Proactive Parent Engagement in Public Schools: Using a Brief Strengths and Needs Assessment in a Multiple-Gating Risk Management Strategy

Teacher Burnout in Saudi Arabia: The Catastrophic Role of Parental Disengagement

The present study predicts teacher burnout from previous experiences, efficacious beliefs, student achievement, and parental engagement. Data came from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science study (TIMSS 2019) and utilized a random sample of n = 2000 from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It was hypothesized that parental engagement and involvement in school may represent a salient factor in understanding teacher burnout in that if parental disengagement is high, necessary supports and resources available to the teacher are withdrawn. This thesis was tested using the cusp catastrophe with linear negative predictors of teacher burnout being teacher satisfaction, years of experience, teacher efficacy, and student achievement. The role of parental disengagement was verified with critically low levels of parental engagement being associated with abrupt and unpredictable levels of teacher burnout. It is concluded that parental engagement and involvement in schools may provide critical supports that are necessary for teachers to successfully manage their workload.

Parenting Styles, Family Characteristics, and Teacher-Reported Behavioral Outcomes in Kindergarten

It is well established that parenting influences child behavior at home, but less is known about the associations between parenting and teacher reports of child behavior at school, an environment more distal from the home context. This study investigated the presence of authoritarian, authoritative, permissive, and uninvolved parenting styles (PS) in a community sample of 321 parents with kindergarteners (M_age = 5.45 years) in the Northwestern United States. This study analyzed (1) which PS were present, (2) if PS was associated with family characteristics, (3) if teacher reported behavior problems in spring of children's kindergarten year varied by PS, and (4) whether associations between PS and child behaviors were moderated by parenting stress. Study hypotheses were that PS would be associated with family characteristics, that teacher reported child behaviors would differ by PS, and that parenting stress would moderate the relationship between PS and behavior problems at school. Results indicated all PS were present. Chi-squares and ANOVA's identified that PS were significantly associated with parenting stress and child problem behaviors. ANOVAs determined differences in parenting stress and problem behaviors depending on PS. ANOVAs revealed parenting stress moderated the relation between PS and child problem behavior. Few studies to date have analyzed the presence of all four PS among kindergarteners and the relationship this has with teacher-reported classroom behavioral concerns. This study sought to fill this gap as results have implications for targeted parenting prevention interventions to promote children's social and behavioral adjustment during the transition to elementary school.

Engagement in a brief preventive parenting intervention during the transition to kindergarten: Effects of parent stress and child behavior concerns

Although school-based preventive parenting interventions have been found to promote children's social-emotional skill development and behavioral functioning, it is important to understand potential barriers to engagement in such programs to ensure that intervention access is equitable and likely to reach those who could most benefit. In the present study, we tested independent and interactive associations between parents' concerns about their child's hyperactivity behavior and their perceived stress in relation to their participation in a preventive parenting intervention, the Family Check-Up (FCU), delivered when children were in kindergarten. Participants were parents of 164 children who were randomized to the intervention group of a randomized controlled trial that took place at five elementary schools. Results indicated that parents who reported higher levels of hyperactivity in their children and high levels of perceived stress were less likely to initially engage in the FCU, but if they did engage, they were more likely to participate more intensively as measured by total treatment time. Parents' motivation to change mediated the association between high parent stress and child hyperactivity in relation to total treatment time. This study has important implications for the use of motivational interviewing strategies to engage parents in school-based, family-centered interventions.

Using Motivational Interviewing to Improve Parenting Skills and Prevent Problem Behavior During the Transition to Kindergarten

In this study, we examined the efficacy of a version of the Family Check-Up (FCU) adapted for kindergarten school entry with regard to parenting skills during the transition to school. We also examined whether improvements in parenting skills would mediate improvements in parent- and teacher-rated child behavior problems from kindergarten to second grade. The FCU is a motivational interviewing (MI) intervention designed to engage parents in treatment to improve parenting skills. Participants were parents of 365 children enrolled in one of five elementary schools in the Pacific Northwestern United States. Main and indirect effects were tested with structural equation path modeling using an intent-to-treat approach. The FCU was associated with improved change in parenting skills, and changes in parenting skills, in turn, predicted reductions in child behavior problems. Implications for embedding MI in family-centered interventions at kindergarten school entry are discussed. Trial registration: NCT02289092.

Associations between cannabis use and retinal vessel diameter in young adults

Cannabis appears to have vascular effects that may have implications for cerebrovascular function, but no studies have directly visualized the microvasculature in living cannabis users. The current study used retinal imaging, a tool taken from ophthalmology, to visualize the small retinal microvessels in cannabis users. We compared retinal arteriolar (small arteries) and venular (small veins) diameters in 55 frequent cannabis users and 51 comparison individuals with a mean age of 19.25 years (SD = 2.43). Results indicated that mean arteriolar diameter was statistically significantly wider for cannabis users (M = 157.98, SE = 1.42) than for comparison individuals (M = 153.56, SE = 1.46; F(1,103) = 4.67, p = .033), even after controlling for a variety of covariates and after excluding from analyses cannabis users who had used cannabis in the past 24 h. There was no statistically significant difference in retinal venular diameter between cannabis users and comparison individuals. Findings suggest that frequent cannabis use is associated with wider retinal arterioles, which might represent a residual vasodilatory effect of recent cannabis use or impaired autoregulation resulting from chronic cannabis use. Retinal imaging is a non-invasive, cost-effective tool for visualizing the microvasculature in living individuals and can be combined, in future research, with neuroimaging and other measures of retinal vascular function to better understand the acute and longer-term effects of cannabis use on the microvasculature.

Evaluating the efficacy of the Family Check-Up Online: A school-based, eHealth model for the prevention of problem behavior during the middle school years

This study evaluated the efficacy of a family-centered preventive intervention, the Family Check-Up (FCU), delivered as an online, eHealth model to middle school families. To increase accessibility of family-centered prevention in schools, we adapted the evidence-based FCU to an online format, with the goal of providing a model of service delivery that is feasible, given limited staffing and resources in many schools. Building on prior research, we randomly assigned participants to waitlist control (n = 105), FCU Online as a web-based intervention (n = 109), and FCU Online with coaching support (n = 108). We tested the effects of the intervention on multiple outcomes, including parental self-efficacy, child self-regulation, and child behavior, in this registered clinical trial (NCT03060291). Families engaged in the intervention at a high rate (72% completed the FCU assessment) and completed 3-month posttest assessments with good retention (94% retained). Random assignment to the FCU Online with coaching support was associated with reduced emotional problems for children (p = .003, d = -0.32) and improved parental confidence and self-efficacy (p = .018, d = 0.25) when compared with waitlist controls. Risk moderated effects: at-risk youth showed stronger effects than did those with minimal risk. The results have implications for online delivery of family-centered interventions in schools.

The Family Check-Up Online Program for Parents of Middle School Students: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial

Background

Research has established that skillful family management during adolescence protects youth from a variety of mental health and behavioral problems. Interventions associated with this research have focused on parenting skills as the mediator that links early risk factors with a profile of later behavioral risk, including problem behavior, substance use, and school failure. Fortunately, positive changes in family management skills have been linked to meaningful improvements in adolescent behavior, and these improvements have been significant across a variety of cultural groups.

Objective

We describe the background, research design, and intervention components of an electronic health version of the Family Check-Up program that is targeting middle school children and is being evaluated in a randomized controlled trial for its usability, feasibility, and efficacy.

Methods

We used an iterative formative research process to develop an electronic health version of the Family Check-Up program. In our ongoing randomized controlled trial, eligible families are randomly assigned to 1 of 3 conditions: Family Check-Up Online-only (n≈100), Family Check-Up Online + Coach (n≈100), and a waitlist control condition (middle school as usual; n≈100). We are conducting assessments at baseline, 3 months following randomization (posttest), and at follow-ups scheduled for 6 months and 12 months.

Results

This randomized controlled trial project was funded in 2015. Participant recruitment was completed in spring 2018 and enrollment is ongoing. Follow-up assessments will be completed in 2019.

Conclusions

The innovative Family Check-Up Online program has the potential to help address many of the barriers that more traditional school-based behavioral mental health implementation strategies have yet to solve, including staffing and resources to implement family-centered support within schools.

Trial Registration

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03060291; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03060291 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/70f8keeN4)

Trial Registration

RR1-10.2196/11106

Family involvement and parent-teacher relationships for students with autism spectrum disorders

Family educational involvement and parent-teacher relationships are important for supporting student outcomes and have unique implications for families of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, little research has examined child and family characteristics among families of children with ASD as predictors of family involvement and parent-teacher relationships. The present study examined child and family variables that may affect family involvement and parent-teacher relationships for families of children with ASD. Findings suggested (a) parents of children with higher developmental risk reported less family involvement and poorer relationships with their child's teacher and (b) family histories accessing services predicted family involvement and parent-teacher relationships. Limitations of the current study and implications for science and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

A randomized, controlled trial of the family check-up model in public secondary schools: Examining links between parent engagement and substance use progressions from early adolescence to adulthood

OBJECTIVE

Substance use in adulthood compromises work, relationships, and health. Prevention strategies in early adolescence are designed to reduce substance use and progressions to problematic use by adulthood. This report examines the long-term effects of offering Family Check-up (FCU) at multiple time points in secondary education on the progression of substance use from age 11 to 23 years.

METHOD

Participants (N = 998; 472 females) were randomly assigned individuals to intervention or control in Grade 6 and offered a multilevel intervention that included a classroom-based intervention (universal), the FCU (selected), and tailored family management treatment (indicated). Among intervention families, 23% engaged in the selected and indicated levels during middle school.

RESULTS

Intention to treat analyses revealed that randomization to the FCU was associated with reduced growth in marijuana use (p < .05), but not alcohol and tobacco use. We also examined whether engagement in the voluntary FCU services moderated the effect of the intervention on substance use progressions using complier average causal effect (CACE) modeling, and found that engagement in the FCU services predicted reductions in alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use by age 23. In comparing engagers with nonengagers: 70% versus 95% showed signs of alcohol abuse or dependence, 28% versus 61% showed signs of tobacco dependence, and 59% versus 84% showed signs of marijuana abuse or dependence.

CONCLUSION

Family interventions that are embedded within public school systems can reach high-risk students and families and prevent progressions from exploration to problematic substance use through early adulthood. (PsycINFO Database Record