FAITH-PLACED PARENTING
INTERVENTION
Megan E. Patrick, Brittany L. Rhoades, Meg Small,
and J. Douglas Coatsworth
The Pennsylvania State University
Collaboration with religious institutions is recommended as a frontier for prevention science. Little is known about the effectiveness of programs currently disseminated by churches. This pilot program investigated potential advantages and disadvantages of university collaborations in faith settings, by implementing the Staying Connected with Your Teen parenting program (N513 parents) in a single congregation. The mixed-method assessment included surveys, a focus group, and observation to gather information about implementation. Meeting time, location, parallel youth programming, endorsement by trusted leaders, and use of existing social networks were indicated by past research and described by participants as potential advantages to an evidence-based program implementation in faith communities. &2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Contemporary families are increasingly challenged by changing social forces (e.g., the economy, the media, social networks), leading parents from high-risk and low-risk families to seek assistance with becoming more effective parents (Cowan, Powell, & Cowan, 1998). Despite the positive effects parenting programs have shown (e.g., Spoth, Kavanagh, & Dishion, 2002), significant challenges to effective implementation remain. The greatest overall challenge may be the recruitment and retention of participants (Haggerty, Kosterman, Catalano, & Hawkins, 1999; Spoth & Redmond, 2000). Despite the widely accepted ecological perspective (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 1997), current intervention programs often ignore community resources (Kotchick & Forehand, 2002), which may be useful in supporting positive development and engaging community members. Faith communities, in particular, have a rich history in social services and may provide effective settings for the delivery of empirically validated programs.
Support for this research was provided by a NIDA training grant, M. Greenberg, PI, with fellowships awarded to M. Patrick and B. Rhoades (DA 017629).
Correspondence to: Megan E. Patrick, The Pennsylvania State University, S110 Henderson Building University Park, PA 16802. E-mail: mep202@psu.edu
INTERVENTION IN FAITH COMMUNITIES
Religious institutions may be relatively untapped resources for promoting healthy child development. Two thirds of Americans attend religious services at least once per year (Chaves, Konieczny, Beyerlein, & Barman, 1999) and 60% believe religion is relevant for social problems (Puffer & Miller, 2001). Furthermore, the majority of congregations (57%–78%) are already providing social services (DeHaven, Huner, Wilder, Walton, & Berry, 2004). However, as with many community initiatives, the programs churches use are not often empirically based (Spoth et al., 2002), and little is known about their effectiveness (DeHaven et al., 2004; Voorhees et al., 1996).
Despite the lack of available empirical evidence or outcome measures regarding faith-based initiatives, greater attention has recently been paid to faith-faith-based programs. The current presidential administration’s endorsement of such approaches has led to the availability of federal funds to religious groups (Glazer, 2001). The little research available suggests that effect sizes are smaller when programs are implemented by practitioners (Kumpfer & Alvarado, 2003), which would include clergy and staff members. One solution is for churches to partner with professionals to implement faith-placed programs, creating potentially powerful collaborations between prevention scientists and faith communities.
To differentiate various types of programs implemented by religious groups, the semantics of DeHaven and colleagues (2004) are useful.Faith-placedprograms describe collaboration where professionals implement interventions in church settings. Faith-basedprograms are those that are part of the church’s ministry and are likely to have no evidence supporting their efficacy. This pilot implementation was designed to gather information about implementation advantages and disadvantages in faith communities and to investigate whether religious congregations may serve as important resources in the scientific dissemination of prevention programming.
Adaptation
The importance of designing and implementing programs that are responsive to cultural needs of local communities is increasingly recognized (Kotchick & Forehand, 2002; Spoth et al., 2002), although definitions of culture have been generally limited to impacts of race and ethnicity (e.g., Castro, Barrera, & Martinez, 2004). Faith communities provide a context for a different type of cultural adaptation, one focused on the relevance of programs to the religious lives of families. Surface structure changes, such as those made by changing the racial and ethnic appearance of models on program materials, may include providing an evidence-based program in a religious setting with endorsement by trusted congregation leadership, as in the present pilot study. Deep structure changes, addressing ‘‘the core values, beliefs, norms, and other more significant aspects of the cultural group’s world views and lifestyle’’ (Castro et al., 2004, p. 43), are also possible and may be a fruitful research frontier. The current review is meant as a beginning to the conversation of faith community adaptation, and therefore focuses on potential advantages associated with surface structure changes of implementing evidence-based programming in religious settings.
Implementation Advantages and Limitations
Voorhees et al., 1996). Delivery of empirically validated programs through churches may yield benefits often overlooked by social scientists, including a familiar time and location for meetings, available child and youth programs, the endorsement of respected leaders, and the utilization of established social networks.
Two of the top five barriers to program involvement among parents are meeting time and location (Spoth & Redmond, 2000). For individuals involved in a church body, these two issues could become substantially less problematic if participation were integrated into church life. For example, prevention programs can utilize a familiar education hour on Sunday mornings or Wednesday evenings, which are times that may already be set aside for church-related activities, making involvement much more convenient. In addition, childcare and youth programs are often already available during such times, addressing a suggestion by Haggerty and colleagues (1999) to offer these services during parent prevention programming.
Another major concern of parent involvement is facilitator background (Spoth & Redmond, 2000). DeHaven and colleagues (2004) suggest that because churches are familiar community organizations, they may succeed where less familiar agencies cannot. Given the importance of involving respected community members (Ammer-man et al., 2003; Haggerty et al., 1999; Moss et al., 2004), the endorsement of clergy and other respected leaders is likely an important advantage to implementation in churches. A final implementation benefit may come from tapping into existing social networks. Forming positive alliances with other group members is related to retention in family interventions (Coatsworth, Duncan, Pantin, & Szapocznik, 2006). Using existing social networks may also help with one of the primary goals of parent interventions by creating a social support network among a group of parents (Coatsworth, Pantin, & Szapocznik, 2002; McKay, Gonzalez, Stone, Ryland, & Kohner, 1995). Parents who come from an existing social network may have initial commonalities that lead to greater comfort in sharing important information, compared to parents who are randomly assigned to an intervention group.
There are also potential limitations and unique obstacles associated with conducting intervention research and programming in faith communities, including insufficient funds, unmotivated lay leadership providing programs, and overworked staff or pastors gaining additional responsibilities (Puffer & Miller, 2001). The majority of these concerns are addressed by collaboration with universities; such partnerships provide access to technical assistance, implementation resources (e.g., funding, program coordinators), and prevention expertise (Spoth et al., 2002). At the same time, the collaboration may induce a struggle between scientific integrity and the community’s cultural values (Ammerman et al., 2003; Voorhees et al., 1996). However, this challenge is not unique to collaboration with faith organizations, and these adaptations are viewed as worthwhile and necessary to more fully engage potential participants. We explore a collaborative approach between a faith congregation and a university that disseminates research-based programming.
Pilot Study
collaboration. As recommended by Puffer and Miller (2001), graduate students were recruited to lead the program as a complementary experience to coursework in prevention science.
Participants in this pilot program were parents (N54 men, 9 women) in a local
Episcopalian congregation (about 600 total members). A mixed-method assessment of a pilot implementation of Staying Connected with Your Teen (SCT) as a faith-placed program was conducted. Staying Connected with Your Teen (formerly known as Parents Who Care; Hawkins & Catalano, 2004) is a 10-hour parenting intervention program for parents of teenagers. Potential implementation benefits described above were maximized; the program was provided on Sunday mornings during the education hour directly following a worship service and youth programming was offered during the same time. User reaction criteria were the main evaluative focus (Segal, Chen, Gordon, Kacir, & Gylys, 2003) because learning and behavior criteria cannot adequately be investigated on such a small scale.
Surveys were administered at the beginning and end of the program to assess parent characteristics, feedback about content and delivery, and overall program satisfaction. The results are descriptive rather than analytical. In addition, all parents were invited to participate in a focus group approximately 2 months after the program was completed. The focus group was held 2 months later, at the same time and place as the SCT program; six parents participated (46% of total participants). The focus group was led by a parent member of the intervention group who was not involved in theoretical aspects of the study and program facilitators were not present. The focus group was conducted in a nondirective style to allow participants to respond freely to questions.
RESULTS
Pretest data show that 70% of parents had never participated in a parenting program of any kind, although the group felt that parent involvement in preventing youth
problems was extremely important (M56.8, SD5.60, on a scale of 15extremely
unimportantto 7 5extremely important). Parents were concerned (M53.0,SD5.63, on a scale of 15unconcerned to 45extremely concerned) about their teen’s involvement in common adolescent problem behaviors and reported spending quality time with their teenagers about once each week (M53.0,SD51.00, on a scale of 15less than once a monthto 55every day).
In direct contradiction to the missing data patterns of many prevention programs, SCT experienced an influx of new faces. This highlights the potential benefits of social networks communicating their enjoyment of a well-received program. Average attendance was 4.3 out of 9 sessions because parents were welcomed to begin participation at any time. Those who began the program later (after the first week) had lower attendance during the following sessions. Among those who attended the first week, attendance was higher (M55.7,SD5.60), with the majority attending over half the program sessions.
Focus Group Feedback: Advantages
participate in the program, participants spontaneously reported each of the items listed above. First, meeting time and location were important. Participants reported that they would not have been as likely to attend program sessions if they had been held in the evenings or during the week. They found the scheduled Sunday morning time and place convenient, and ‘‘as good a time as any.’’ Second, parents appreciated the combination that it was both an evidence-based program and available in the church: a program they valued came to a place they valued. Third, the professional and research experience of one of the church members who was involved in securing program implementation made them comfortable and assured them that the program was credible. A fourth advantage was that all of the parents had teenagers participating in the church’s youth programs, which were held concurrent to the SCT program. Parents appreciated that ‘‘the kids are bonding and we [the parents] are bonding.’’ Finally, participants believed that they would ‘‘not have been as open if [the other participants] were strangers.’’ Rather, they felt it was a safe group and were comforted by familiar faces and shared values. Discomfort regarding meeting new people at a new place to attend a parenting program was described as a reason the parents would choose not to attend similar programming in an unfamiliar community setting. These focus group comments provide preliminary evidence to support the theoretical claims outlined above.
FOCUS GROUP FEEDBACK: DISADVANTAGES
The focus group also discussed potential disadvantages to the program, including length of time, curriculum, and other concurrent church commitments. First, the program was implemented over 10 weeks, with nine sessions between October and January. Participants thought the program may have lasted too long, especially straddling Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Second, some curriculum examples were perceived as ‘‘too extreme,’’ not representing the particular problems the parents were experiencing within their own families, although facilitator abilities to redirect and reframe these issues reportedly made this less of a problem. This feedback provides evidence of the important role that facilitators’ skills play in the implementation of evidence-based curriculum (Hansen, 2001). Finally, church members involved in the program at times had other commitments on Sunday mornings that prevented them from complete attendance. However, Sunday morning was still perceived to be the best option to meet for the majority of families.
CONCLUSIONS
of existing meeting schedules and familiar social networks as implementation advantages may generalize to other settings. Creatively matching community-based interventions with convenient times and locations to maximize participation for additional targeted segments of the population (e.g., parents of athletes on a sports team, office employees) may also be fruitful.
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