Expanding Access: Preliminary Evaluation of the More Fun with Sisters and Brothers Program for Parents

• In Event: Poster Session 02
  In Poster Session: PS 02 Topic - Family Context & Processes

Abstract

Raising siblings is a difficult and stressful endeavor. Young children often lack the skills necessary to mediate conflicts and engage in prosocial interactions with their siblings (Smith & Ross, 2010). Parents often report a lack of knowledge and confidence in carrying out effective parenting strategies (Perozynski & Kramer, 1999). The evidence-based experimental intervention, the More Fun with Sisters and Brothers Program (MFWSB, Author citation), was developed to address these needs. In its original format, children 4-to-8-years were taught, in five in-person sessions led by professional educators, a set of social and emotional competencies identified as fundamental for prosocial sibling interactions. Results of randomized control evaluations were favorable, indicating child participants developed more positive ways of interacting with one another and parents reported increased abilities to regulate challenging emotions (Author citation). Nonetheless, the live program was limited in its ability to serve large numbers of geographically dispersed families.

To address these limitations, a new online-version of MFWSB was created that placed parents in the role of educator, enabling them to teach their 4-to-8-year-old children the targeted social and emotional competencies. Following completion of pre-test measures assessing perceptions of sibling relationship quality, child and parent emotion-regulation abilities, quality of co-parenting, and parenting stress, parents participated in four self-paced, online lessons. Lessons focused on teaching children to: (1) initiate social interaction and play; (2) accept and appropriately decline invitations to play; (3) engage in perspective-taking; (4) identify and expand children’s emotional vocabulary; (5) regulate intense emotions; and (6) manage conflicts. Parents completed parallel measures immediately after the program and 3-months post-completion.

Evidence supporting the effectiveness of the online MFWSB comes from data obtained from the first 30 mothers who completed MFWSB compared with 30 mothers in a randomized waitlist control group. Mothers were from the US, Canada, UK, and Australia. Repeated measures MANOVAs revealed that mothers in the experimental group perceived their children to demonstrate greater sibling warmth [F(1,56) = 19.15, p = .000], and less agonism [F(1,56) = 23.49, p = .000] and rivalry [F(1,56) = 10.71, p = .002] following MFWSB. Additionally, mothers reported improved abilities in regulating their own emotions, reporting less emotional-dysregulation [F(1,56) = 16.36, p = .000] and reactivity [F(1,56) = 13.05, p = .001]. Furthermore, mothers reported more positive co-parenting relationships, marked by less undermining. As additional caregivers complete MFWSB, incorporation of their data will enable us to test parent and child gender effects.

Preliminary results suggest that, with instruction, parents can effectively teach children complex social and emotional competencies, creating benefits for their children (enhanced sibling relationships) and themselves (enhanced emotion-regulation). If effective with larger samples, the online MFWSB can serve more diverse English-speaking families globally than typically represented in developmental science. While expanding access to MFWSB may help families worldwide, future research should evaluate how its content and implementation should be modified to respect families’ cultures. In sum, experimental interventions such as MFWSB can advance theoretical understanding of sibling relationships as dynamic family subsystems that change across development and contribute to individual/family functioning.

Authors

• Laurie Kramer, Northeastern University
  Presenting Author

• Tessa Hamilton, MassGeneral Hospital for Children
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jenna Campagna, Northeastern University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Madeline C Manning, Northeastern University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Payton Bruland, Northeastern University
  Non-Presenting Author