Poster #76 - The effects of in-person versus virtual parenting education implementation: exploring outcomes before and during COVID-19

• In Event: Poster Session 12

Abstract

Parenting education can strengthen parenting skills, reduce stress, foster resilience, and improve child development, thereby making it a salient support (Baugh et al., 2015; Karljalainen et al., 2019; Pinquart & Teubert, 2010). Traditionally, parenting education programs have been implemented in in-person group settings, however, the COVID-19 pandemic created a significant disruption to these programs. With a rapid transition from in-person to virtual programs, data collected from a statewide system of parenting “hubs” offers a unique opportunity to compare the effectiveness of parenting education programs across contexts and models of implementation (pre-pandemic/in-person and during pandemic/virtual). This study focuses on a statewide parenting education system that provides evidence-based, culturally-responsive parenting programs funded by four philanthropic foundations and two state agencies in partnership with a university. Research questions explored what worked, for whom, in what context (in-person versus virtual), and associated changes in parenting outcomes as follows: 1) Were there significant differences in participants across contexts? 2a) Were there significant changes in self-reported parenting skills following participation? 2b) Did parenting outcomes differ across contexts? Data were collected quarterly from parenting hubs on the number and types of programs offered, curricula, participation rates (families attending one session versus 70% or more of a series). Participating families completed the Parenting Skills Ladder (PSL; Pratt et al, 2014), a 15-item pre-post retrospective measure with 12 aggregated parenting-focused outcomes. Two years of data prior to the onset of the pandemic were compared with two years of data during (April 2018-March 2020/April 2020-March 2022). Programmatic data show that the number and types of programs changed across the pandemic, with hubs offering fewer parenting series and workshops during the pandemic although the decreased number of workshops reached similar numbers of families. The number of families attending to fidelity relative to those that attended one class was stable across contexts (62%). Descriptive statistics reveal a greater number of female participants in parenting series relative to males during the pandemic than before the pandemic as well as more single parents, more families with young children and teens, and a greater percentage of Hispanic/Latinx and Black/African-American families attending with the percentage of Native American families declining (see Table 1). Results from regression analyses suggest that parent age was negatively associated with change in positive parenting practices following participation in parenting series both before and during the pandemic, F(20, 3632)=65.37, R^2=.26. Additionally, Hispanic/Latinx families reported greater change than families identifying as white (beta=.12; p<.001), and attending with greater fidelity was associated with significant positive outcomes (beta=.08; p<.001). Context (pre-pandemic versus during) was not significantly associated with significant differences in outcomes either when included as a control variable or when regression analyses were run independently to compare patterns in predictors. Results suggest that parenting education series using evidence-based and culturally-responsive curricula were successfully adapted from in-person to virtual implementation retaining significant outcomes for families. These findings have implications for implementation approaches to maximize accessibility of parenting education for families.

Authors

• Svea Olsen, Oregon State University - Corvallis

• Shauna L Tominey, Oregon State University - Corvallis
  Presenting Author

• Michaella Sektnan, Oregon State University