title: Patterns of individual change in a parenting program for child maltreatment and their relation to family and professional environments.
abstract: In the area of child maltreatment prevention, little is known about the typology of changes that individuals undergo in response to parent-training interventions. In this study, we examined the patterns of change observed in parents immediately after their completion of the Apoyo Personal y Familiar (APF, Personal and Family Support) parenting program. We identified five clusters and classified 496 parents according to two criteria: (a) the amount of pre-post changes (total or partial) as reflected in their self-reports on implicit theories, parental agency and childrearing practices, and (b) the positive, negative or mixed character of these changes. The study also included a follow-up of a subset of 95 participants intended to examine the extent to which the patterns of change identified in the first part of the study might predict the quality of the childrearing environment at home and the successful integration of the APF program into social services structures one year on. In this follow-up study, external evaluators observed families' home environments and collected the parenting program facilitators' self-reports on changes to their work environment. The evaluators found higher-quality childrearing environments and more positive appraisals of the changes to the teams' work with families in those cases where participants had experienced partial or total positive changes as a result of the APF. This approach offers insights into processes of individual change that have practical implications for the successful implementation of parenting programs in child maltreatment prevention services.
authors: Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de La Laguna, Campus de Guajara, 38071 La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain.
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Byrne
authors: Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de La Laguna, Campus de Guajara, 38071 La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain.
authors: M J
authors: MJ
authors: Rodrigo
authors: Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de La Laguna, Campus de Guajara, 38071 La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain.
authors: M L
authors: ML
authors: Máiquez
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002668:Child Rearing / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D057566:Self Report; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Child maltreatment prevention; Cluster analyses; Family and professional environments; Patterns of individual change