Evidence Rating for Outcomes
Family Functioning | Family functioning |
Family Functioning | Appropriate developmental expectations of children |
Family Functioning | Lack of empathic awareness towards children's need |
Family Functioning | Nonbelief in corporal punishment |
Family Functioning | Lack of parent-child role reversal |
Date:
This practice includes interventions aimed at helping teenage parents improve their functioning as a parent and in understanding the developmental needs of their child. This practice is rated Effective for improving parental interactions with one’s child. This practice is rated No Effects for affecting measures of parental attitudes, including parents’ appropriate developmental expectation of children, empathic awareness, nonbelief in corporal punishment, and lack of parent–child role reversal.
Practice Goals/Target Population
Teenage parents often lack the knowledge of child development and effective parenting skills. They also are faced with adverse health and social outcomes such as mental health problems, low educational attainment, low socioeconomic status, and intimate-partner or domestic violence victimization (Barlow et al. 2011).
Teenage parenting programs are focused interventions aimed at helping with the issues faced specifically by participants (mostly mothers younger than 20) such as understanding the developmental needs of their child and communicating their own needs as young parents. More generally, parenting programs aim to help a parent improve their functioning as a parent, improve their relationship with their child, and prevent or treat a range of child emotional and behavioral problems by increasing the parent’s knowledge, skills, and understanding.
Practice Activities
Parenting programs for teenage parenting skills typically involve the use of a standardized curriculum and are based on several theoretical approaches, including Behavioral, Family Systems, Adlerian, and Psychodynamic (Barlow et al. 2011). They use a range of techniques and can be delivered in a group or individual format. Common techniques include group discussion, role play, watching video vignettes, and individual homework. They typically are delivered over the course of 8 to 12 weeks, for about 1 to 2 hours each week. Intervention settings include hospitals, social work clinics, and other community-based settings such as schools and churches.
Examples of parenting programs for teenage parents include
- A 15-minute culturally sensitive videotape viewed in a group once and watching the video at home over 2 weeks.
- A one-time instructional session with discussions on parental interaction techniques and a follow-up session after 4 weeks.
- A brief computer-assisted interactive video with a group component delivered over two consecutive weekly sessions and one discussion session. A follow-up session is delivered after 2 months.
- A manualized program delivered over 6 weeks and a follow-up at 4 to 5 weeks.
- A group-based educational active learning program delivered over 4 weeks.
- A group-based prevention program delivered over 10 weekly 1½ hour sessions.
- A program with 3-hour sessions and a supplemental educational booklet over 10 to 12 weeks. Follow-up is provided when the child was 1 year old and 2 years old.
- A short-term group parent education program delivered over 6 to 8 weeks.
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Family Functioning | Family functioning
Barlow and colleagues (2011) examined the results of two randomized controlled trials and found that parenting programs for teen mothers and their children had a statistically significant effect (SMD = 1.07), favoring individuals in the intervention group (who participated in parenting programs for teen mothers) for improving the infant's interactions with the parent, when compared with individuals in the comparison groups. This means that intervention group infants' interactions with their parents improved over the 3-month postprogram period, compared with comparison group infants. Such results should be interpreted with caution, however, given that only two studies were included in the analysis. |
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Family Functioning | Appropriate developmental expectations of children
Barlow and colleagues (2011) examined the results of two randomized controlled trials and found no statistically significant differences reported on the Adult Adolescent Parenting Inventory (AAPI) measure of appropriate developmental expectations of children between individuals who participated in parenting programs for teen mothers and individuals from the comparison groups. Such results should be interpreted with caution, however, given that only two studies were included in the analysis. |
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Family Functioning | Lack of empathic awareness towards children's need
Barlow and colleagues (2011) examined the results of two randomized controlled trials and found no statistically significant differences reported on the AAPI measure of empathic awareness toward children's needs between individuals who participated in parenting programs for teen mothers and individuals from the comparison groups. Such results should be interpreted with caution, however, given that only two studies were included in the analysis. |
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Family Functioning | Nonbelief in corporal punishment
Barlow and colleagues (2011) examined results of two randomized controlled trials and found no statistically significant differences reported on the AAPI measure of nonbelief in corporal punishment between individuals who participated in parenting programs for teen mothers and individuals from the comparison groups. Such results should be interpreted with caution, however, given that only two studies were included in the analysis. |
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Family Functioning | Lack of parent-child role reversal
Barlow and colleagues (2011) examined results of two randomized controlled trials and found no statistically significant differences reported on the AAPI measure of lack of parent/child role reversal between individuals who participated in parenting programs for teen mothers and individuals from the comparison groups. Such results should be interpreted with caution, however, given that only two studies were included in the analysis. |
Literature Coverage Dates | Number of Studies | Number of Study Participants | |
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Meta Analysis 1 | 1990-2001 | 4 | 351 |
Barlow and colleagues (2011) conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of parenting programs for teen mothers and their children on improving the psychosocial health of young mothers and the developmental health of their children. This review included studies from a previously published meta-analysis (Coren 2001). A new literature review was also conducted from 2008 to 2010. The literature search reviewed several electronic databases such as MEDLINE, EMBASE, The Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, the Social Science Citation Index, Sociological Abstracts, and ERIC. Bibliographies of systematic and nonsystematic review articles were also examined to identify relevant studies.
Eligible studies included those using randomized–controlled designs and quasi–experimental designs in which participants were allocated to an experimental or a control group, the latter being a waitlist group or no-treatment group. Eligible participants were parents aged 20 or younger and their infants/children. Studies evaluating parenting programs were eligible for inclusion if the programs a) used an individual or group-based format; b) focused on improving parenting attitudes, practices, skills/knowledge, or well-being, c) used a structured format; and d) were offered to teenage parents before and after they gave birth, or just after birth.
The literature search yielded a total of eight studies with 351 participants, with a range of 16 to 95 participants. All eight studies were randomized controlled trials. The studies compared the parenting program for teen mothers and their children with a control group who received no treatment (five studies) or who received treatment as usual (three studies). Two studies were conducted in Canada; the remaining studies were conducted in the United States. The programs were delivered in a community setting (four studies), in the participant’s home (two studies), or in both the community and outpatient setting (one study); one study did not specify the delivery location. Parenting programs were directed mainly at pregnant women or mothers, under 20 years old, and their children. The mean age of mothers was 17 years, with a range of 13 to 20 years. One study did not report the mean age of mothers. Three studies evaluated the effectiveness of standard group-based parenting programs delivered over 6 to 10 weeks. Another three studies evaluated the efficacy of briefer programs that consisted of watching videotaped interactions over a short period (e.g., one to two sessions) or a more extended period (e.g., 6 to 7 weeks), and that focused primarily on improving parent–infant interaction. No information was provided on the evaluated programs from the remaining two included studies.
Four studies were included in the meta-analyses assessing parental attitudes to child rearing in the parental role using the Adult–Adolescent Parenting Inventory (AAPI) and parent interactions with children using a subscale of the Nursing Child Assessment Teaching Scale (NCATS). The CrimeSolutions review of this meta-analysis concentrated on outcomes that included AAPI measures of appropriate developmental expectation of children (that is, the parents’ expectations of children do not exceed the developmental capabilities of children, [Family Development Resources, Inc., 2023]), lack of empathic awareness (i.e., children’s needs are not understood or valued by the parent, the parent lacks nurturing skills [Family Development Resources, Inc., 2023]), nonbelief in corporal punishment (i.e., the parent understands and utilizes alternatives to physical force [Family Development Resources, Inc., 2023]), lack of parent child role reversal (i.e., the parent uses children to meet self-need, children perceived as objects for adult/parent gratification [Family Development Resources, Inc., 2023]), and the NCATS Parents subscale on parent–child interactions 3 months following the program. The standardized mean difference (SMD) was calculated for each outcome by dividing the mean difference in postintervention scores between the intervention and control groups by the pooled standard deviation. Effects were analyzed using a fixed-effects model, and the weight given to each study represents the inverse of the variance, such that the more precise estimates (i.e., from larger studies with more events) have been given more weight. Where there was evidence of statistically significant heterogeneity the robustness of the results was tested using a random effects model.
These sources were used in the development of the practice profile:
Barlow, June, Nadja Smailagic, Cathy Bennett, Nick Huband, Hannah Jones, and Esther Coren. 2011. “Individual and Group-Based Parenting for Improving Psychosocial Outcomes for Teenage Parents and Their Children.” Campbell Systematic Reviews 7:1–77.
These sources were used in the development of the practice profile:
Barlow, Jane, Nadja Smailagic, Cathy Bennett, Nick Huband, Hannah Jones, and Esther Coren. 2011. “Individual and Group-Based Parenting for Improving Psychosocial Outcomes for Teenage Parents and Their Children.” Campbell Systematic Reviews 2.
Coren, Esther, and Jane Barlow. 2001. “Individual and Group-Based Parenting Programmes for Improving Psychosocial Outcomes for Teenage Parents and Their Children.” Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 3.
Family Development Resources, Inc. 2023. “AAPI–2.5, Adult Adolescent Parenting Inventory | Version 2.5.” Assessing Parenting. Park City, Utah.
https://assessingparenting.com/assessment/aapiAge: 13 - 20
Gender: Male, Female
Targeted Population: Families
Setting (Delivery): Other Community Setting, Inpatient/Outpatient, Home
Practice Type: Parent Training
Unit of Analysis: Persons