Competency Training: The Strengthening Families Program for Parents and Youth 10-14

• NCJ Number: 182208
• Author(s): Virginia K. Molgaard; Richard L. Spoth; Cleve Redmond
• Date Published: August 2000
• Length: 11 pages
• Publication Series: OJJDP Family Strengthening Series
• Agencies: OJJDP
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description

Annotation

This report describes the characteristics and assesses the effectiveness of the Strengthening Families Program (SFP), which is a 7-week curriculum designed to bring parents together with their 10- to 14-year-old children, with the goal of reducing substance abuse and other problem behaviors in youth.

Abstract

The SFP 10-14 resulted from a major revision of the SFP program originally developed in 1983 by Kumpter, Demarche, and Child (1989)as part of a 3-year prevention research project. This Bulletin details the specific risk and protective factors that are targeted in each of the program's sessions and summarizes the content, mechanics, and implementation of the program. It also describes the findings of the program's evaluation and its replication. The early version of SFP 10-14 (the Iowa SFP) has been scientifically tested in a randomized, controlled study of 446 families. Results of the multi-method, multi-informant longitudinal study have shown that the program is effective in reducing adolescent substance abuse and other problems, improving parent-child relationships, and building parenting skills. The program has been successfully conducted in multiple community settings in the Midwest and in other areas. Although findings from studies with urban and ethnically diverse families are not yet available, the current version of the video-based curriculum is appropriate for diverse audiences and has been used in both urban and rural settings. 1 figure and 29 references