20 Mar Active Parenting Evidence of Effectiveness

Posted at 20:37h in About Us, Parent Education, Funding, Grants by

Choose the most effective program for your parenting classes!

There are many factors in choosing the best, most effective program for your classes. You want a cost-effective programActive Parenting 4th Edition & Active Parenting of Teens listed on OASAS & CEBC that has:

  • Great content that is engaging and teaches a comprehensive model of parenting
  • Video-based delivery system – to model skills and make it engaging
  • PowerPoint slide presentation with embedded video
  • A streaming option to teach virtually as well as live classes
  • A step-by-step Leader’s Guide
  • Experiential class activities & home activities
  • A Parent’s Guide that is well-written, illustrated, and parent-friendly
  • Evidence of Effectiveness

Evidence of Effectiveness

A parenting curriculum may have all the above qualifications of a great program, but in the final analysis, what’s important is whether the program actually works! Does it help parents effect positive change within their families? There are a few ways to find out:

  • In the most clear-cut cases, the curriculum will have some verifiable evidence of its effectiveness. This might include published studies, professional evaluations, or it might appear on evidence-based program lists.
  • Another practical, if not scientific, approach to evidence of effectiveness is a measure of how accepted the curriculum is in the field. Has it been widely used? Do parents and professionals recommend it? Do they report positive results with the methods it teaches? Has it stood the test of time…from generation to generation?
  • Finally, a great program will have evaluation materials for you to use in gathering your own evidence of effectiveness as you lead the curriculum.

Over 40 years of research supports the efficacy of the Active Parenting model

Read and download our summary of 19 studies that span more than 40 years of Active Parenting history and provide strong scientific evidence of the efficacy of the Active Parenting model. All of the Active Parenting programs are derived from the original—Active Parenting Discussion Program (Popkin, 1983). They use the same theoretical model that teaches the same parenting principles and use a multi-session video-based delivery system along with discussion so research results showing evidence of effectiveness of one of the programs lend support for the other programs as well. With decades of scientific evidence, you can feel confident in your choice and it speaks volumes with your funding sources. See our list of evidence below.

Measure Your Progress with Active Parenting Measurement Tools

You can gauge how much progress the parents in your classes make using the pre-and post-surveys we provide. Imagine parents reporting lasting changes in their families… and the pride you feel knowing you were the catalyst. That’s the power of Active Parenting. You can use the Measurement Tools for any of our programs or for program specific measurement tools, look for the yellow EVIDENCE OF EFFECTIVENESS button on each program page, or click the following links & scrolling to the bottom:

Research Categorized by Program

Active Parenting: First Five Years

Research published in peer-reviewed journals:

Evaluation of a Parent Education Program Emphasizing Responsive Parenting and Mindfulness: An Inclusive Randomized Controlled Trial. Child & Youth Care Forum, 24 January 2021, Volume 50, pages 859–883, (2021).

Results

Pre- to post-test analyses showed significant increases in caregiver reported responsive parenting, developmental knowledge, parenting efficacy, mindfulness, overall positive child behavior, child prosocial behavior, and decreased parenting stress. Analysis of the treatment and control study groups detected group differences indicative of program effects for the parenting outcomes of mindfulness, parenting efficacy, and parenting stress.

Listed on third-party websites of evidence-based programs:

  • Head Start/ECLKC (Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center) Parenting Curriculum Research Database: Active Parenting: First Five Years is listed as a research-based curriculum and ranks in the lowest cost tier among parenting programs for the curriculum, materials, and training.
  • The California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare (CEBC).
    Active Parenting: First Five Years is included under each of three other Active Parenting programs on the CEBC website while it waits for its own review as follows: “There is also a version of Active Parenting for parents of children under 5 called ‘Active Parenting First Five Years‘; while the program has not yet been reviewed by the CEBC, you can find more information about it at https://activeparenting.com/product-category/for-leaders/parenting-curriculums-for-leaders/ages-0-4-parenting-curriculums-for-leaders/.”

Active Parenting 4th Edition

Research published in peer-reviewed journals:

Results

Indicated that parents participating in Active Parenting Now [now called Active Parenting 4th Edition] courses exhibited a positive change in their own observation of their child’s behavior, in their attitudes and beliefs about parenting, and their own self-reported parenting behavior as compared to a control group of parents who had not yet taken the course. Parents taking the Active Parenting of Teens courses also exhibited a positive change in their own observations of teen behavior as well as their own parenting behavior as compared to a control group of parents who had not yet taken the course.

  • Active Parenting: An Evaluation of Two Adlerian Parent Education Programs. Journal of Individual Psychology. The field test had favorable results—of the 274 self-selected subjects who made up the field-test, 97% reported positive changes, 84% reported an improvement in their children’s behavior, and 97% indicated that they would recommend the program to friends. Urban (1991) found the Active Parenting program effective in changing attitudes and child-rearing techniques, and Wiese (1989) concluded that parents who participated in the program developed more tolerant attitudes toward their children and saw themselves as better parents than those who did not participate.

Listed on third-party websites of evidence-based programs:

  • California Evidence-based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare. Active Parenting 4th Edition and Active Parenting of Teens are listed on the prestigious CEBC registry (along with Families in Action) with research published in a peer reviewed journal, having met CEBC’s own rigorous standards. Click to view the CEBC listing.
  • NY State OASAS (Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services) Registry of Evidence-Based Programs for Prevention. Click here to view the Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and the List of OASAS Evidence-based Programs and Strategies for Prevention.
  • Listed in Penn State Clearinghouse of Military Family Readiness (includes 1,2,3,4 Parents, the original version of Active Parenting: First Five Years, as well as Active Parenting and Active Parenting of Teens). Click to view the Clearinghouse listing.
  • NREPP: SAMHSA’s National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices (NREPP) was long considered “the gold standard” for evidence-based programs.  Active Parenting, Active Parenting of Teens, and Families in Action were listed as legacy programs from 2008 until NREPP was closed by SAMHSA in 2018.  At that time, the current re-review of our programs had been completed and was waiting for publication. The re-review also included Active Parenting: First Five Years and Active Parenting for Stepfamilies as versions of the Active Parenting program.  Click here for the program profile NREPP had completed for the review.

Other research and support documents:

  • Active Parenting final program evaluation report (The Business Training Institute, Inc., in collaboration with the Utica City Schools Safe Schools/Healthy Students grant – 2003): “The workshop results can be considered a success by several different measures. In the area of parental knowledge of parenting skills, parents demonstrated growth in all content areas, based on their responses to post-test questions. The parents evaluated the workshop materials, handouts, and usable information gained in each workshop very highly, and also recommended the workshop to other parents at a very high level.”
  • Effects of the Active Parenting program on children’s interpersonal behavior as observed in a playroom setting. “Results of a two-way ANOVA indicated a significant difference between the overall frequencies of positive and negative behaviors in the two groups. Children whose parents had completed the Active Parenting Today class had a lesser occurrence of negative behaviors than the children whose parents had not completed the class. Of the 142 recorded behaviors in the Active Parenting Today graduates support group, 8% were rated as negative and 92% as positive. In contrast, the 301 observed behaviors of the children whose parents had not yet completed a class were rated 84% negative and 16% positive. The author discusses the implications for parent education in light of these quite staggering effects.”
  • A descriptive study of parenting styles and behaviors of 4-year-old children when parents participate in a parenting education program. “Results showed that parents unanimously positive perceptions of the Active Parenting meetings were valuable in strengthening the connections between home and school. Results of the data analysis were used to verify the congruency among parents, teachers, and classroom educational aides regarding their perceptions of children’s behaviors. Results were also used to explore parents congruency regarding the perceptions of their parenting styles. The findings, conclusions and recommendations generated through this study should be of interest to educators in the field of early childhood programs for at-risk populations as a means to lend credence to the need for parenting education programs as a valid component in these programs.”
  • Implementing the Active Parenting program in the Baltimore County Public Schools: A final report. “Overall, the results were positive showing that Active Parenting has the holding power to maintain interest throughout six weeks of intensive instruction using a multi-sensory, multimedia approach.”
  • Reaching our human potential in Montana: An overview of building human capital through Montana State University and Active Parenting. “Results from this one-of-a-kind program in the United States were positive and led Extension agents in each county to pursue developing coalitions with other human service program providers.”
  • Active Parenting: A video-based program “Results indicated that parents improved their parenting skills an average of 28% after completion of the Active Parenting Discussion Program course. 84% of the parents also reported an improvement in their children’s behavior with an average improvement of 20%. In addition, 97% of parents who took the course indicated they would recommend the course to friends, and 100% of the 35 leaders said they would recommend leading the program to colleagues.
  • The impact of the Active Parenting program on the moral development and parenting skills of parents. Data analyses showed that parenting scores from pre-test to post-test were increased significantly. “The qualitative data also indicated that Active Parenting was helpful to the parents.”

 

Active Parenting of Teens

Listed on third-party websites of evidence-based programs:

  • California Evidence-based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare. Active Parenting 4th Edition and Active Parenting of Teens are listed on the prestigious CEBC registry (along with Families in Action) with research published in a peer reviewed journal, having met CEBC’s own rigorous standards. Click to view the CEBC listing.
  • NY State OASAS(Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services) Registry of Evidence-Based Programs for Prevention. Click here to view the Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and the List of OASAS Evidence-based Programs and Strategies for Prevention
  • NREPP: SAMHSA’s National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices (NREPP) was long considered “the gold standard” for evidence-based programs.  Active Parenting, Active Parenting of Teens, and Families in Action were listed as legacy programs from 2008 until NREPP was closed by SAMHSA in 2018.

Active Parenting of Teens: Families in Action

Research published in peer-reviewed journals:

Listed on third-party websites of evidence-based programs:

  • California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare (CEBC)
  • Listed in the National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices (NREPP) from 2008-2017 (until this registry was discontinued by a new administration). Click for the report.
  • Listed in the OJJDP’s Model Programs Guide (MPG)
  • Listed in the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s Model Programs Guide (MPG). Click here for details.
  • Listed in CrimeSolutions.gov Click here for details.

Other research and support documents:

  • Quality Assurance Protocol available for your program
    The Quality Assurance Protocol is a 40-page document containing the same instructions and handouts used when doing research on the Families in Action program. If you need to do research, or to run your program in strict compliance with the protocol, this packet is for you. Click here to download.

Click here for more information about Active Parenting programs and the research and evaluation tools mentioned in this blog

 

Active Parenting Publishers has been providing research-based education programs with an emphasis on nonviolent discipline, mutual respect, and open communication for over 40 years.

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