Predictors of Participation in the Family Check-Up Program: a Randomized Trial of Yearly Services from Age 2 to 10 Years

Abstract

A key challenge of community-based prevention programs is engaging families in the context of services settings involving children and families. The Family Check-Up (FCU) program is designed to engage families in parenting support appropriate to their level of need by use of assessment-enhanced motivational interviewing. This study involved families screened for risk who were seeking services at women, infant, and children's offices in three geographical regions (N = 731). Families in the randomized intervention group (N = 367) were offered the FCU yearly, from age 2 through 10. The results of multivariate modeling indicated that caregivers reporting high levels of perceived caregiving stress (i.e., depression, low parenting satisfaction, daily hassles) participated at a higher rate in two critical components (feedback and follow-up support interventions) of the FCU program over the 8-year trial period than caregivers reporting lesser degrees of stress. The implications of these findings are discussed in the context of family-centered programs for the prevention of child behavior problems and directions for future research.

Keywords: Engagement; Family Check-Up; Parenting stress; Participation; Retention.

Figure 1. CONSORT flow diagram for all trial participants

Note. This study only reports analyses of families in the intervention arm.

Figure 2. Path Model

Note. ^*p < .05. ^**p < .01. ^***p < .001 (two-tailed). Standardized path coefficients are provided. Unstandardized coefficients and confidence intervals are available in Supplemental Table 3. Variables assessed at study entry (age 2) unless otherwise specified.