Strengthening Effective Parenting Practices Over the Long Term: Effects of a Preventive Intervention for Parentally Bereaved Families

Abstract

This study tested the effect of the Family Bereavement Program (FBP), a preventive intervention for bereaved families, on effective parenting (e.g., caregiver warmth, consistent discipline) 6 years after program completion. Families (n = 101; 69% female caregivers; 77% Caucasian, 11% Hispanic) with children between ages 8 and 16 who had experienced the death of one parent were randomized to the FBP (n = 54) or a literature control condition (n = 47). Multiple regression analyses conducted within a multilevel framework indicated that the FBP had a significant positive impact on a multirater, multimeasure assessment of parenting at 6-year follow-up, controlling for pretest levels of parenting and child mental health problems. Mediation analyses showed that short-term program effects on parenting, including caregiver warmth and effective discipline, significantly mediated the impact of the FBP on effective parenting 6 years later. These findings indicate that a relatively cost-effective brief intervention for families who experienced a major stressor resulted in sustained effects on caregiver warmth and consistent discipline 6 years following the program.

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the following grants from the National Institute of Mental Health: P30 MH06868-01, R01 MH49155, and T32 MH018387.

Notes

Note: p ≤ .05 for rs ≥ .16, p ≤ .01 for rs ≥ .27. YR = youth-report; CGR = caregiver-report.

^a All of the variables were standardized using the W1 mean and standard deviation.

^a Degrees of freedom computed according to a general Satterthwaite approximation (see Little, Milliken, Stroup, & Wofinger, 1996).

^a The “a” path represents the effect of the intervention on the mediator, controlling for pretest youth mental health, pretest assessment of the mediator and group assignment; the “b” path reflects the effect of the mediator on effective parenting at six years controlling for pretest youth mental health, pretest effective parenting, and group assignment; the “c” path represents the effect of the intervention on effective parenting at six years controlling for pretest youth mental health, pretest effective parenting, and the mediator.

^b Mediational analyses conducted separately.

¹The findings differed somewhat from those of Sandler et al. (2003). The current study sample includes data from only those families with youth who were living at home and who participated in the 6-year follow-up, which may partially account for the different findings.