Reducing Risks for Health-Compromising Behaviors during the High School Transition: Proximal Outcomes in the Common Sense Parenting Trial

Background. There is a need to more fully capitalize on windows of opportunity for family intervention provided by developmental transitions. One of the most important transitions for adolescents is the move to high school, which brings new opportunities that can either promote positive or exacerbate negative development. The degree to which parent-training can be tailored for the transition to high school to prevent health-compromising behaviors of vulnerable youth remains uncertain. The current trial addresses this gap by testing Common Sense Parenting (CSP) ^®, a widely used parent-training program, in its standard form and in a modified form known as CSP Plus, with low-income 8^th graders and their families. Analyses examine hypothesized changes in proximal intervention targets from pretest to posttest. The six-session CSP program proximally targets parenting (e.g., discipline, monitoring) and child emotion regulation (e.g., coping, anger management) skills. CSP Plus  adds two sessions that include youth, and the eight-session program further targets skills for avoiding negative peers and activities, such as substance use, to facilitate a succesful transition to high school.

 Method. Over two cohorts across two academic years (2010/2011 and 2011/2012), 321 families were enrolled and randomly assigned to either CSP (n=118), CSP Plus (n=95), or a minimal-contact control condition (n=108). Pretest and posttest assessments have been completed to date, with 93% retention over about a 6-month interval. Data on proximal outcomes for the current analyses were collected via parent-report questionnaires using standardized survey instruments (e.g., Alabama Parenting Questionnaire) and items from prior prevention trials (e.g., Project Family). Intent-to-treat structural equation modeling analyses were conducted using full information maximum likelihood estimation in Amos 18.

 Results. Results showed that CSP (β = .10) and CSP Plus (β = .10) had small but statistically significant effects on improved child emotion regulation skills. CSP Plus (β = .12) further showed a small but statistically significant effect on increased parent perceptions of their adolescent being prepared for high school. Neither program had a proximal effect on parenting practices.

 Conclusions. Emotion regulation is a robust predictor of adolescent health-compromising behaviors. Intervention effects on this outcome may translate into reduced health risks during high school. CSP Plus showed early signs of added value for preparing families for the high school transition. Short-term parenting effects were not found, although research indicates that such improvements often take more time to emerge. Subsequent follow-up assessments in the CSP trial will permit tests of longer-term effects.