Parenting Intervention Outcome Studies: Research Design Considerations

SYNOPSIS

This tutorial provides an overview of major considerations in the design and implementation of research on outcomes of parenting interventions. It is offered in the context of escalating interest in the use of rigorous research designs for determining effective strategies for improving parents’ contributions to the well-being of their children. The tutorial provides guidance on preliminary work for conducting an outcome study, sampling, research designs that permit causal inference, options for comparison conditions, the measurement of implementation fidelity and parent/child outcomes, and basic considerations in outcome analyses.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am indebted to Marc Bornstein for the opportunity to develop and refine this tutorial, and to three anonymous reviewers who provided detailed and constructive feedback on an earlier draft.