ECPN poster contestant: Mind in the Making-Vroom Intervention: Improving Parenting to Support Preschool Executive Function Development

Introduction: A growing body of evidence suggests that positive parenting behaviors are important for the development of executive function (EF) skills in preschoolers (Bernier, Carlson, & Whipple, 2010). Conversely, controlling parenting behaviors are associated with lower EF skills (Meuwissen & Carlson, 2015). It is unknown whether a brief parenting intervention may influence the use of these parenting behaviors. This study examined the Mind in the Making parenting intervention, which aimed to teach parents about EF research and practical ways to incorporate these findings into their parenting. Parents in the intervention also received access to the Vroom App, which provided daily tips for promoting positive parent-child interactions and EF development.

Methods: Seventy-nine low-income parents and their preschool children participated. Forty-five parents were randomly assigned to the intervention and 34 to the control. All parents completed pre- and post-test measures of EF, as well as a parenting assessment, which involved working on a puzzle for 10-minutes with their preschoolers. Parents in the treatment group were given a quiz to assess knowledge of EF development. The intervention involved weekly 2-hour group sessions for 6 weeks, which brought together teachers and parents with the goal of building better relationships and knowledge of EF skills. Of the parents in the treatment group, 16 completed the training (i.e., “All Training” group) and received Vroom. Twenty-nine parents attended 1 or fewer training sessions (i.e., “No Training” group).

Results: Parents who completed the training significantly improved on their knowledge of EF development, as measured by the knowledge quiz (F(1,14) = 5.94, p < .05). Furthermore, parents in the “All Training” group significantly decreased their use of controlling behaviors from pre- to post-test compared to the “No Training” and control groups (F(1,64) = 3.88, p < .05). Analyses of baseline characteristics reveal that parents in the “All Training” group had higher EF performance (F(1,43) = 3.74, p = .06) and displayed more positive parenting behaviors (F(1, 38) = 8.34, p < .01) compared to the “No Training” group.

Conclusions: This study suggests that even a brief 6-week intervention can improve parents’ knowledge of EF development and their parenting behaviors. Of the 45 parents in the treatment condition, 16 completed the training. Those parents who attended displayed high quality parenting at baseline, suggesting those who may have benefited the most from the training did not attend. This result suggests that more effort needs to be made to motivate an even higher number of parents to attend, specifically those who may need the intervention most.