Abstract
Raising Healthy Children is a multi-year, experimental test of a school-based intervention that seeks to promote positive youth development and prevent problem behavior among children recruited into the project in the first or second grade of elementary school. The primary components of the intervention include staff development for teachers in classroom management and instruction, in-home services for high-risk children and their families, and parenting workshops for parents with students attending intervention schools. This paper examines predictors of attendance at parenting workshops. The study panel (n = 272) consists of families with a student who remained at an intervention school through the first five years of the project. Variables that were considered as predictors of parent attendance include social demographic characteristics, parent characteristics (at-risk behavior and smoking), and child characteristics (behavior problems and academic achievement). Parent education and parent's perception of their child's antisocial behavior both had positive and statistically significant bivariate associations with attendance. These two variables were also significantly positively associated with attendance in a multivariate model that included low-income and single-parent status, parent smoking and at-risk behavior, and parent rating of child's antisocial behavior and academic performance. Parents with at-risk behaviors were not significantly more or less likely to attend workshops.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Achenbach, T. M. (1991). Manual for the Teacher's Report Form and 1991 Profile. Burlington: University of Vermont Department of Psychiatry.
Bauman, K. E., Ennett, S. T., Foshee, V. A., Pemberton, M., & Hicks, K. (2001). Correlates of participation in a family-directed tobacco and alcohol prevention program for adolescents. Health Education and Behavior, 28, 440–461.
Bauman, K. E., Foshee, V. A., Ennett, S. T., Hicks, K., & Pemberton, M. (2001). Family matters: A family-directed program designed to prevent adolescent tobacco and alcohol use. Health Promotion, 2, 81–96.
Biglan, A., & Metzler, C. W. (1998). A public health perspective for research on family-focused interventions. In R. S. Ashery, E. B. Robertson & K. L. Kumpfer (Eds.), Drug abuse prevention through family interventions. NIDA Research Monograph No. 177 (pp. 430–458). Rockville, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Bry, B. H., & Krinsley, K. E. (1992). Booster sessions and long-term effects of behavioral family therapy on adolescent substance use and school performance. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 23, 183–189.
Catalano, R. F., & Hawkins, J. D. (1996). The social development model: A theory of antisocial behavior. In J. D. Hawkins (Ed.), Delinquency and crime: Current theories (pp. 149–197). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Cohen, D. A., & Linton, K. L. P. (1995). Parent participation in an adolescent drug abuse prevention program. Journal of Drug Education, 25, 159–169.
Conrad, K. M., Flay, B. R., & Hill, D. (1992). Why children start smoking cigarettes: Predictors of onset. British Journal of Addiction, 87, 1711–1724.
DeMarsh, J. P., & Kumpfer, K. L. (1986). Family-oriented interventions for the prevention of chemical dependency in children and adolescents. In S. Griswold-Ezekoye, K. L. Kumpfer & W. J. Bukoski (Eds.), Childhood and chemical abuse: Prevention and intervention (pp. 117–151). New York: Haworth.
Developmental Research and Programs. (1991a). How to Help Your Child Succeed in School. Seattle, WA: Author.
Developmental Research and Programs. (1991b). Preparing for the Drug Free Years Curriculum. Seattle, WA: Author.
Dishion, T. J., & Andrews, D. W. (1995). Preventing escalation in problem behaviors with highrisk young adolescents: Immediate and 1-year outcomes. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 63, 538–548.
Dumas, J. E. (1986). Parental perception and treatment outcome in families of aggressive children: A causal model. Behavior Therapy, 17, 420–432.
Dumka, L. E., Garza, C. A., Roosa, M. W., & Stoerzinger, H. D. (1997). Recruitment and retention of high-risk families into a preventive parent training intervention. Journal of Primary Prevention, 18, 25–39.
Farrington, D. P., & Welsh, B. C. (1999). Delinquency prevention using family-based interventions. Children and Society, 13, 283–303.
Fraser, M. W., Hawkins, J. D., & Howard, M. O. (1988). Parent training for delinquency prevention. Child and Youth Services, 11, 93–125.
Greenwood, P. W., Model, K. E., Rydell, C. P., & Chiesa, J. (1998). Diverting children from a life of crime: Measuring costs and benefits. Santa Monica: Rand Corporation.
Haggerty, K. P., Catalano, R. F., Harachi, T.W., & Abbott, R. D. (1998). Description de l'implementation d'un programme de pr´evention des problèmes de comportement à l'adolescence. (Preventing adolescent problem behaviors: A comprehensive intervention description). Criminologie, 31, 25–47.
Hawkins, J. D., & Weis, J. G. (1985). The social development model: An integrated approach to delinquency prevention. Journal of Primary Prevention, 6, 73–97.
Kosterman, R., Hawkins, J. D., Spoth, R., Haggerty, K. P., & Zhu, K. (1997). Effects of a preventive parent-training intervention on observed family interactions: Proximal outcomes from preparing for the Drug Free Years. Journal of Community Psychology, 25, 337–352.
Kumpfer, K. (1997). Third National Training Conference on Strengthening America's Families: Showcase of Model Family Programs for Delinquency Prevention.Washington, D. C.: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile and Delinquency Prevention.
Loeber, R., & Stouthamer-Loeber, M. S. (1986). Family factors as correlates and predictors of juvenile conduct problems and delinquency. In M. Tonry & N. Morris (Eds.), Crime and justice: An annual review of research (Vol. 7, pp. 29–149). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Mrazek, P. J., Haggerty, R. J. (Institute of Medicine Committee on Prevention of Mental Disorders). (1994). Reducing risks for mental disorders: Frontiers for prevention intervention research. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Park, J., Kosterman, R., Hawkins, J. D., Haggerty, K. P., Duncan, T. E., Duncan, S. C., & Spoth, R. (2000). Effects of the Preparing for the Drug Free Years curriculum on growth in alcohol use and risk for alcohol use in early adolescence. Prevention Science, 1, 125–138.
Patterson, G. R. (1992). The management and disruption of families. In G. R. Patterson (Ed.), A socia learning approach: Coercive family process (Vol. 3). Eugene, OR: Castilia.
Patterson, G. R. (1996). Some characteristics of a developmental theory for early-onset delinquency. In M. F. Lenzenweger & J. J. Haugaard (Eds.), Frontiers of developmental psychopathology (pp. 81–124). New York: Oxford University Press.
Rohrbach, L. A., Hodgson, C. S., Broder, B. I., Montgomery, S. B., Flay, B. R., Hansen, W. B., & Pentz, M. A. (1994). Parental participation in drug abuse prevention: Results from the Midwestern Prevention Project. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 4,295–317.
Serketich, W. J., & Dumas, J. E. (1996). The effectiveness of behavioral parent training to modify antisocial behavior in children: A meta-analysis. Behavior Therapy, 27, 171–186.
Spoth, R. L., & Conroy, S. M. (1993). Survey of prevention-relevant beliefs and efforts to enhance parenting skills among rural parents. The Journal of Rural Health, 9, 227–239.
Spoth, R. L., Goldberg, C., & Redmond, C. (1999). Engaging families in longitudinal preventive intervention research: Discrete-time survival analysis of socioeconomic and social-emotional risk factors. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 67, 157–163.
Spoth, R. L., & Molgaard, C. (1993). Consumer-focused data collection in prevention program evaluation: Rationale and illustrations. Evaluation and the Health Professions, 16, 278–294.
Spoth, R. L., & Redmond, C. (2000). Research on family engagement in preventive interventions: Toward improved use of scientific findings in primary prevention practice. Journal of Primary Prevention, 21, 267–284.
Spoth, R. L., Redmond, C., Haggerty, K., & Ward, T. (1995). A controlled parenting skills outcome study examining individual difference and attendance effects. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 57, 449–464.
Spoth, R. L., Redmond, C., Hockaday, C., & Shin, C. Y. (1996). Barriers to participation in family skills preventive interventions and their evaluations:Areplication and extension. Family Relations: Journal of Applied Family and Child Studies, 45, 247–254.
Tremblay, R. E., Pagani Kurtz, L., Masse, L. C., & Vitaro, F. (1995). A bimodal preventive intervention for disruptive kindergarten boys: Its impact through mid-adolescence. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 63, 560–568.
Wahler, R. G. (1980). The insular mother: Her problems in parent-child treatment. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 13, 207–219.
Wahler, R. G., Leske, G., & Rogers, E. S. (1979). The insular family: A deviance support system for oppositional children. In L. A. Hamerlynck (Ed.), Behavioral systems for the developmentally disabled: I. School and family environments. New York: Brunner/Mazel.
Webster Stratton, C. (1992). Individually administered videotape parent training: Who benefits? Cognitive Therapy and Research, 16, 31–52.
Webster Stratton, C. (1997). From parent training to community building. Families in Society, 78, 156–171.
Werthamer-Larsson, L., Kellam, S. G., & Ovesen-McGregor, K. E. (1990). Teacher interview: Teacher Observation of Classroom Adaptation—Revised (TOCA-R). In S. G. Kellam (Ed.), Johns Hopkins Prevention Center Training Manual. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Haggerty, K.P., Fleming, C.B., Lonczak, H.S. et al. Predictors of Participation in Parenting Workshops. The Journal of Primary Prevention 22, 375–387 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015227623145
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015227623145