Evaluation of the effects of the parental support intervention "For our children's sake" on positive parenting outcomes when conducted with incarcerated parents in prisons in Sweden.
Children of incarcerated parents comprise a greatly disadvantaged group in society with elevated risk of ill-health, behavioural problems, and own delinquency and unemployment later in life. Positive parenting comprise an important factor for children's positive and healthy development. Incarcerated parents may have difficulties to engage in positive parenting due to disadvantaged situations affecting parenting negatively such as drug addiction, poverty, or lack of experience of positive parenting in their own childhood. Previous research has suggested that interventions to prevent the intergenerational effect of criminality should be targeting family factors where positive parenting has been emphasised. Internationally developed parenting interventions for incarcerated parents suggest an impact on parenting outcomes such as positive parent-child interaction, parenting knowledge, empathy, parent stress, increased child contact and active parenting, However, the majority of the programmes evaluated to date have been conducted in the US, with a prison and probation context with limited generalisability to the Swedish system. In Sweden, the parenting programme for incarcerated parents, "For our children's' sake" (FOCS) was developed in 2012-2014 with the aim to support positive parenting for the child's healthy development and is currently delivered in Swedish prisons. The aim of this project is to evaluate the effects of the FOCS parenting programme on parenting outcomes through a controlled trial with a parallel implementation process evaluation.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
91
Parental support with the aim to support positive parenting and promote healthy child development. Conducted in group-format with weekly 2.hour sessions conducted by trained group leaders according to a programme manual.
Participating in everyday activities that may include parenting activities in the control prisons
Karolinska Institutet
Stockholm, Sweden
7-items sub-scale Closeness in the Child Parent Relationship Scale
Parent-reported quality in relationship between parent and child on a 5-point scale ('complete agree' to 'completely disagree')
Time frame: Positive change in mean score of all 7 items between baseline (pre-intervention) and end of intervention, after 10 weeks. Measurements will also be conducted at mid-intervention to investigate mediated effects, and a 3-month post intervention follow-up.
Contact frequency and type between parent and child
Parent-reported frequency (weekly, monthly, less, no contact) and type (letter, telephone, visit/permission, other
Time frame: Change in mean score of items between baseline (pre-intervention) and end of intervention, after 10 weeks. Measurements will also be conducted at a 3-month post intervention follow-up.
Eight items chosen from the sub-scale antisocial intent in the Measures of Criminal Attitudes and Associates scale
Parental attitude to criminality self-reported on a 5-point scale ('complete agree' to 'completely disagree')
Time frame: Change in mean score of items between baseline (pre-intervention) and end of intervention, after 10 weeks. Measurements will also be conducted at a 3-month post intervention follow-up.
Parent interest in other treatment programmes in prison
One item self-reported on an 11-point scale (0 no interest, 10 very high interest)
Time frame: Change in item score between baseline (pre-intervention) and end of intervention, after 10 weeks. Measurements will also be conducted at a 3-month post intervention follow-up.
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