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Evaluation of a Parent Education Program Emphasizing Responsive Parenting and Mindfulness: An Inclusive Randomized Controlled Trial

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Abstract

Background

Recent studies indicate that parent education programs that include content to enhance parents’ mental states may prove efficacious in improving parenting behavior and child outcomes.

Objective

This study presents findings from a national evaluation of the Active Parenting First Five Years (FFY) program. This group-based parent education program utilizes a video-supported curriculum and is designed to promote responsive parenting and healthy development in children under the age of 5, with a unique emphasis on caregivers’ mental states (i.e., mindfulness, executive function) and parent well-being.

Method

A total of 213 (132 to test hypothesis 1) primary caregivers of children ages 0–4 participated. This study introduces a novel Inclusive Randomized Controlled Trial design for establishing treatment and comparison groups. Parent and child behavior were reported one month prior to the program beginning (Time 1/Control Survey), at the beginning of the program (Time 2/Pre-Survey), and at the conclusion of the program (Time 3/Post Survey).

Results

Pre- to post-test analyses showed significant increases in caregiver reported responsive parenting, developmental knowledge, parenting efficacy, mindfulness, overall positive child behavior, child prosocial behavior, and decreased parenting stress. Analysis of the treatment and control study groups detected group differences indicative of program effects for the parenting outcomes of mindfulness, parenting efficacy, and parenting stress.

Conclusions

These findings illustrate the initial effectiveness of the FFY program, the potential usefulness of the Inclusive Randomized Controlled Trial in community samples, and emphasize the need for parental well-being to receive increased consideration in parenting intervention designs and curricula.

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Data Availability

The principal investigator (blinded for review), had full access to all of the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data analysis.

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Acknowledgements

This research was conducted with support from the George Kaiser Family Foundation, and with group leader training and study recruitment sponsored by Active Parenting Publishers. We also recognize the generous support provided by group leaders across the United States, with special thanks to those at First Things First, the Arizona Early Childhood Development and Health Board, and Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, USA

    Jens E. Jespersen, Laura Hubbs-Tait & Isaac J. Washburn

  2. Oklahoma State University-Tulsa, Tulsa, OK, USA

    Amanda Sheffield Morris

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  1. Jens E. Jespersen
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  2. Amanda Sheffield Morris
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  3. Laura Hubbs-Tait
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  4. Isaac J. Washburn
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analyses were performed by JJ and IW. The first draft of the manuscript was written by JJ, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jens E. Jespersen.

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Conflict of Interest

Amanda S. Morris and Laura Hubbs-Tait declare that they are contributing authors to FFY. Oklahoma State University receives royalties (1% of sales, 10% of sales in Oklahoma) to purchase Active Parenting materials for Oklahoma Extension Educators to educate Oklahoma parents. Drs. Morris and Hubbs-Tait do not personally receive any financial benefit. Jens E. Jespersen and Isaac J. Washburn declare no conflicts of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Human and Animal Rights

This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Jespersen, J.E., Morris, A.S., Hubbs-Tait, L. et al. Evaluation of a Parent Education Program Emphasizing Responsive Parenting and Mindfulness: An Inclusive Randomized Controlled Trial. Child Youth Care Forum 50, 859–883 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-021-09597-2

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