Parent Self-Efficacy Mediates the Impact of Family Intervention

Self-appraisals are thought to play an important role in a number of youth problem behaviors. Self-perceived competence in the parental role may be an important mediator of family interventions. The purpose of the study described was to determine whether parental self-efficacy is causally related to effective child rearing. To do so, the authors analyzed data from several large-sample trials of a family intervention that focused on improving parent and child self-appraisals, among other outcomes. In both trials, parent self-efficacy increased significantly. Both punishment and coercive interactions declined. The role of self-efficacy as a mediator was examined through regression analyses. Baseline self-efficacy was not a significant predictor of changes in child rearing, but the baseline child rearing measure was. Across both trials and all outcome measures, changes in self-efficacy accounted for significant variance in improved child rearing. Thus, the intervention resulted in improved self-efficacy, and such changes explained improved parenting skills. (GCP) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the ori inal document. Parent Self-Efficacy Mediates the Impact of Family Intervention David MacPhee & Jan Miller-Heyl Colorado State University U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) O This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. O Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 1 Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Toronto, August 2003 MacPhee: Department of Human Development & Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523. rnacpheecahs.colostate.edu. Miller-Heyl: DARE to be You Program, CSU Cooperative Extension, 136 Aylesworth Hall NW, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523. darecort@coop.ext.colostate.edu. This research was supported by grants from the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention. 2 BEST COPY AVAILABLE Self-appraisals are thought to play an important role in a number of youth problem behaviors (Meggert, 1996), although much of this literature is correlational. A recent metaanalysis of 116 intervention studies found that programs focused on modifying self-esteem were more effective in altering problem behaviors or academic skills, as compared to interventions without an emphasis on self-appraisals (Haney & Durlak, 1998). Yet some skeptics assert that such an emphasis is ultimately harmful because it promotes narcissism at the expense of family health (Burr & Christensen, 1992). Some of the confusion about the role of self-appraisals is conceptual: Self-esteem has less to do with selfishness than with affective judgments about one's worth whereas self-efficacy, which is the focus of our study, is a construct grounded in mastery. Self-perceived competence in the parental role may be an important mediator of family interventions: It correlates with concurrent measures of child-rearing practices (MacPhee et al., 1996), regardless of culture, and predicts changes in parenting skill (Spoth et al., 1995). Our purpose was to determine whether parent self-efficacy is causally related to effective child rearing. To do so, we analyzed data from several large-sample trials of a family intervention that focused on improving parent and child self-appraisals, among other outcomes. The initial demonstration project included 363 at-risk families who were recruited into the DARE to be You program (Miller-Heyl et al., 2001), assigned at random to intervention and control groups, and completed follow-up assessments one year later. The replication trial included 258 families who also were assigned at random and completed one-year follow-ups. Attrition was less than 10%. The two trials were implemented at sites differing in population density and ethnicity, and with different staff. The same curriculum was followed, which involved 24 hours of workshops (over 12 weeks) that included many experiential and discussionbased exercises related to self-appraisals, communication, discipline, and decision making. It is

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