Developing and Testing Parent Education Workshops to Prevent Child Abuse and Neglect As Supplemental to an Evidence-Based Parenting Intervention

Illegal drug and alcohol use/misuse in adolescence and its negative effects on psychological and physical development is a recognized and significant U.S. public health concern. Adolescence is a critical period of cortical development and in combination with typical risk behaviors associated with adolescence, (e.g., binge drinking and sensation seeking), can lead to life-long adult addiction. Eliminating or reducing risk factors while enhancing protective factors constitutes a known public health approach for preventing the early use of alcohol and tobacco, the subsequent use of illegal drugs, and related risk behaviors leading to illness and disability. The Southwest Interdisciplinary Research Center (SIRC) applied community based participatory research to develop the Families Preparing a New Generation (FPNG) as a universal intervention. Combining core components of keepin’ it REAL and Familias Unidas (both NREPP model programs), FPNG was developed in partnership with Arizona parents to engage them in the prevention of their children’s substance use. The intervention was implemented within schools and was proven efficacious with medium effects. This study took these principles to a “real world” environment and applied them with a vulnerable and underserved population in a rural, isolated city in which the majority of families are living in poverty. Working closely with community to identify priority needs, SIRC also partnered with Childhelp, a national non-profit organization targeting the prevention of child abuse and neglect. This partnership offered the opportunity to integrate brief intervention activities into existing workshops of FPNG to increase parent knowledge of and strategies to prevent child abuse and neglect. The aims of the combined FPNG and Childhelp parent workshops were to 1) increase youth resiliency by protecting against substance use of all types and risky behaviors by teaching drug resistance strategies to parents and caregivers; 2) provide family support by helping parents to communicate with their children about the risks of substance use while incorporating family communication and conflict resolution skills; 3) increase awareness and engagement of parents/caregivers in preventing child abuse and neglect;4) increase knowledge of parents and caregivers about the relationship of the harms and risks of substance abuse to child abuse and neglect. Parents/caregivers reported teaching their children drug resistance strategies more often after the program (post 65%, pre 51%); communicated the risks of substance use more (post 96%, pre 88%); reported that a safety plan should include the posting of internet and cell phone rules (post 96%, pre 87%); and 96 percent were able to discern between types of child abuse after the program.