Improving Father-Child and Father-Partner Relationships Among Black and Hispanic Fathers

Improving Father-Child and Father-Partner Relationships Through the Evaluation of the 24/7 Dads Intervention With Black and Hispanic Fathers

Fathers play a unique role in the lives of children, with high quality interactions found to improve a child's executive functioning and general school achievement. Father involvement also has positive impacts on fathers themselves, with more involved fathers reporting more self-confidence in their parenting, more satisfaction with parenting, demonstration of more maturity, and reports of less psychosocial distress. However, poverty can have a negative association with fathers parenting and child outcomes, though paternal warmth can mediate this relationship. Children's Institute Inc will recruit and implement the 24/7 Dad program which is designed to provide a comprehensive evidenced-based fatherhood program that builds and strengthens father-child relationships. The curriculum for the primary workshops will be the 24/7 Dad curriculum, which addresses both the responsible parenting and healthy relationship areas in this project. A quasi-experimental interrupted time series (ITS) design allows for a continuous sequence of observations on a population, taken repeatedly over time.

Study Overview

• Status: Enrolling by invitation
• Conditions: Parent-Child Relations; Parenting; Partner Communication
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: 24/7 Dad

Detailed Description

Fathers play a unique role in the lives of children, with high quality interactions found to improve a child's executive functioning and general school achievement. Father involvement also has positive impacts on fathers themselves, with more involved fathers reporting more self-confidence in their parenting, more satisfaction with parenting, demonstration of more maturity, and reports of less psychosocial distress. However, poverty can have a negative association with fathers parenting and child outcomes, though paternal warmth can mediate this relationship. Children's Institute Inc will recruit and implement the 24/7 Dad program which is designed to provide a comprehensive evidenced-based fatherhood program that builds and strengthens father-child relationships. The curriculum for the primary workshops will be the 24/7 Dad curriculum, which addresses both the responsible parenting and healthy relationship areas in this project. The study will use a quasi-experimental interrupted time series (ITS) design that allows for a continuous sequence of observations on a population, taken repeatedly over time. Study aims include: (1) Does the 24/7 Dad intervention influence the behaviors of fathers of young children?; (2) Do fathers who participated in the 24/7 Dad intervention and additional post-intervention support (MIRG and/or financial literacy and job support activities) have better outcomes than those who complete 24/7 Dad only?; (3) Does trauma history and/or current mental wellbeing mediate the relationship between the 24/7 Dad intervention and father engagement, father-child relationships, and co-parenting relationships?; and (4) Does perceived discrimination influence successful outcomes of 24/7 Dad intervention participants? To test the hypotheses of Aim 1 and Aim 2, a generalized linear mixed model will be fitted to the outcome variable individually, specified for corresponding distribution. For Aim 3, investigators will use path models, special cases of structural equation modeling (SEM) with observable variables only, to test the multiple hypothesized mediating pathway.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 350

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • Los Angeles, California, United States, 90041
      • University of Southern California

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Program eligibility will be open to all low-income fathers age 18 years or older with children under the age of 24 years. The target geographic area will be South LA, particularly the community of Watts, however participants will not be excluded based on geography. South LA is overwhelmingly Latino (68%) and Black (27%). Close to half (48%) of all residents speak Spanish at home. Nearly all residents are very low-income. We expect our participants to reflect the community in these dimensions.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Male
• Age 18 years or older
• Have a child under the age of 24 years
• Speak English or Spanish

Exclusion Criteria:

• Unable to speak English or Spanish

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Observational Models: Case-Only
• Time Perspectives: Prospective

Number of groups / cohorts

2

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Immediate Start; Investigators will use a quasi-experimental interrupted time series (ITS) design that allows for a continuous sequence of observations on a population, taken repeatedly over time (Bernal et al., 2017). ITS design provides an estimate of the causal effect of a discrete intervention; the design begins with measurements on a dependent variable and the intervention breaks ("interrupts") this time series into preintervention and post-intervention time points. Data will be collected from two group an "Immediate Start Group" and a "Delayed Start Group" (who will serve as a control group for the ITS design).	Behavioral: 24/7 Dad; The 24/7 Dad curriculum is an evidence-based, skills driven curriculum (12 group sessions). The following topics are included: Family History, What it Means to Be a Man, Showing and Handling Feelings, Men's Health, Communication, The Father's Role, Discipline, Children's Growth, Getting Involved, Working with & Co-Parenting, Dads and Work, and the "My 24/7Dad Checklist". Healthy Relationship topics include: Communication Skills, including expression, discussion, and negotiation skills; Conflict Resolution and Anger Management; Problem-Solving; and Knowledge of the Benefits of Marriage. Responsible Parenting areas of focus include: children's growth/development; non-violent discipline; co-parenting; building conflict resolutions skills (for the child and the family); and, enhancing family relationships.
Delayed-Start; Investigators will use a quasi-experimental interrupted time series (ITS) design that allows for a continuous sequence of observations on a population, taken repeatedly over time (Bernal et al., 2017). ITS design provides an estimate of the causal effect of a discrete intervention; the design begins with measurements on a dependent variable and the intervention breaks ("interrupts") this time series into preintervention and post-intervention time points. Data will be collected from two group an "Immediate Start Group" and a "Delayed Start Group" (who will serve as a control group for the ITS design).	Behavioral: 24/7 Dad; The 24/7 Dad curriculum is an evidence-based, skills driven curriculum (12 group sessions). The following topics are included: Family History, What it Means to Be a Man, Showing and Handling Feelings, Men's Health, Communication, The Father's Role, Discipline, Children's Growth, Getting Involved, Working with & Co-Parenting, Dads and Work, and the "My 24/7Dad Checklist". Healthy Relationship topics include: Communication Skills, including expression, discussion, and negotiation skills; Conflict Resolution and Anger Management; Problem-Solving; and Knowledge of the Benefits of Marriage. Responsible Parenting areas of focus include: children's growth/development; non-violent discipline; co-parenting; building conflict resolutions skills (for the child and the family); and, enhancing family relationships.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Father Engagement with Child	Father Engagement Scale (Dyer et al. 2018). 10-item questionnaire measuring interactions between fathers and children	3 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Relationship Conflict	Continuum of Conflict and Control Relationship Scale (Carlson et al., 2017). 20-item scale that identifies variance in relationship IPV, relationship distress, and individual distress	3 months
Father-Child Relationship	Child-Parent Relationship Scale - Short Form (Driscoll & Pianta, 2011). 15-item measure of conflict and closeness between fathers and children.	3 month
Father Relationship with Co-Parent	Co-Parenting relationship scale (Dyer, Fagan, Kaufman, Pearson, & Cabrera, 2015). 11-item scale aimed at describing the way the father and mother work together as co-parents	3 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Southern California
• Collaborators: Children's Bureau - Administration for Children and Families; The Children's Institute
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Julie A Cederbaum, PhD, University of Southern California

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 1, 2022
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): August 31, 2025
• Study Completion (Anticipated): September 30, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 16, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 17, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): January 31, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 28, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 26, 2023
• Last Verified: April 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: UP-21-00532

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: All data will be shared using a unique identifier; no identifying data will be shared

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No