Common Sense Parenting (CSP) (OJJDP Model Program Guide)

Office of Justice Programs, Innovation - Partnerships – Safer Neighborhoods

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Serving Children, Families and Communities

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Common Sense Parenting (CSP)

Intervention:

Common Sense Parenting (CSP) is a group-based parent training class designed for parents of youths ages 6–16 who exhibit significant behavior and emotional problems. The objective of the program is to teach positive parenting techniques and behavior management strategies to help increase positive behavior, decrease negative behavior, and model appropriate alternative behavior for children. The program consists of six weekly 2-hour sessions involving a group of 10–12 parents led by certified trainers who work from a detailed trainer’s manual. The session topics are

“Parents Are Teachers”
“Encouraging Good Behavior”
“Preventing Problems”
“Correcting Problem Behavior”
“Teaching Self-Control”
“Putting It All Together”

Program participants work from a parent manual that provides information on CSP skills, parenting advice, scenarios, skill cards for quick reference, and a personal parenting plan workbook. Between class sessions, participants are assigned readings from the parent manual and homework activities from the workbook to supplement the training received in class and help parents become more familiar with the newly taught skills.

CSP classes concentrate on experiential learning and consist of five training components—review, instruction, modeling, practice, and feedback—and conclude with a summary. Each session is deigned to teach one parenting concept and a skill related to that concept. During each training session, parents review the skills learned during the previous session, receive instruction in a new parenting skill, view videotaped models of the new skill, practice how to use the skill in simulated role-play, and receive feedback from the trainer. Parenting skills and techniques are taught to be adapted by parents for use in any home environment. Parents learn skills such as the use of clear communication, positive reinforcements and consequences, self-control, and problem-solving.

The program was adapted from the Teaching Family Model and the Boys Town Family Home Program (known as Treatment Family Home program), both of which draw from operant learning principles (i.e. positive and negative reinforcement, stimulus control) and Social Learning Theory (i.e., modeling, training in self-instruction). In both programs, married couples were trained to use behavior methods to respond to conduct problems of children and adolescents in group-home settings. The behavioral treatment model emphasized positive relationships, skills training, and self-control. During the development of CSP, the parenting skills from these approaches were adapted and simplified for use by parents in their own homes.

Evaluation Methodology:

The effectiveness of the CSP program has been evaluated in numerous studies over the past decade.

Study 1
Study 1 used a quasi-experimental design to examine the program effectiveness of a cost-reduced version of CSP. The shorter, modified program was reduced from 8 weeks to 6 weeks of training sessions, and included in the curriculum only those skills that had been found in previous research to be the most useful to parents, such as simulated role-playing. The primary objective of the study was to determine whether a shorter program taught by just one trainer without individual sessions could produce statistically significant effects. The study also looked at improvements in satisfaction with family relationships in general, a factor not investigated in previous research, and clinically significant changes in children and families.

Parents were assigned to either the parent training (PT) condition (N=39) or the waitlist control (WLC) condition (N=27). Pretest comparisons using ANOVA (univariate analysis of variance) and chi-squared analysis revealed that parents in the PT group and the WLC group were roughly equivalent on demographic variables and outcome measures. Parents in both groups were mostly white females who had some post–high school education. However, the WLC group had a significantly higher percentage of single parents and younger parents, suggesting greater risks than in the PT group. Parents were asked to identify one target child for the behavior assessment (defined as a child living at home with the most severe behavior problem under age 18). Target children ranged from 2 to 17 years old, with an average age of 10. About two thirds of the children were male.

A 2 (time) x 2 (group) repeated measure of MANOVA (multivariate analysis of variance) along with planned interaction and pairwise contrasts were used to test for treatment effects and maintenance of effects over time for the PT group. Outcome measures include the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), the Parent Sense of Competence Scale (PSOC), and the Family Satisfaction Scale (FSS). The CBCL is a widely used instrument to identify child behavior problems. This study concentrated on two problem factors: internalizing (i.e., withdrawn, anxious/depressed) and externalizing (i.e., delinquent, aggressive). The PSOC is a 17-item scale that was developed from an assessment tool that originally determined parenting self-esteem of parents with infants. The updated version includes two scales: satisfaction and efficacy. The FSS is a 14-item scale that measures satisfaction with family relationships. For the WLC group, pretest and posttest data was collected 6 weeks apart, before parents’ attendance in the program. For the PT group, data was collected at pretest, at posttest, and at 3-month follow-up.

Study 2
Study 2 used archival data to conduct pretest and posttest comparisons of mothers who attended CSP classes to test for age effects on statistical and clinical significance of improvements in child behavior problems. The objective of the study was to examine the effects of the CSP program across three age groups.

The archival data included 304 mothers (98 mothers dropped out during treatment, leaving 206 for pretest–posttest analysis) who attended CSP classes during 1991 and 1992 at sites in Orlando, Fla.; Omaha, Neb.; and San Antonio, Texas. There were significant differences across sites on all demographic variables, including race, age, employment, and family constellation (single or two-parent households). For example, in Omaha 97 percent of parents were white and 76 percent were employed part-time or full-time, while in San Antonio 64 percent of parents were Hispanic and all were unemployed. Families typically attend the CSP classes because of behavior problems they are experiencing with their children. Mothers were asked to identify one target child for the behavior assessment (defined as a child living at home with the most severe behavior problem). Target children ranged from 2 to 16 years old, with 67 percent of the children being male. Target children at the Orlando site were older than at the other sites. They also had more reported behavior problems. San Antonio mothers reported the fewest behavior problems for their children. At all the sites, parents reported that on average the target children had behavior problems in the borderline clinical to clinical range.

At each site, to compare group parent training outcomes, groups were divided according to child age. The three groups were early childhood (2 to 5 years old), middle childhood (6 to 11 years old), and adolescence (12 to 16 years old). One-way ANOVES indicated there were significant differences in the severity of child behavior problems between age groups; adolescents had more severe behavior problems than the early childhood group. However, there were no significant differences between early childhood and middle childhood groups, or between middle childhood and adolescent groups.

Outcomes were measured by the responses from mothers on the CBCL that was completed during the first and last classes. CBCL Total Program T scores were used as the dependent variable in all analyses. The Total Program score include scores from the internalizing and externalizing subscale, with T Scores of 64 or greater considered in the clinical range. Hierarchical regression analysis examined the effects of age and other possible confounding variables on the treatment outcome.

Evaluation Outcome:

Study 1
The outcomes measures showed that parents who completed the training reported more improvement in externalizing child problems, such as delinquent and aggressive behavior, and more satisfaction and efficacy as a parent, when compared with the WLC group. There were no statistically significant treatment effects found for internalizing problem behavior, such as depression or anxiety, or for clinical recovery rates for children in the clinical range.

The results showed that parents who completed the parent training reported more improvement in their satisfaction with family relationships than the parents in the control group, but this treatment effect was confounded by parenting status (single or two-parent household). Single parents may not have been as likely to report improvements in their adult relationships in their family after parent training, but the results showed that single parents who completed the training were just as likely as married parents to report improvements in parent attitudes.

Follow-up data was collected on 22 parents from the PT group. The results showed that the effects were maintained for at least 3 months following treatment. Using the 6-week modified version of CSP also reduced costs by more than 50 percent.

Study 2
The overall results indicated that parent training is beneficial across age groups but may be less beneficial for children who have the most severe behavior problems and for children from single parent families. Specifically, when divided by age the older children demonstrated more behavior problems before treatment. Nevertheless, all groups improved but at different rates, suggesting the possibility of an age effect on outcome. The analyses showed that the middle childhood group demonstrated the most clinically significant gains, while there were fewer clinically significant changes observed in the adolescent group. However, behavior problem severity was the only significant predictor of clinical recovery following parent training. These seemingly conflicting findings suggest that adolescents had the lowest rate of clinical recovery because they had more severe problems before their parents attended the CSP training class. The severity of behavior problems is the factor that is responsible for age effects in parent training.

Other Information:

References:

Burke, Raymond V., Ronald W. Thompson, Penney R. Ruma, Linda F. Schuchmann, and R.J. Martinez. 1994. “Assessing Treatment Integrity Across Five Replications of a Parent Training Program.” Presented at the National Council on Family Relations, Nov. 10.

Griffith, Annette. 2009a. “An Evaluation of Boy’s Town Common Sense Parenting Behavioral Parent Training Program.” Dissertation Abstract International Section A: Humanities and Social Sciences. 69(8):2,983A.

———. 2009b. “The Use of Behavioral Parent Training Program for Parents of Adolescents.” University of Nebraska, Manuscript submitted for publication.

Ruma, Penney R., Raymond V. Burke, and Ronald W. Thompson. 1996. “Group Parent Training: Is It Effective for Children of All Ages?” Behavior Therapy 27:159–69.

Thompson, Ronald W., Crystal R. Grow, Penny R. Ruma, Daniel L. Daly, and Raymond V. Burke. 1993. “Evaluation of a Practical Parenting Program With Middle- And Low-Income Families.” Family Relations 42:21–25.

Thompson, Ronald W., Penney R. Ruma, Albert L. Brewster, Leasley K. Besetsney, and Raymond V. Burke. 1997. “Evaluation of an Air Force Child Physical Abuse Prevention Project Using the Reliable Change Index.” Journal of Child and Family Studies 6(4):421–34.

Thompson, Ronald W., Penney R. Ruma, Linda F. Schuchmann and Raymond V. Burke. 1996. “A Cost-Effectiveness Evaluation of Parent Training." Journal of Child and Family Studies 5(4):415–29.

Program Specification:

Current Rating:

Promising

Expected Date of Re-Review:

Winter 2013

Program Type:

Parent Training

Ethnicity:

African American

Hispanic or Latino (of any race)

White

Gender:

Both

Age:

6 - 16

Target Settings:

Rural

Suburban

Urban

Problem Behaviors:

Academic Problems

Aggression/Violence

Family Functioning

Risk & Protective Factors:

Risk

Family

Family management problems / Poor parental supervision and/or monitoring

Parental use of physical punishment / Harsh and/or erratic discipline practices

Pattern of high family conflict

Poor family attachment / Bonding

Individual

Early onset of aggression and/or violence

Mental disorder / Mental health problem / Conduct disorder

Protective

Family

Effective parenting

Good relationship with parents / Bonding or attachment to family

Having a stable family

Opportunities for prosocial family involvement

Additional Information:

Status:

Program is in operation at this time.

Performance Measures:

Suggested OJJDP Performance Measures for the Program Types(s):

Delinquency Prevention
Parent Training
Logic Model: PDF
Performance Matrix:PDF
Mental Health Services
Parent Training
Logic Model: PDF
Performance Matrix:PDF

Contact Information:

Program Developer:
Ronald W. Thompson, Ph.D.
Director Boys Town National Research Institute for Child and Family Services
14100 Crawford Street
Boys Town, NE 68010
Phone: 402.498.1254
Fax: 402.498.1315
Email: Click Here
Website: Click Here

Training & TA Provider:
Boys Town Press
14100 Crawford Street
Boys Town, NE 68010
Phone: 1.800.282.6657
Fax: 402.498.1310
Email: Click Here
Website: Click Here

Laura Buddenberg, MS
Training Manager Boys Town Youth Care Learning & Development
13603 Flanagan Blvd
Boys Town, NE 68010
Phone: 402.498.1899
Fax: 402.498.3385
Email: Click Here
Website: Click Here

Program Locations:
Michelle Bennett
Boys Town Youth Care Learning & Development
13603 Flanagan Blvd
Boys Town, NE 68010