Saturday, 15 January 2005 - 12:00 PM

This presentation is part of: Poster Session II

Positive Alternatives for Families: Outcome evaluation of parent education with high-risk African American families rearing children with disabilities

Purpose: Vulnerabilities in the family environment and structural characteristics promote risks for poor family outcomes. To reduce the risks associated with substance abuse and violence and increase the empowerment of African American families raising children with disabilities in economically deprived urban areas of Washington, D.C., the Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Institute piloted the Positive Alternatives for Families between 2000 and 2002. A program-organized community based advisory group guided the development of the intervention, needs assessment of prospective participants, and the selection of the curriculum. The intervention was based on the theoretical practice model for social development which emphasizes strengths-based approach in altering opportunities afforded by the environment, strengthening skills in solving life’s problems, and balancing information in promoting prosocial behavior. Although the curriculum has been previously implemented with various ethnic populations, it has never before been evaluated with high-risk parents of children with developmental disabilities. Methods: This exploratory study of 51 voluntarily recruited participants grew out of a local-site research project nested within a national evaluation of family strengthening initiated by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and was funded and guided by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Centers for Prevention, Treatment, and Mental Health Services. The program evaluation used a mixed quantitative and qualitative group design involving pre-post assessment with a follow up booster session. The contents of the program were applied in three-hour intervals over 13 weekly sessions using a manualized curriculum and various incentives. Outcome data were derived from three cohort implementations. Adapted standardized measures examined attitudinal changes in participants’ views of alcohol and drug use harmfulness, mental health, parent-child interaction, community involvement, and empowerment. Parents’ high-risk criteria for enrollment were established through their poverty-based income, and family experiences with substance abuse and parenting a child with developmental disabilities. Completion of the program was celebrated with a formal graduation ceremony. Results: The findings evidence beneficial outcomes within the limitations posed by the pre-experimental design, attitudinal measures, and motivational interests of the participants. The program experienced a modest 23% attrition, graduating 39 participants. Besides meeting the criteria for enrollment, two-thirds of participants also evidenced impairments in physical and metal health including various disabilities, unemployment, and unfinished high school education. Paired t-tests documented statistically significant (p < .05) positive changes in participants’ disapproval of drug and alcohol use, reduction in verbal aggressiveness, and improvement in parent-child interaction, hopefulness for their future, and community involvement. One-way analysis of variance demonstrated a significant positive increase in the participants’ family and service-use empowerment and understanding of their children’s special education needs and rights. Content analysis of random process recordings of various sessions documented program fidelity. All graduates reported a high level of satisfaction with the program. Implications for practice: Considering that intervention research is time-consuming and expensive, this pilot parent-training program documented that it is possible to obtain positive results despite various program barriers. Such documentation offers a blueprint and highlights the strengths and challenges for future experimental replication, especially with an under-served high-risk population.

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