Mothers’ and Fathers’ Engagement in a Parenting Intervention: Barriers and the Influence of Psychological Functioning

• In Event: Poster Session 03
  In Poster Session: PS 03 Topic - Prevention and Interventions

Abstract

Introduction: Supporting fathers and mothers in their roles as parents is a major policy focus in the United States (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2016). Interventions targeting fathers or mothers suffer from a similar limitation: not all parents complete the intervention. Overcoming barriers to engagement and increasing parent participation in interventions are ongoing challenges (Cohen, Cohen, Pruett, Pruett, & Wong, 2009; Panter-Brick et al., 2014). Yet, few interventions target both parents. Thus, it is unclear whether fathers and mothers have similar participation rates and whether their reasons for participating are the same. Drawing on data from an ongoing reading-based parenting intervention, we explore parents’ engagement in the intervention, barriers to engagement, and how parents’ psychological functioning (e.g., depressive symptoms, optimism, and feelings of being overwhelmed) influences engagement.

Research Questions: (1) How often do mothers and fathers engage in the reading-based parenting intervention? (2) What are the barriers to reading the books? (3) How do components of parents’ psychological functioning influence engagement for fathers and mothers?

Sample: This study uses data from an ongoing randomized controlled trial of a parenting intervention designed for first-time, low-income parents with infants. The sample consists predominately of ethnic minority and immigrant families (Table 1).

Method: Data are collected when children are 9- and 12-months old (anticipated N = 200 families). Baseline data collection occurs during a home visit, during which parents are given a book and are asked to read it to their children as often as possible. Parents are asked questions about how frequently they read the intervention books during a phone interview three months later. Parents who report low reading rates are asked what prevented them from reading the books more often.

Results: Preliminary analyses show that parents read the books an average of 2.65 times weekly. Similar patterns were observed for mothers and fathers, with no significant differences in reading rates (t = 0.40, p = 0.69). However, fathers and mothers reported different barriers to engagement (Table 2). Work and being too busy were the most common barriers reported by fathers, while lack of child interest and reading other books were the most frequently mentioned by mothers. Future analyses will include classification analyses to identify how aspects of parents’ psychological functioning (e.g., depressive symptoms, optimism, and feelings of being overwhelmed) relate to engagement.

Discussion: We anticipate that our results will demonstrate that mothers and fathers have similar levels of engagement in a reading-based parenting intervention, but that the barriers to engagement will differ for mothers and fathers. We also anticipate that parents’ psychological functioning will influence engagement for both mothers and fathers. Programs and interventions should consider the unique barriers that parents face when aiming to increase parent engagement.

Authors

• S. Alexa McDorman, University of Maryland - College Park
  Presenting Author

• Kelsey McKee, Office of Head Start
  Non-Presenting Author

• Angelica Alonso, University of Maryland - College Park
  Non-Presenting Author

• Natasha J Cabrera, University of Maryland - College Park
  Non-Presenting Author

• Stephanie M Reich, University of California - Irvine
  Non-Presenting Author