Parent Training to Reduce Problem Behaviors over the Transition to High School: Tests of Indirect Effects through Improved Emotion Regulation Skills

Authors

W. Alex Mason, Boys Town National Research Institute for Child and Family StudiesFollow
Stacy-Ann A. January, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Charles B. Fleming, University of Washington
Ronald W. Thompson, Boys Town National Research Institute for Child and Family StudiesFollow
Gilbert R. Parra, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Kevin P. Haggerty, University of Washington
James J. Snyder, Wichita State University

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2-1-2016

Citation

Child Youth Serv Rev. 2016 February 1; 61: 176–183. doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.12.022.

Comments

Copyright 2016 Elsevier. Used by permission.

Abstract

Adolescent problem behaviors are costly for individuals and society. Promoting the self-regulatory functioning of youth may help prevent the development of such behaviors. Parent-training and family intervention programs have been shown to improve child and adolescent self-regulation. This study helps fill gaps in knowledge by testing for indirect effects of the Common Sense Parenting® (CSP) program on reduced substance use, conduct problems, and school suspensions through previously identified short-term improvements in parents’ reports of their children’s emotion regulation skills. Over two cohorts, 321 low income families of 8^th graders were enrolled and randomly assigned to either the standard CSP program, an adapted CSP Plus program, or a minimal-contact control condition. Pretest, posttest, 1-year follow-up, and 2-year follow-up survey assessments were completed by parents and students with 94% retention. Intent-to-treat multivariate path analyses were conducted. Neither intervention had statistically significant total effects on the three targeted adolescent outcomes. CSP, but not CSP Plus, had statistically significant indirect effects on reduced substance use and school suspensions at the 1-year follow-up as well as conduct problems and school suspensions at the 2-year follow-up through increased child emotion regulation skills at posttest. Findings provide some support for emotion regulation as one pathway through which the intervention was associated, indirectly, with reduced substance use, conduct problems, and school suspensions among at-risk students over the high school transition.