The Supporting Father Involvement program entails a 16 week group (either for fathers only or for couples), case management, and organizational change efforts located in Family Resource Centers (FRC) serving primarily low-income families in small towns or rural areas in four California counties (San Luis Obispo, Santa Cruz, Tulare, and Yuba) and one urban setting in Contra Costa.
The First
The Supporting Father Involvement study is the first systematically evaluated father involvement intervention program designed specifically for low-income families from various cultural backgrounds. The intervention study was based on five family dimensions known to affect family health, mental health, and child abuse outcomes:
1) individual characteristics of the
parents
2) parent-child relationship quality
3) couple or co-parenting relationship quality
4) the intergenerational transmission of parent-child involvement and relationships
5) external influences such as employment, environmental stressors, and social supports.
A Positive Preventitive Effect2) parent-child relationship quality
3) couple or co-parenting relationship quality
4) the intergenerational transmission of parent-child involvement and relationships
5) external influences such as employment, environmental stressors, and social supports.
Our assumption was that if we could reduce symptoms of distress in the participants, affect the quality of their relationship as a couple, improve each of their relationships with the child and with their families of origin, and help them to use social supports more effectively to cope with life stress, then we would have a positive preventive effect on child abuse and neglect and, more generally, healthy family development.
The Statistics Show Positive Impact
Results from the first 292 families participating in Phase I of the SFI project show clearly that both men and women participating in the couples and fathers groups are receiving significant benefits. The families were predominantly Hispanic, with a small percentage of Caucasian and Asian decent. The children ranged in age from 0-7 with the average age being 2.3 yrs. The one-session information-only condition (the control condition) produced no significant positive changes over 18 months.
• Men and their partners
in the fathers groups did not show the same
increase in stress and anxiety over time that the control couples did,
and their children did not show increases in problem behaviors as the
control couples’ children did, according to the parents
themselves.
• Clearest gains were made by parents in the couples groups, who showed (1) significantly increased father involvement, (2) couple satisfaction maintained over time (when it normally declines), (3) lower parenting stress, (4) lower personal distress, and (5) no increases in their children’s problem behavior (aggression or hyperactivity) compared to children of parents in the control condition, who were described by their parents as exhibiting more problem behavior over the same period.
• The intervention effects reported above held across ethnic group membership, income level, and marital status.
• During the first year, the agencies housing the SFI project showed a significant improvement in their reputation for serving fathers, father-inclusive policies and procedures, the staff’s preparation to provide services to fathers, and programs for fathers. These positive changes were maintained over the next three years.
With such positive results, and more findings coming from African
American families and families with a wider range of father figures in
children’s lives, we believe the SFI team is now ready for
determining cost effectiveness of findings, and for making our
knowledge base about the methods, strategies, and success of the
program in engaging and supporting fathers and their families more
readily available for providers and stakeholders throughout
California’s health community. • Clearest gains were made by parents in the couples groups, who showed (1) significantly increased father involvement, (2) couple satisfaction maintained over time (when it normally declines), (3) lower parenting stress, (4) lower personal distress, and (5) no increases in their children’s problem behavior (aggression or hyperactivity) compared to children of parents in the control condition, who were described by their parents as exhibiting more problem behavior over the same period.
• The intervention effects reported above held across ethnic group membership, income level, and marital status.
• During the first year, the agencies housing the SFI project showed a significant improvement in their reputation for serving fathers, father-inclusive policies and procedures, the staff’s preparation to provide services to fathers, and programs for fathers. These positive changes were maintained over the next three years.