High rates of program attrition in home-based family support and child maltreatment prevention services are common. Research examining factors related to family engagement (i.e., enrollment and completion rates) may help program developers increase the impact of child abuse prevention services by reducing attrition. The present study examined the relative influence of provider, program, and individual factors from the Integrated Theory of Parent Involvement (ITPI) as well as maternal and family demographic and risk variables in predicting service enrollment and completion in a home-based child maltreatment prevention service (SafeCare+) and a standard community care program (Services as Usual [SAU]). Participants were 398 female caregivers of children ages 5 and below. Support was found for the primary role of program and provider factors in client enrollment and completion of services. Specifically, participants in SafeCare+ were 4 times more likely to enroll in services and 8.5 times more likely to complete services than those in SAU. Family risk variables including intimate partner psychological aggression, substance abuse, and depression were also significant predictors. Recommended next steps include integration of risk-related factors in the ITPI framework and disentangling specific provider and program factors related to service engagement.
Addis, M., & Krasnow, A. ( 2000). A national survey of practicing psycholoigsts’ attitudes toward psychotherapy treatment manuals. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68, 331-339.
2.
Addis, M.W., Wade, W.A., & Hatgis, C. ( 1999). Barriers to evidence-based practices: Addressing practitioners’ concerns about manual-based psychotherapies. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 6, 430-441.
3.
Ammerman, R.T., Stevens, J., Putnam, F.W., Altaye, M., Hulsmann, J.E., Lehmkuhl, H.D., ... Van Ginkel, J.B. (2006). Predictors of early engagement in home visitation. Journal of Family Violence, 21, 105-115.
4.
Beck, A.T., Steer, R.A., & Brown, G.K. ( 1996). BDI-II manual. San Antonia, TX: The Psychological Corporation.
5.
California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare. (2010). http://www.cebc4cw.org/. Retrieved March 1, 2010.
6.
Chaffin, M., Silovsky, J.F., Funderburk, B., Valle, L.A., Brestan, E., Balachova, . . . Bonner, B.L. (2004). Parent-child interaction therapy with physically abusive parents: Efficacy for reducing future abuse reports. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 72, 500-510.
7.
Chaffin, M., Valle, L., Funderburk, B., Gurwitch, R., Silovsky, J.F., & Bard, ... Kees M. (2009). A motivational intervention can improve retention in PCIT for low-motivation child welfare clients. Child Maltreatment , 14, 356-368.
8.
Daro, D., McCurdy, K., Falconnier, L., & Stojanovic, D. (2003). Sustaining new parents in home visitation services: Key participant and program factors. Child Abuse & Neglect, 27, 1101-1125.
9.
Duggan, A., Windham, A., McFarlane, E., Fuddy, L., Rohde, C., Buchbinder, S., & Sia, C. ( 2000). Hawaii’s healthy start program of home visiting for at-risk families: Evaluation of family identification, family engagement, and service delivery. Pediatrics, 105, 250-259.
10.
Duggan, A., McFarlane, E., Fuddy, L., Burrell, L.Higman, S.M., Windham, A., & Sia, C. ( 2004a). Randomized trial of a statewide home visiting program: Impact in preventing child abuse and neglect. Child Abuse and Neglect, 28, 597-622.
11.
Duggan, A.Fuddy, L., Burrell, L., Higman, S.M., McFarlane, E., Windham, A., & Sia, C. ( 2004b). Randomized trial of a statewide home visiting program to prevent child abuse: Impact in reducing parental risk factors. Child Abuse and Neglect, 28, 623-643.
12.
Gershater-Molko, R.M., Lutzker, J.R., & Wesch, D. ( 2003). Project SafeCare: Improving health, safety, and parenting skills in families reported for, and at-risk for child maltreatment. Journal of Family Violence, 18, 377-386.
13.
Girvin, H., DePanfilis, D., & Daining, C. ( 2007). Predicting program completion among families enrolled in a child neglect preventive intervention. Research on Social Work Practice, 17, 674-685.
14.
Goethe, J.W., & Ahmadi, K.S. ( 1991). Comparison of diagnostic interview schedule to psychiatrist diagnoses of alcohol use disorder in psychiatric patients. American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 17, 61-69.
15.
Gomby, D.S., Culross, P.L., & Behrman, R.E. ( 1999). Home visiting: recent program evaluations-Analysis and recommendations. The Future of Children, 9, 5-25.
16.
Hasin, D.S., & Grant, B.F. ( 1987). Psychiatric diagnosis with patients with substance abuse problems: A comparison of tow procedures, the DIS and the SADS-L. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 21, 7-22.
17.
Josten, L.E., Savik, K., Anderson, M.R., Benedetto, L.L., Chabot, C.R., & Gifford, M.J. ( 2002). Dropping out of maternal and child home visits. Public Health Nursing, 19, 3-10.
18.
Kovess, V., & Fournier, L. ( 1990). The DISSA: An abridged self-administered version of the DIS: Approach by episode. Social Psychiatry 7 Psychiatric Epidemiology, 25, 179-186.
19.
Lutzker, J., & Bigelow, K. ( 2002). Reducing child maltreatment: A guidebook for parent services . New York: Guilford Press.
20.
Lutzker, J., Bigelow, K., Doctor, R.M., & Kessler, M.L. ( 1998). Safety, health care, and bonding within an ecobehavioral approach to treating and preventing child abuse and neglect. Journal of Family Violence, 13, 163-185.
21.
Lutzker, J.R., & Rice, J.M. ( 1987). Using recidivism data to evaluate project 12-ways: An ecobehavioral approach to the treatment and prevention of child abuse and neglect. Journal of Family Violence, 2, 283-290.
22.
Lutzker, J.R., Tymchuk, A.J., & Bigelow, K.M. ( 2001). Applied research in child maltreatment: Practicalities and pitfalls. Children’s Services: Social Policy, Research and Practice, 4, 141-156.
23.
McCurdy, K., & Daro, D. ( 2001). Parent involvement in family support programs: An integrated theory. Family Relations, 50, 113-121.
24.
McCurdy, K., Daro, D., Anisfeld, E., Katzev, A., Keim, A., LeCroy, C., ... Winje, C. ( 2006). Understanding maternal intentions to engage in home visiting programs. Children and Youth Services Review, 28, 1195-1212.
25.
McCurdy, K., Gannon, R., & Daro, D. ( 2003). Participation patterns in home-based family support programs: Ethnic variations. Family Relations, 52, 3-11.
26.
McGuigan, W.M., Katzev, A.R., & Pratt, C.C. ( 2003a). Multi-level determinants of retention in a home-visiting child abuse prevention program. Child Abuse & Neglect , 27, 363-380.
27.
McGuigan, W.M., Katzev, A.R., & Pratt, C.C. ( 2003b). Multi-level determinants of mothers’ engagement in home visitation services. Family Relations, 52, 271-278.
28.
Miller, W.R., & Rollnick, S. ( 1995). What is motivational interviewing?Behavioral and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 23, 325-334.
29.
Miller, W.R., & Rollnick, S. ( 2004). Talking oneself into change: Motivational interviewing, stages of change, and therapeutic process. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 18, 299-308.
30.
Moore, P.D., Bay, R.C., Balcazar, H., Coonrod, D.V., Brady, J., & Russ, R. ( 2005). Use of home visit and developmental clinic services by high risk Mexican-American and white non-Hispanic infants. Maternal & Child Health Journal, 9, 35-47.
31.
Navaie-Waliser, M., Martin, S.L., Campbell, M.K., Tessaro, I., Kotelchuck, M., & Cross, A.W. ( 2000). Factors predicting completion of a home visitation program by high-risk pregnant women: The North Carolina maternal outreach worker program . American Journal of Public Health, 90, 121-124.
32.
Nock, M.K., & Kazdin, A.E. ( 2005). Randomized controlled trial of a brief intervention for increasing participation in parent management training. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 73, 872-879.
33.
Olds, D.L., Henderson, C.R., Tatelbaum, R., & Chamberlain, R. (1986). Improving the delivery of prenatal care and outcomes of pregnancy: A randomized trial of nurse home visitation. Pediatrics, 77, 16-28.
34.
Paulhaus, D.L. ( 2004). Two replicable suppressor situations in personality research . Multivariate Behavioral Research, 39, 303-328.
35.
Raikes, H., Green, B.L., Atwater, J., Kisker, E., Constantine, J., & Chazan-Cohen, R. (2006). Involvement in early head start home visiting services: Demographic predictors and relations to child and parent outcomes. Early Childhood Research Quarterly , 21, 2-24.
36.
Robbins, L., Helzer, J., Croughan, J., & Ratcliff, K. ( 1981). National institute of mental health diagnostic Interview Schedule: Its history, characteristics, and validity. Archives of General Psychiatry, 38, 381-389.
37.
Steer, R.A., Ball, R., Ranieri, W.F., & Beck, A.T. ( 1997). Further evidence for the construct validity of the Beck depression inventory-II with psychiatric outpatients. Psychological Reports, 80, 443-446.
38.
Straus, M.A., Hamby, S.L., Boney-McCoy, S., & Sugarman, D.B. (1996). The revised conflict tactics scale (CTS2). Journal of Family Issues, 17, 283-316.
39.
Straus, M. ( 2004). Cross-cultural reliability and validity of the revised conflict tactics scales: A study of university student dating couples in 17 nations. Cross-Cultural Research, 38, 407-432.
40.
Switzer, G.E., Scholle, S.H., Johnson, B.A., & Kelleher, J.K. (1998). The client cultural competence inventory: An instrument for assessing cultural competence in behavioral managed care organizations. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 7, 483-491.
41.
Tertinger, D.A., Greene, B.F., & Lutzker, J.R. ( 1984). Home safety: Development and validation of one component of an ecobehavioral treatment program for abused and neglected children. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 17, 159-174.
42.
Wade, P., & Bernstein, B. ( 1991). Culture sensitivity training and counselor’s race: Effects on black female client’s perceptions and attrition. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 38, 9-15.
43.
Watson, C.G., Detra, E., Fox, K.L., Ewing, J.W., Gearhart, L.P., & DeMotts, J.R. ( 1995). Comparative concurrent validities of five alcoholism measures in a psychiatric hospital. Journal of Clinical Psychology , 51, 676-684.
44.
Wesch, D., & Lutzker, J.R. ( 1991). A comprehensive 5-year evaluation of project 12-ways: An ecobehavioral program for treating and preventing child abuse and neglect . Journal of Family Violence, 6, 17-35.
