Parent Engagement Package: Comparing Strategies for Engaging Parents Into Parenting Programs

August 8, 2019 updated by: Emily Winslow PhD, Arizona State University

Effectiveness Trial of Methods for Engaging Parents Into Parenting Interventions

This study tests the effectiveness of different strategies for engaging parents into an evidence-based parenting skills intervention, the Triple P Positive Parenting Program, offered universally to parents of children attending one of six public elementary schools.

Study Overview

Detailed Description

Parenting skills programs have been shown to help prevent youth substance use and mental health disorders. Unfortunately, few parents participate in parenting programs when given the opportunity. Thus, developing effective strategies to increase engagement in effective preventive parenting interventions is essential for these programs to have a significant public health impact. The purpose of this study is to identify parent engagement strategies that increase participation in effective parenting programs and consequently improve parenting practices and children's well-being.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

854

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • Arizona
      • Tempe, Arizona, United States, 85287-6005
        • Arizona State University

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Is a caregiver of a child in kindergarten, 1st, 2nd or 3rd grade at a participating school (i.e.,"target child");
  • The target child lives with the caregiver at least half of the time;
  • The caregiver speaks English or Spanish;
  • The caregiver is listed as one of the target child's parents/guardians in the school's records.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • The target child is in a self-contained classroom due to cognitive or emotional disabilities;
  • The caregiver is a kindergarten, 1st, 2nd or 3rd grade teacher at a participating school;
  • The target child attended one of the participating schools during a previous cohort of the study;
  • The caregiver is participating in a competing parenting program at the school, the "Intensive Family Literacy program".

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Enrollment Flyer
Participants in this condition received one of the strategies in the Parent Engagement Package: an enrollment flyer that provided information about the Triple P Positive Parenting Program being offered at their child's school, including the location of meetings, free childcare, topics covered, choice of days/times and English or Spanish groups, and an enrollment form. Parents who returned the enrollment form received automated text, email and/or phone reminders and a confirmation letter prior to each parenting program session.
Enrollment flyer that provided information about the Triple P Positive Parenting Program and an enrollment form.
Experimental: Enrollment Flyer & Testimonial Booklet
Participants in this condition received two of the strategies in the Parent Engagement Package: the enrollment flyer plus a two-page, testimonial booklet that included photos and quotes from parents and children describing benefits other parents reported after participating in the Triple P Positive Parenting Program and fun activities children reported about the childcare. The booklet also contained the location of meetings, free childcare, choice of days/times and English or Spanish groups, and an enrollment form.
Enrollment flyer that provided information about the Triple P Positive Parenting Program and an enrollment form.
Booklet that included quotes and photos from parents who had previously participated in the Triple P Positive Parenting Program and/or their children who participated in the free childcare, as well as an enrollment form.
Experimental: Enrollment Flyer & Teacher Endorsement
Participants in this condition received two of the strategies in the Parent Engagement Package: the enrollment flyer plus a teacher endorsement of the Triple P Positive Parenting Program. The teacher also gave the participant a colorful brochure that included information about the location of meetings, free childcare, topics covered, choice of days/times and English or Spanish groups, and an enrollment form.
Enrollment flyer that provided information about the Triple P Positive Parenting Program and an enrollment form.
Brief conversation between the parent and their child's teacher in which the teacher told the parent about the benefits of participating in the Triple P Positive Parenting Program and recommended that the parent attend. The teacher also gave the parent a brochure that gave information about the Triple P program and an enrollment form.
Experimental: Enrollment Flyer & Engagement Call
Participants in this condition received two of the strategies in the Parent Engagement Package: the enrollment flyer plus an engagement call from a Triple P provider. Providers followed a manualized protocol for implementing the engagement call, which included strategies to increase parental motivation to participate in Triple P and reduce barriers to participation.
Enrollment flyer that provided information about the Triple P Positive Parenting Program and an enrollment form.
This was a manualized, 15-minute call from the Triple P Positive Parenting Program provider to a parent in which the provider elicited the parent's child-focused goals and showed how the parent's goals could be addressed by Triple P. The provider also helped the parent anticipate and problem solve possible barriers to attendance.
Experimental: All Engagement Strategies
Participants in this condition received all engagement strategies in the Parent Engagement Package: enrollment flyer, testimonial booklet, teacher endorsement, and provider engagement call.
Enrollment flyer that provided information about the Triple P Positive Parenting Program and an enrollment form.
Booklet that included quotes and photos from parents who had previously participated in the Triple P Positive Parenting Program and/or their children who participated in the free childcare, as well as an enrollment form.
Brief conversation between the parent and their child's teacher in which the teacher told the parent about the benefits of participating in the Triple P Positive Parenting Program and recommended that the parent attend. The teacher also gave the parent a brochure that gave information about the Triple P program and an enrollment form.
This was a manualized, 15-minute call from the Triple P Positive Parenting Program provider to a parent in which the provider elicited the parent's child-focused goals and showed how the parent's goals could be addressed by Triple P. The provider also helped the parent anticipate and problem solve possible barriers to attendance.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Parenting Intervention Attendance
Time Frame: Attendance at the Triple P Positive Parenting Program was collected once per week for 8 weeks
Number of sessions a caregiver from a student's family attended the parenting intervention, the Triple P Positive Parenting Program
Attendance at the Triple P Positive Parenting Program was collected once per week for 8 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Parenting Intervention Enrollment
Time Frame: from the date engagement strategies commenced until the date the Triple P Positive Parenting Program began, up to 7 weeks
Whether or not a family enrolled in the Triple P Positive Parenting Program by completing an enrollment form.
from the date engagement strategies commenced until the date the Triple P Positive Parenting Program began, up to 7 weeks
Parenting Intervention Homework Completion
Time Frame: collected once per week for 7 weeks, at the beginning of each Triple P Positive Parenting Program sessions 2 through 8
caregiver report of completion of Triple P Positive Parenting Program assignments between sessions
collected once per week for 7 weeks, at the beginning of each Triple P Positive Parenting Program sessions 2 through 8
Parenting Intervention Session Involvement
Time Frame: collected once per week for 8 weeks, after each Triple P Positive Parenting Program session
group leader reports of the extent to which a caregiver actively participated in each Triple P Positive Parenting Program session attended
collected once per week for 8 weeks, after each Triple P Positive Parenting Program session
Child Behavior Problems
Time Frame: collected at baseline and at Triple P post-test, an average of 7 months after baseline
parent and teacher reports of child behavior problem frequency and intensity
collected at baseline and at Triple P post-test, an average of 7 months after baseline
Parenting Skills
Time Frame: collected at baseline and at Triple P post-test, an average of 7 months after baseline
parent report of parenting warmth and discipline
collected at baseline and at Triple P post-test, an average of 7 months after baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Emily B Winslow, Ph.D., Arizona State University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

October 1, 2013

Primary Completion (Actual)

April 1, 2017

Study Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2017

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 17, 2017

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 8, 2017

First Posted (Actual)

May 10, 2017

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

August 9, 2019

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 8, 2019

Last Verified

August 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • STUDY00001365
  • R01DA033352 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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