and child adjustment through age three years. FF consists of a series of classes delivered through childbirth education departments at local hospitals. Baseline data on socio-demographics, parent mental health, and couple relationship quality were examined as predictors of participants’ level of engagement in FF (n = 89 couples, 178 individuals). Sociodemographic variables such as parent gender, socioeconomic status, and age predicted program engagement to a limited extent. However, findings indicated that marital status was the best predictor of engagement. Discussion focuses on how findings can inform the development of practices that promote engagement, such as the use of targeted outreach efforts for individuals most at risk of disengagement.

Supporting Parents: How Six Decades of Parenting Research Can Inform Policy and Best Practice

“…Coparenting, defi ned as the ability of two caregivers to work together in raising children (Feinberg, 2002;McHale, Lauretti, Talbot, & Pouquette, 2002), infl uences parenting quality Kim & Teti, 2014;Pedro, Ribeiro, & Shelton, 2012) and children's development over and above the effects of each individual parent (Brown, Schoppe-Sullivan, Mangelsdorf, & Neff, 2010;Cabrera, Scott, Fagan, Steward-Streng, & Chien, 2012;Gable, Crnic, & Belsky, 1994). Brown, Feinberg, and Kan (2012) conceptualized coparenting in terms of interparental Social Policy Report V30 #5 8…”

“…Although coparenting quality has a strong foundation in marital quality (Brown et al, 2012;Schoppe-Sullivan, Mangelsdorf, Frosch, & McHale, 2004;van Egeren, 2004), coparenting might be more important to child development than marital adjustment (Feinberg, 2002). This appears to be true across different ethnic backgrounds and the father's residence status (Cabrera, et al, 2009;Carlson, 2006).…”

Relating Engagement to Outcomes in Prevention: The Case of a Parenting Program for Couples

“…Findings indicated that marital status is the most powerful predictor of engagement. Sociodemographic variables, including parent gender, education, income, and age also predicted program engagement to a limited extent (Brown, Feinberg, & Kan, 2011). …”

Measuring Coalition Functioning

“…High-quality coalition functioning is an important precursor to coalition success. Previous research indicates coalition functioning relates to coalition ability to support evidence-based programs (Brown, Feinberg, & Kan, 2010), coalition sustainability (Feinberg, Bontempo, & Greenberg, 2008), coalition ability to change public policy (Hays, Hays, DeVille, & Mulhall, 2000), and perceived coalition effectiveness (Feinberg, Greenberg, & Osgood, 2004a). …”