Predictors of family participation in a multiple family group intervention for aggressive middle school students

Abstract

The authors examine predictors of family participation in the G.R.E.A.T. Families Program of the Multisite Violence Prevention Project (MVPP), a four‐site collaboration examining student, teacher, and family interventions for middle school students. Teachers recruited two cohorts of sixth grade students, recognized as being aggressive and influential with their peers, and their families into a voluntary, 15‐session weekly program. Among the 643 families that consented (66%), the mean number of sessions attended was 8.13, with almost half (48.3%) attending 11 or more sessions. Linear mixed models (LMMs) were developed to predict the number of sessions attended based on a cluster of demographic variables and scales designed to measure aggression, problem behaviors, family factors, and other psychosocial constructs. Three of the nine clusters held significance when associated with attendance: level of aggression as rated by the child (negative association), parent–child bond (negative association), and level of child victimization (positive association). Somewhat surprisingly, the variance component due to interventionist turned out to be small and to constitute a nonsignificant component of the overall variability in attendance. Results suggest that family recruitment for multiple family group programs can be achieved with substantial effort and that resources available for recruitment might be differentially applied across families based on predictors of attendance. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Participación parental en intervenciones familiares para prevenir drogodependencias: una revisión empírica

“…In addiction, Barkley and colleagues (2000) found that parental education was a stronger predictor of parent participation than socioeconomic status or parental depression. More recent research had replicated most of these findings, particularly the positive relationship between parent's education level and attendance and the negative association between participation and family structure (singe-parent families), large number of children, low family income and larger family size (Quinn, Hall, Smith & Rabiner, 2010;Rienks, Wadsworth, Markman, Einhorn & Etter, 2011;Eisner & Meidert, 2011;Bloomquist at al., 2012). However, Eisner & Meidert, (2011) found that being a single parent was not linked to less parental participation.…”

“…A study by Connell and colleagues (2007), found that elevated family conflict (along with father absence and deviant peer involvement) were particularly strong predictors of parent's participation in the preventive program, suggesting that family conflict, because it affects both parents and children, helps families to recognize the need for a preventive intervention for those high risk youths. Evidence also supports that family cohesion is related to low attending parents, thus suggesting that the parents' perception that family cohesion is high may be sufficient to handle child disruptive behavior (Quinn et al, 2010).…”

“…Un estudio de Connell y colegas (2007) observó que un elevado conflicto familiar (junto con la ausencia del padre y juntarse con coetáneos negativos) eran predictores especialmente potentes de la participación de los padres en los programas preventivos, lo cual sugiere que el conflicto familiar, puesto que afecta tanto a padres como hijos, ayuda a la familia a reconocer la necesidad de una intervención preventiva para esos jóvenes de alto riesgo. Los datos también respaldan que la cohesión de la familia está relacionada con padres de baja asistencia, lo cual haría pensar que la percepción de los padres de que la cohesión familiar es elevada les puede parecer suficiente para lidiar con las conductas perniciosas de los hijos (Quinn et al, 2010).…”

“…In addition, parents who report stronger parent-child bonds and expectations for student achievement had lower participation rates (Quinn et al, 2010). Skärstrand and colleagues (2009) found that parents that were less warm in the relationship with the child were more likely to at-tend a Swedish version of the Strengthening Families Program.…”

Preventing alcohol misuse in young people: an exploratory cluster randomised controlled trial of the Kids, Adults Together (KAT) programme

“…As outlined above, while the importance of family-based protective factors for alcohol misuse is widely recognised, 29,32,52 knowledge remains limited regarding effective mechanisms for engaging parents in prevention programmes, particularly those that are school based, and differences in programme reach and acceptability between different socioeconomic groups. [83][84][85][86] Kids, Adults Together Anecdotal evidence that some prevention programmes have attracted large numbers of parent participants is not well supported by detailed accounts of percentages or mechanisms of engagement. One such programme was the Parents, Adults, Kids Together (PAKT) programme in Victoria, Australia.…”