Family preservation services on the Canary Islands: Predictors of the efficacy of a parenting program for families at risk of social exclusion

Abstract

This article describes the results of a parenting program "Apoyo Personal y Familiar," (APF; Personal and Family Support program) targeted at parents of families at high psychosocial risk. APF aims at preventing unnecessary placement of children from vulnerable families into foster-care by increasing parental competence in order to improve their autonomous functioning. The program is implemented through group meetings in community centers. The method involves exposing the parents to parental views and practices in specific child-rearing episodes and encouraging them to reflect on their own views and the consequences on child development. In the Intervention group 144 mothers completed the pretest and posttest measures and 155 mothers were in a waiting-list comparison group. Self-report measures on parental implicit theories, child-rearing practices, and personal agency were used to perform the evaluation. Group discourse and the monitor's behavior observed during the sessions were used as predictors of the program's efficacy. Compared to control mothers, program mothers endorsed less simple views on child development, reported positive changes in their child-rearing practices, and had more confidence in their personal resources and a more accurate view of their parental role. Group effect sizes on the outcome measures were predicted by the type of group discourse and the type of group management observed during the sessions. The use of a perspectivist discourse was positive for promoting complex ideas and actions, whereas a self-centered discourse was positive for improving personal agency and for reporting less use of permissive practices. The role of the monitor was particularly relevant for reinforcing the mothers' sense of confidence in their own resources and for facilitating changes in child-rearing tactics