A promising parenting intervention in foster care.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a 2-component intervention for biological and foster parent (pairs) to improve parenting practices, co-parenting, and child externalizing problems. Participants were biological and foster parents (N=128) of primarily neglected children (ages 3 to 10 years) placed in regular foster homes. Biological and foster parents were randomly assigned in pairs to the intervention (n=80) or a usual care (n=48) condition. Intervention families received a 12-week parenting course (Incredible Years) and a newly developed co-parenting component. Key findings included significant gains in positive parenting and collaborative co-parenting for both biological and foster parents at the end of the intervention. At follow-up, intervention parents sustained greater improvement in positive parenting, showed gains in clear expectations, and reported a trend for fewer child externalizing problems. Findings supported the feasibility of offering joint parenting training to meet the needs of participating families and demonstrated that the co-parenting construct applied to families in the foster care system was amenable to intervention.
New York University Child Study Center.
L Oriana
LO
Linares
New York University Child Study Center.
Daniela
D
Montalto
New York University Child Study Center.
MinMin
M
Li
New York University Child Study Center.
Vikash S
VS
Oza
D000328:Adult; D044383:Black People / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D004493:Education; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005581:Foster Home Care; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors