Individual and Agency Factors Related to Engagement in a Parent Training Program

ABSTRACT

This study examined the individual and agency factors affecting engagement in a large-group parent training program in Hawaii. Results from a survey of 56 parents showed that engagement, defined as number of sessions attended, was significantly related to parental social support, parents' situational demands and constraints, parent's expectations and beliefs about the program, and intervention characteristics. An open-ended question elucidated the situational demands and constraints that hindered engagement. Implications of this study for agency-based family practice are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Parental engagement
• parent training
• delinquency
• adolescent