There is a need for validated, low-cost parenting interventions that can reach populations of at-risk households. Internet based programs can reach an increasingly large number of parents and provide a unique channel of access. This project will adapt an existing empirically proven video-based parenting program, the Incredible Years Series (Webster-Stratton, 1984), for delivery via the Internet enhanced with home visits. Internet programs can be interactive, personalize information based on participant characteristics and interests, provide a high degree of choice and flexibility, and provide social support from peers and professionals. Using an experimental design we will evaluate the impact of the interactive Internet parent training intervention as compared to usual-care (control) among parents in rural and urban low-income preschool children. After screening four-year-old children from five Head Start programs in Oregon for high risk aggressive conduct disorder behaviors, 180 families will be randomized to either the intervention or control conditions with 90 families from each of two consecutive cohorts. All families will be provided with a computer and Internet connection to provide for computerized data collection and control for the effects of the introduction of new technology in families with low-incomes. Parent coaches will make home visits and phone calls to assist parents with the use of the computer and questions/concerns about the program. Parenting practices will serve as the primary outcome, augmented by measures of child social behavior. Subject characteristics and process measures will be examined as predictors or mediators. Latent growth models will be used to evaluate contextual variables and parenting variables that may be predictive of concurrent and longitudinal measures of child behaviors. Cost-effectiveness analysis of the intervention will be performed to determine the net benefits to participants in relation to the costs of conducting the intervention. A Spanish-language version of the program will be developed for a pilot evaluation with parents whose primary language is Spanish. The proposed design will provide important practical information about the feasibility and effectiveness of an Internet parenting intervention in effecting both parenting behavior and child behavior over a three year period.
| Taylor, Ted K; Webster-Stratton, Carolyn; Feil, Edward G et al. (2008) Computer-based intervention with coaching: an example using the Incredible Years program. Cogn Behav Ther 37:233-46 |
| Feil, Edward G; Severson, Herbert; Taylor, Ted K et al. (2007) An innovative, effective and cost effective survey method using a survey-check response format. Prev Sci 8:133-40 |
