THE RESEARCH ON S trengthening F amilies P rogram for P arents and Y outh Presented on November 16, 2006 Funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation

Strengthening Families Program Recognized by Federal Agencies Program of Distinction: National 4H Headquarters and Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service Model Program: Center for Substance Abuse Prevention Model Program: Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration Universal Program: National Institute on Drug Abuse Exemplary Program: US Department of Education Exemplary Program: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

Strengthening Families Program Scientifically Proven Program Evaluated for 12 years by the Institute for Social and Behavioral Research and the Partnership for Prevention Science Institute at Iowa State University Tested with several hundred families in Iowa and Pennsylvania Participants were randomly assigned and comparisons were made between program participants and control families.

Strengthening Families Program Program Evaluation Results Students who participated in SFP:10-14 while in 6th grade were 58% less likely than students in the control group to report aggressive behavior at follow-up evaluations two and four years later.

Strengthening Families Program Program Evaluation: Youth Results Youth attending the program had significantly lower rates of tobacco and marijuana use compared to control youth. Youth attending the program had significantly fewer conduct behavior problems in school than youth in the control group. The differences between program and control youth actually increased over time, indicating that skills learned and strong parent-child relationships continue to have greater and greater influence.

Strengthening Families Program Program Evaluation Youth Results 26% fewer youth reported ever drinking alcohol 56% fewer youth reported ever smoking marijuana 40% fewer youth reported ever having been drunk

Strengthening Families Program Program Evaluation Results Parents reported: Better communication and a more positive relationship with their child Increase in positive feelings towards their child Gains in general child management: o Setting rules and consequences o Effective monitoring o Appropriate and consistent discipline

Strengthening Families Program Program Evaluation Results Parents reported: Increased program effects over time, indicating that skills learned and strong parent-child relationships continue to have greater influence on youth Significantly fewer problems in school

6 th Grade 8 th Grade 12 th Grade Long-term Effects of Public Education Partnership Program on Academic Success Strengthening Families Program Tested Model Results Source: Spoth, R., Randall, K., & Shin, C. (2005). Experimental Support for a Model of Partnership-based Family Intervention Effects on Long-term Academic Success. Under review: School Psychology Quarterly. Partnership-based Iowa Strengthening Families Program Enhanced Positive Parenting Behavior Reduced Substance- related Risk Behaviors Increased Student School Engagement Increased Student Academic Success

Strengthening Families Program Landmark International Meta Analysis 6000 Studies of Programs Designed to Prevent Alcohol Misuse in Young People Designed to identify effective programs Funded by the World Health Organization 2001 Conducted by Foxcroft and colleagues, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, England Used strict criteria following the approach of the International Cochrane Collaboration, Drugs and Alcohol Review Group

Strengthening Families Program Problems in Reviewed Studies Poor Quality Lack of suitable control groups Non random allocation Lack of pretest information High levels of attrition Inappropriate analysis Poor quality presentation (Cochrane Collaboration Systematic Review, 2002) Foxcroft, Ireland, Lister-Sharp, Lowe and Breen

Strengthening Families Program Little Evidence of Intervention Effectiveness Partial effectiveness not repeated over the long term Small effect sizes Evidence base does not support continued use

SFP Programs 12 Programs Narrowed to 50 Programs 6,000 studies of adolescent alcohol reduction programs Strengthening Families Program Results of Cochrane Review

Strengthening Families Program Conclusion from World Health Organization Sponsored Review “Disappointing results from school-based programmes have encouraged interest in family interventions. The one with the best track record is the US Strengthening Families Programme, an approach now being tried in Britain.” David Foxcroft, Oxford Brookes University (Cochrane Collaboration Systematic Review, 2002) Foxcroft, Ireland, Lister-Sharp, Lowe and Breen

Strengthening Families Program Versions of the Program U.S. English with videos U.S. Non video version for parent sessions (includes role plays and handouts in Spanish) International Versions Spanish version with videos (Funder: Pan American Health Organization) U.K. English with videos Swedish with videos Swedish without videos Spanish (Spain) with videos Turkish without videos Bosnian without videos International Versions in Process Greek Norwegian Polish

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