Enhancing parental competencies for high risk mothers: an evaluation of prevention effects.
A three-year study examined the effects of two prevention programs for sole-support mothers with preschool-aged children. A life-skills, esteem-building group program was compared with a group program teaching life skills combined with parent training. A non-randomized, repeated-measures design was employed with measures occurring before, after, and one year after each program for participants in the two intervention groups and for a group of matched comparison subjects. The lack of competency enhancement effects appeared to be a function of reduced exposure of subjects to the interventions. In addition, there was no support for the connection between short-term competency enhancement and long-term prevention of disorder. The negative results serve, in this report, as a cautionary tale highlighting the difficulties in conducting evaluations of primary prevention. It would appear that program planners are placed in a Catch-22 situation by trying to justify the effectiveness of primary prevention through short-term, low-intensity approaches.
D000328:Adult; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003863:Depression / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006040:Goals; D006791:Hostility; D006801:Humans; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology; D010290:Parents / Q000193:education*; D011322:Primary Prevention; D012306:Risk; D012649:Self Concept; D012847:Single Person / Q000523:psychology; D012944:Social Support