Poster #70 - Socioeconomic Risk and HOT DOCS Parent Training Effects on Parenting Stress: Mediation by Homework Completion

• In Event: Poster Session 15

Abstract

Heightened stress surrounding child caregiving duties (i.e., parenting stress) is associated with a range of maladaptive family outcomes, including greater caregiver engagement in negative parenting strategies and increased child externalizing problems (Mackler et al., 2015; Miragoli et al., 2018). Brief, group-format behavioral parent training (BPT) interventions are an efficacious and cost-effective method to address child disruptive behaviors, and have been shown to predict reduced parenting stress levels (Agazzi et al., 2021; Dunlop et al., 2020). However, some evidence suggests BPTs are less efficacious among families with significant socioeconomic stressors (e.g., low income, limited education, single caregiver), particularly when interventions are administered in a group format (Lundahl et al., 2006). It is possible that high socioeconomic risk families face challenges in completing BPT homework, thereby reducing treatment efficacy (Nix et al., 2009), although studies examining the relationships among socioeconomic risk, caregiver homework completion, and BPT outcomes have shown mixed results (Danko et al., 2015; Ros et al., 2017). Further, most studies examining the efficacy of BPTs have employed a fragmentary approach when accounting for socioeconomic risk, thus failing to account for the cumulative effect of risk factors. The aim of the current study is to examine relationships among cumulative socioeconomic risk, BPT homework completion, and change in parenting stress after a group BPT intervention. It is hypothesized that socioeconomic risk will be negatively associated with daily intervention homework completion, and negatively associated with change in parenting stress from pre- to post-intervention. It is also hypothesized that homework completion will mediate the relationship between socioeconomic risk and change in parenting stress. The sample will include approximately 300 caregivers who participated in Helping Our Toddlers, Developing Our Children’s Skills (HOT DOCS; Agazzi et al., 2017), a 6-session group BPT program for caregivers of birth- to 5-year-old children. Caregivers self-reported on their parenting stress pre- and post-treatment, as well as their daily engagement in homework (Special Play and Parenting Tip) across treatment. A socioeconomic risk index will be created based on demographic variables including single marital status, household income-to-needs ratio below poverty threshold, single head of household, child free lunch status, and caregiver education less than high school. Analyses will be conducted using R Studio (R Core Team, 2022). Variables will be examined for skew/kurtosis and adjusted using logarithmic or square-root transformations when indicated. If Little’s test (Little, 1988) results indicate that data are missing at random (MAR), full information maximum likelihood estimation (FIML) will be utilized to estimate missing data. A path model analysis will be conducted to test the relationships between socioeconomic risk, homework completion, and change in parenting stress from pre to post HOT DOCS intervention. Specifically, the model will probe whether homework completion mediates the pathway between socioeconomic risk and change in parenting stress. These findings will illuminate how families from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds benefit from group BPT and will inform future efforts to provide support to needy children.

Authors

• Leanna D Rosinski, Northern Illinois University
  Presenting Author

• Sarah Dickinson, University of South Florida Health

• Heather Agazzi, University of South Florida Health