%0 Journal Article %J Child Youth Serv Rev %D 2016 %T Parent training to reduce problem behaviors over the transition to high school: Tests of indirect effects through improved emotion regulation skills %A Mason, W A %A January, Stacy-Ann A %A Fleming, Charles B %A Thompson, Ronald W %A Parra, Gilbert R %A Haggerty, Kevin P %A Snyder, James J %X

Adolescent problem behaviors are costly for individuals and society. Promoting the self-regulatory functioning of youth may help prevent the development of such behaviors. Parent-training and family intervention programs have been shown to improve child and adolescent self-regulation. This study helps fill gaps in knowledge by testing for indirect effects of the Common Sense Parenting(®) (CSP) program on reduced substance use, conduct problems, and school suspensions through previously identified short-term improvements in parents' reports of their children's emotion regulation skills. Over two cohorts, 321 low income families of 8(th) graders were enrolled and randomly assigned to either the standard CSP program, an adapted CSP Plus program, or a minimal-contact control condition. Pretest, posttest, 1-year follow-up, and 2-year follow-up survey assessments were completed by parents and students with 94% retention. Intent-to-treat multivariate path analyses were conducted. Neither intervention had statistically significant total effects on the three targeted adolescent outcomes. CSP, but not CSP Plus, had statistically significant indirect effects on reduced substance use and school suspensions at the 1-year follow-up as well as conduct problems and school suspensions at the 2-year follow-up through increased child emotion regulation skills at posttest. Findings provide some support for emotion regulation as one pathway through which the intervention was associated, indirectly, with reduced substance use, conduct problems, and school suspensions among at-risk students over the high school transition.

%B Child Youth Serv Rev %V 61 %P 176-183 %8 2016 Feb 1 %G ENG %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26778871?dopt=Abstract %R 10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.12.022 %0 Journal Article %J J Prim Prev %D 2015 %T Predictors of participation in parenting workshops for improving adolescent behavioral and mental health: Results from the Common Sense Parenting trial. %A Fleming, Charles B %A Mason, W A %A Haggerty, Kevin P %A Thompson, Ronald W %A Fernandez, Kate %A Casey-Goldstein, Mary %A Oats, Robert G %K Adolescent %K Adolescent Behavior %K Adult %K Ethnic Groups %K Family Characteristics %K Female %K Humans %K Logistic Models %K Male %K Mental Health %K Parent-Child Relations %K Parenting %K Parents %K Poverty Areas %K Program Evaluation %K Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic %K Social Class %K Washington %X

Engaging and retaining participants are crucial to achieving adequate implementation of parenting interventions designed to prevent problem behaviors among children and adolescents. This study examined predictors of engagement and retention in a group-based family intervention across two versions of the program: a standard version requiring only parent attendance for six sessions and an adapted version with two additional sessions that required attendance by the son or daughter. Families included a parent and an eighth grader who attended one of five high-poverty schools in an urban Pacific Northwest school district. The adapted version of the intervention had a higher rate of engagement than the standard version, a difference that was statistically significant after adjusting for other variables assessed at enrollment in the study. Higher household income and parent education, younger student age, and poorer affective quality in the parent-child relationship predicted greater likelihood of initial attendance. In the adapted version of the intervention, parents of boys were more likely to engage with the program than those of girls. The variables considered did not strongly predict retention, although retention was higher among parents of boys. Retention did not significantly differ between conditions. Asking for child attendance at workshops may have increased engagement in the intervention, while findings for other predictors of attendance point to the need for added efforts to recruit families who have less socioeconomic resources, as well as families who perceive they have less need for services.

%B J Prim Prev %V 36 %P 105-18 %8 2015 Apr %G eng %N 2 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25656381?dopt=Abstract %R 10.1007/s10935-015-0386-3 %0 Journal Article %J J Child Fam Stud %D 2015 %T Reducing risks for problem behaviors during the high school transition: Proximal outcomes in the Common Sense Parenting trial %A Mason, W A %A Fleming, Charles B %A Ringle, Jay L %A Thompson, Ronald W %A Haggerty, Kevin P %A Snyder, James J %X

This study tests Common Sense Parenting (CSP)®, a widely used parent-training program, in its standard form and in a modified form known as CSP Plus, with low-income 8(th) graders and their families during the high school transition. The six-session CSP program proximally targets parenting and child emotion regulation skills. CSP Plus adds two sessions that include youth, and the eight-session program further targets skills for avoiding negative peers and activities in high school. Over two cohorts, 321 families were enrolled and randomly assigned to either CSP, CSP Plus, or minimal-contact control conditions. To date, pretest and posttest assessments have been completed, with 93% retention over about a 6-month interval. Here, analyses of preliminary outcomes from pretest to posttest focus on data collected from parents, who represent the primary proximal intervention targets. Intent-to-treat structural equation modeling analyses were conducted. CSP and CSP Plus had statistically significant effects on increased parent-reported child emotion regulation skills. CSP Plus further showed a statistically significant effect on increased parent perceptions of their adolescent being prepared for high school, but only in a model that excluded the CSP condition. Neither program had a significant proximal effect on parenting practices. Emotion regulation, one indicator of self-control, is a robust protective factor against problem behaviors. Intervention effects on this outcome may translate into reduced problems during high school. Moreover, CSP Plus showed some limited signs of added value for preparing families for the high school transition.

%B J Child Fam Stud %V 24 %P 2568-2578 %8 2015 Sep 1 %G ENG %N 9 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26508822?dopt=Abstract %R 10.1007/s10826-014-0059-5 %0 Journal Article %J Prev Sci %D 2014 %T A framework for testing and promoting expanded dissemination of promising preventive interventions that are being implemented in community settings. %A Mason, W A %A Fleming, Charles B %A Thompson, Ronald W %A Haggerty, Kevin P %A Snyder, James J %K Diffusion of Innovation %K Evidence-Based Medicine %K Female %K Health Promotion %K Humans %K Male %K Preventive Health Services %K Program Development %K Registries %K United States %X

Many evidence-based preventive interventions have been developed in recent years, but few are widely used. With the current focus on efficacy trials, widespread dissemination and implementation of evidence-based interventions are often afterthoughts. One potential strategy for reversing this trend is to find a promising program with a strong delivery vehicle in place and improve and test the program's efficacy through rigorous evaluation. If the program is supported by evidence, the dissemination vehicle is already in place and potentially can be expanded. This strategy has been used infrequently and has met with limited success to date, in part, because the field lacks a framework for guiding such research. To address this gap, we outline a framework for moving promising preventive interventions that are currently being implemented in community settings through a process of rigorous testing and, if needed, program modification in order to promote expanded dissemination. The framework is guided by RE-AIM (Reach, Efficacy/Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance) (Glasgow et al., Am J Publ Health 89:1322-1327, 1999), which focuses attention on external as well as internal validity in program tests, and is illustrated with examples. Challenges, such as responding to negative and null results, and opportunities inherent in the framework are discussed.

%B Prev Sci %V 15 %P 674-83 %8 2014 Oct %G eng %N 5 %R 10.1007/s11121-013-0409-3